Mule Ears Trail
in Texas
Trail Information Roundtrip Distance: 3.8 miles (6 km) Elevation Change: 880 feet (243 m) cumulative elevation change Average Hiking Time: 2 hours Dogs and other pets are not allowed on any trails in the park. The Mule Ears Spring trail is a hike through the desert to an historic corral and spring. For much of the journey, the trail crosses rolling desert terrain, descending into dry washes and climbing over low divides.
Watch for cottonwood trees in the washes. Tallest of the desert trees, cottonwoods mark the location of a spring or water that is relatively close to the surface. Near the end of the trail, you'll skirt a large, rock corral.
Continue past the corral and down the drainage to a small spring. The cool, shaded slope is covered with maidenhair ferns. Cattails line the slow-moving spring flow. Sit on the rocks and listen to the sound of water in the desert.
- States
- Texas
- Trail type
- National Park trail
- Centroid coords
- 29.1666°, -103.4352°
About Big Bend National Park
This trail is inside Big Bend National Park, a national park managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Entrance fee: $30 per vehicle (verify current rate on the park page). An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/mule-ears-trail.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/bibe/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Mule Ears Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Other trails within 50 miles
Chimneys Trail
3 miles from this trail's centroid
Burro Spring Trail
5 miles from this trail's centroid
Lower Burro Mesa Pouroff Trail
5 miles from this trail's centroid
Homer Wilson Ranch Trail
5 miles from this trail's centroid
Blue Creek Trail
5 miles from this trail's centroid
Upper Burro Mesa Pouroff Trail
6 miles from this trail's centroid
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.