Dog Canyon -- Big Bend NP TX
N 29° 37.353 W 103° 08.578
13R E 679796 N 3278402
The WPA writers must have heard from locals about the reason for the name of Dog Canyon - we didn't see that information anywhere at the park
Waymark Code: WMV0WG
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/04/2017
Views: 0
The waymark coordinates for the the trailhead to Dog Canyon at Big Bend National Park.
From Texas: A Guide to the Lone Star State:
"DOG CREEK, 45.9 m., and DOG CANYON, a 300-foot gash through the Dead Horse Mountains, were so named because of a pack of wild dogs found in the caves of the canyon, presumedly left by Indians. "
The Dog Canyon Trail is an easy to moderate 2 mile ling trail takes hikers to Dog Canyon. A longer 8-mile lop trail explores both Dog Canyon and Devil's Den at Big Bend National Park.
From the Trails southwest website: (
visit link)
Dog Canyon and Devil's Den, Big Bend National Park
Texas > Big Bend National Park > Chisos Mountains and the North > Hiking > Dog Canyon and Devil's Den
"The northernmost trails in Big Bend National Park lead to a pair of narrow ravines in the Santiago Mountains, the long, thin range that forms a natural boundary between the park and the adjacent Black Gap WMA. The shorter of the two is the level, 2 mile path to Dog Canyon, a deep but relatively wide ravine leading right through the mountains to the desert at the far side, and bordered by steep, rocky hillsides interspersed with vertical cliffs.
Rather more interesting is the 3.5 mile trail to Devil's Den in the mountain foothills a little way south; the Den is a narrow, enclosed, sheer-walled ravine through whitish limestone strata, containing pour-offs, potholes and terraces - like a slot canyon though not quite as narrow. The rougher and less-used path to Devil's Den branches off the Dog Canyon Trail after 1.5 miles, and both ravines can be seen via an 8 mile loop hike of which the last mile is a cross-country walk back to the trailhead, a signed parking area along US 385."