Caprock Canyons - Old Ranch Road

The Old Ranch Road Trail is in an entirely different area of Caprock Canyons State Park.  It is not easy to find and requires you drive down an unimproved dirt road to get to the trailhead.  A high clearance vehicle or 4WD is recommended.

Check with the Visitor's Center first to see if this trail is open.  It may be closed off by a locked gate and, when it is, the trail is not maintained and can be overgrown.  There are rattlesnakes in this area, so you do not want to walk through high grass or into the backcountry where no one may find you for an extended time.

Basically, the trail is exactly what it is named for - an old ranch road.  The trail is supposed to be a lollipop, but I could not trace the "pop" portion of the trail.  I did encounter a dirt road, however, that led to the park boundary.  To be safe, I decided to turn around and head back rather than wander through the high grass.