011.5 hr from El Paso

White Sands National Park

The world's largest gypsum dunefield looks like nowhere else on earth — blinding white dunes that stay cool underfoot even in summer. Drive the eight-mile Dunes Drive, rent a sled at the visitor center, and stay for the sunset stroll: the dunes turn pink and orange as the San Andres Mountains go purple behind them. There's no campground inside the park, so most RVers day-trip from Alamogordo or camp at Oliver Lee Memorial State Park about 30 minutes away.

✓Sled the gypsum dunes
✓Sunset on Dunes Drive
✓Ranger-led full-moon nights in summer

Find an RV for this trip →

021 hr 45 min from El Paso

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Guadalupe Peak is the highest point in Texas at 8,751 feet, and the 8.4-mile round-trip summit hike is a bucket-list day for most visitors. If you'd rather not climb, McKittrick Canyon hides a spring-fed oasis that puts on the best fall color display in the state, and the El Capitan cliff face makes the drive in worth it alone. Pine Springs campground takes RVs (no hookups), and the night skies here are seriously dark.

✓Summit the highest peak in Texas
✓Fall color in McKittrick Canyon
✓RV camping at Pine Springs

Find an RV for this trip →

034.5 hr from El Paso

Big Bend National Park

Big Bend is the trip people rent an RV for: a national park bigger than Rhode Island where the Chisos Mountains rise out of the Chihuahuan Desert and the Rio Grande carves 1,500-foot canyon walls at Santa Elena. Soak in the riverside hot springs, drive the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, and stay up late — Big Bend is a certified International Dark Sky Park with some of the least light-polluted skies in North America. Rio Grande Village has full-hookup RV sites; book well ahead in spring and fall.

✓Santa Elena Canyon
✓Riverside hot springs
✓Darkest night skies in Texas

Find an RV for this trip →

0445 min from El Paso

Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site

Just past the east edge of El Paso, Hueco Tanks is world-famous with climbers for its winter bouldering, but you don't need chalk to love it. The rock basins ('huecos') that give the park its name collect rainwater in the desert, and the site shelters thousands of years of Native American pictographs — including hundreds of painted masks. Access is limited to protect the rock art, so reserve entry and the small water-and-electric campsites ahead of time.

✓World-class winter bouldering
✓Guided pictograph tours
✓Campsites with water & electric

Find an RV for this trip →

05Inside El Paso

Franklin Mountains State Park

El Paso's backyard range is one of the largest urban parks in the United States — 27,000 acres of Chihuahuan Desert peaks rising right out of the city. It's the perfect shakedown trip for a first night in a rental RV: pick up your rig, drive 20 minutes, and test everything with town still close by. Hike or mountain-bike the Tom Mays Unit trails, then catch the city lights from the Wyler Aerial Tramway side of the range.

✓Trails 20 minutes from pickup
✓Great first-night shakedown trip
✓City-lights views after dark

Find an RV for this trip →

062.5 hr from El Paso

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Walk down through the natural entrance into the Big Room — a chamber so large the self-guided trail through it runs over a mile — or take the elevator if your knees vote no. From late May through October, stick around for the evening bat flight, when hundreds of thousands of Brazilian free-tailed bats spiral out of the cave mouth at dusk. There's no camping in the park itself, but RV parks in Whites City and Carlsbad put you 10–30 minutes from the entrance, and Guadalupe Mountains NP is on the way home.

✓The Big Room self-guided trail
✓Evening bat flight (May–Oct)
✓Pairs with Guadalupe Mountains

Find an RV for this trip →

072 hr from El Paso

Elephant Butte Lake State Park

When the desert gets hot, El Pasoans head north to New Mexico's largest lake. Elephant Butte has miles of shoreline where you can camp with your RV close to the water, plus boat rentals, swimming beaches, and some of the best lake fishing in the region. The quirky hot-springs town of Truth or Consequences is 10 minutes away for a soak and a green-chile cheeseburger before the drive home.

✓Beach camping near the shoreline
✓Boating & lake swimming
✓Hot springs in Truth or Consequences

Find an RV for this trip →

083 hr from El Paso

City of Rocks State Park

A square mile of sculpted volcanic columns rises out of open grassland like a stone city — and you can camp right inside it, with sites tucked between boulders taller than your rig. Kids scramble the rocks, photographers stay for golden hour, and everyone stays up for the stars: the park has its own observatory and hosts regular star parties. Electric sites book fast on weekends; the drive pairs well with a stop in Silver City or the Gila country beyond.

✓Campsites tucked between boulders
✓On-site observatory & star parties
✓Gateway to Silver City & the Gila

Find an RV for this trip →

8 unforgettable RV trips from El Paso

White Sands National Park

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Big Bend National Park

Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site

Franklin Mountains State Park

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Elephant Butte Lake State Park

City of Rocks State Park

Pick the rig, and the map is yours.