Outer Mountain itinerary
Every mile marker on the Outer Mountain route, in order, with the distance and elevation change between each one, and which permit each stretch needs. To set alerts for your dates, go to the Outer Mountain Loop permit page.
Which permit covers this route
The Outer Mountain. One reservation is a trailhead or zone plus an entry date; you roam after that, issued by first-come, first-served.
- Stops mapped
- 6
- Across the markers
- 21.4 mi
- Published route length
- 30 mi
- Ascent, at least
- 1,776 ft
How long it takes: 2 nights / 3 days minimum. That is the figure the permit publishes. This page does not divide the route into days, because no source records which stop you sleep at.
The stops below are the route's published mile markers, in order, with the elevations recorded against each one.
Distance and elevation change on each leg are the difference between the two published figures either side of it, so the legs are arithmetic on the markers and nothing more.
The Outer Mountain route, stop by stop
Mile 0.0
5,401 ft
Chisos Basin Trailhead
The usual clockwise starting point for the loop, at the Chisos Basin.
2.5 miles · 935 ft up to Pinnacles campsites
Mile 2.5
6,336 ft
Pinnacles campsites
The first backcountry campsites on the Pinnacles Trail, on a short spur.
1.2 miles · 652 ft up to Pinnacles Pass area
Mile 3.7
6,988 ft
Pinnacles Pass area
Crossed via the Pinnacles Trail, one of the five trails the loop combines.
0.8 miles · 140 ft down to Boot Canyon
Mile 4.5
6,848 ft
Boot Canyon
The high canyon behind the Chisos rim, with campsites along a half-mile spur.
0.8 miles · 189 ft up to Juniper Canyon campsite
Mile 5.3
7,037 ft
Juniper Canyon campsite
A quarter mile down the Juniper Canyon Trail from the Boot Canyon Trail.
16.1 miles · 2,776 ft down to Homer Wilson Ranch / Blue Creek Trailhead
Mile 21.4
4,261 ft
Homer Wilson Ranch / Blue Creek Trailhead
On Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive; the loop's other legal water-cache point, and the final steep climb back to the Chisos begins here.
Getting a Outer Mountain for the dates you want
Planning the route is the easy half. Outer Mountain dates go fast, and the ones that come back are cancellations. They return to the booking system without warning and are gone again quickly. PermitSnag checks Outer Mountain around the clock and alerts you the moment a date opens.