25 Great Day Hikes in America's Deserts

A great way to explore the Sonoran Desert is at Saguaro National Park.

Hike famous Rio Grande at Big Bend National Park
Among the best ways to see Big Bend National Park’s major sights is via a day hike. Though the park is vast, three short trails will allow you to enjoy the park’s major highlights – the Rio Grande River, some of America's darkest skies, and a historic Native American route.

Varied terrain marks Sonoran Desert
At 120,000-square miles in size, the Sonoran stretches from southern and central Arizona into California’s Coachella Valley (where Palm Springs is located) and into northern Mexico. The Sonoran offers varied terrain, ranging from classic desert flatlands to rocky peaks and from sand dunes to lava badlands.

Diverse trails abound across Mojave Desert
North America’s driest landscapes, fascinating rock formations, and extinct volcanoes await day hikers in the Mojave Desert. At 25,000 miles, the Mojave is the smallest of America’s four deserts. Thanks to its proximity to Hollywood, however, it’s often the most filmed desert in television shows and motion pictures.

Best trails to see Grand Basin’s wonders
Among the best ways to see Great Basin National Park’s top sights is via a day hike. Just five short trails will allow you to enjoy each of the park’s highlights – Earth’s oldest living organisms, limestone caves, night skies alit with thousands of stars, Nevada’s only glacier, and ancient pictographs.

BONUS: Consider bringing along specific gear for desert hikes
As a dry, severe environment, deserts offer both incredible scenic wonders and grave dangers. Because of the former, they make for great hiking terrain…because of the latter, specific hiking gear and equipment is essential for a day hike there.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks series.

Select ideal hiking boot for trail conditions

Rocky terrain requires hiking boots with rugged tread. 

Depending and when or where you hike, your feet have different needs to protect them and to ensure they can easily cross the terrain.

While some avoid backpackers have multiple hiking boots to meet different situations they encounter, for most day hiker that’s impractical. The challenge then is to find the right boot that works best in the conditions you most frequently hike.

Here are descriptions of the ideal hiking boot and sock for various conditions.

Cold-weather hikes
For the northern United States, winter as well as early spring and late autumn require cold-weather clothing. Hiking boots will need to be waterproofed, and if snow is present you ought to consider wearing mountaineering socks. Always bring extra socks and even shoes to change into after the hike. Boots likely will get wet on a cold-weather hike, and if children are with you, they will need dry socks so they don’t have to suffer through cold feet on the drive home.

Desert trails
In the desert, you’ll want footwear with ankle support, that breathes, and that has a soft, flexible sole to ensure traction. To that end, wear lightweight, breathable hiking boots. Sandals will expose your skin to sunburn, thorns, and sharp rocks while running shoes lack the ankle support needed for crossing rocky terrain.

Easy, dry trails
For flat, smooth, dry trails, sneakers and cross-trainers are just fine. If you really want to head onto less traveled roads or tackle areas that aren’t typically dry, though, you’ll need hiking boots.

Muddy trails
In some parts of the United States, such as the Pacific Northwest, trail sections will be muddy even after a few days of dry weather have passed. Sneakers quickly will become soaked and unable to traverse mud. Hiking boots with taller lugs will provide increased traction.

Rocky, steep trails
Once you start doing any rocky or steep trails, you’ll want hiking boots that offer rugged tread perfect for handling the rough terrain. The boots also should be durable to withstand bends in the boot caused by uneven footfalls and so that sharp rocks can’t press against or pierce the leather.

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

How to avoid, treat hyponatremia on hike

Hyponatremia is on the rise among desert hikers, such as
those at Grand Canyon National Park.

If hiking in the desert or on an extremely humid day, beware of suffering from hyponatremia. This ailment – a low sodium blood level – has been on the rise, in fact, at Grand Canyon National Park.

Sodium helps regulate the amount of water in and around your body’s cells; when it becomes too low, your cells swell with water, creating a variety of problems such as muscle spasms/cramps, loss of balance, nausea, confusion, fatigue and even death.

In deserts, this typically occurs because the heat causes people to sweat, resulting in a loss of sodium. When hikers drink water to replace the loss fluid, they aren’t replenishing their bodies with salt and other minerals, causing the sodium to become diluted and hence low.

To prevent hyponatremia, imbibe electrolyte drinks and tablets when hiking (sports drinks don’t contain enough electrolytes and so don’t work). Also bring salty food, such as beef jerky and sodium crackers with you. Continue to drink water, however, as your body still requires it in the dry heat.

If suffering hyponatremia, seek medical attention immediately. You will need intravenous fluids, restricted water intake and monitoring.

Read more about day hiking the Grand Canyon in my Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking Grand Canyon National Park guidebook.