El Paso sits at about 3,800 feet in the Chihuahuan Desert at the far western tip of Texas, where the Rio Grande turns and the state meets New Mexico and Mexico at once. The name means the pass, because that is what it is: a gap in the mountains that people have moved through for four hundred years. It is closer to the capitals of three other states than to its own, and it is one half of a single urban area of more than two and a half million people, the other half of which is in another country.
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What Is Here
THE FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS ARE INSIDE THE CITY AND THE STATE PARK IS THE LARGEST URBAN PARK IN THE UNITED STATES. Franklin Mountains State Park covers around 24,000 acres entirely within the city limits, with desert hiking, Ranger Peak at 7,192 feet, and the WYLER AERIAL TRAMWAY, which is the only way most visitors get high: IT HAS BEEN CLOSED FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD and its status changes, so check with Texas Parks and Wildlife before counting on it. The second image is the highway winding through those mountains, which is the TRANSMOUNTAIN ROAD, and it is the best free drive in the city.
CIUDAD JUAREZ IS ACROSS THE RIVER AND THE HONEST ACCOUNT IS NEITHER SCARE STORY NOR BREEZY. You can walk across at the Paso del Norte or Santa Fe Street bridges in a few minutes for a small toll. EL PASO ITSELF IS CONSISTENTLY ONE OF THE SAFER LARGE CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, which surprises people who assume the opposite, and Juarez has a very different and much more serious crime picture. THE US STATE DEPARTMENT PUBLISHES A STATE-BY-STATE ADVISORY FOR MEXICO AND CHIHUAHUA CARRIES A SERIOUS LEVEL, with its own restrictions on US government employees. If you cross, go in daylight, go to the central tourist area only, carry your passport, and know that RE-ENTRY QUEUES AT THE BRIDGES CAN RUN TO HOURS. READ THE CURRENT ADVISORY FOR CHIHUAHUA YOURSELF RATHER THAN TAKING ANY BLOG'S WORD INCLUDING OURS, because it is updated and we are not.
EL PASO IS THE SAFEST BIG CITY IN TEXAS BY MOST MEASURES AND THAT DESERVES SAYING TWICE. It regularly ranks among the lowest violent crime rates of any American city over 500,000. The 2019 Walmart shooting, a racist attack that killed 23 people, is memorialised at a healing garden and remains the defining recent event in the city's life; it was not an expression of local conditions and the city's response to it is part of what it is now.
THE MISSION TRAIL HAS THE OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY USED CHURCHES IN TEXAS. Ysleta Mission dates from 1682, founded by Tigua people and Spanish refugees from the Pueblo Revolt, with Socorro and San Elizario along the same route south east of the city. YSLETA DEL SUR PUEBLO is the Tigua community there and runs a cultural centre.
THE FOOD IS THE REASON TO STAY. This is where northern Mexican and Texan cooking actually meet rather than being marketed as doing so: red and green chile, gorditas, menudo and the city's own claim to have invented the frozen margarita. THE CHILE HERE IS NEW MEXICAN IN CHARACTER, because Hatch is up the road.
THE THIRD IMAGE IS A CITY PARK AT SUNSET, and the green space matters more than it would elsewhere: in this climate, shade and water are the amenity.
WHITE SANDS AND CARLSBAD ARE DAY TRIPS INTO NEW MEXICO, White Sands about an hour and a half and Carlsbad Caverns about three, and both are the reason many people are here. WHITE SANDS CLOSES FOR MISSILE RANGE TESTING WITHOUT MUCH NOTICE, so check that morning.
When to Go
October to April. Warm days, cold nights, brilliant light, and the desert at its most comfortable. March and April are windy.
JUNE TO AUGUST IS VERY HOT, regularly above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, though the humidity is low so it is more bearable than Dallas at the same number. The sun at 3,800 feet is the sharper problem.
JULY TO SEPTEMBER IS THE MONSOON, with violent short afternoon storms and the flash flooding that follows them in a city built across dry arroyos.
Winter is mild by day and can freeze hard at night, with occasional snow on the Franklins that is gone by lunchtime.
Getting There
By air, El Paso International is about ten minutes from downtown.
By car, on Interstate 10. This is a long way from anywhere: ABOUT NINE HOURS TO DALLAS, four to Albuquerque, five to Phoenix.
By train, Amtrak's Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle stop at the downtown station a few times a week.
You will want a car. The Franklin Mountains, the Mission Trail and the day trips all need one. Downtown is walkable and the Sun Metro Brio bus and the restored STREETCAR loop cover the centre and the university district.
Is El Paso Safe for Women?
The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in the United States and no country-level warning. Its guidance concentrates on the practical differences a British visitor meets: entry requirements and ESTA, the cost of healthcare without insurance, extreme weather including hurricanes on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts between June and November, and wildfire and heat risk in the west and south-west.
El Paso is one of the safest large cities in the United States and travelling here alone is straightforward. Downtown, the Union Plaza district, Kern Place and the university area, and the Mission Valley are all comfortable. The usual American caution about leaving anything visible in a parked car applies, especially at mountain trailheads.
CROSSING INTO JUAREZ IS A DIFFERENT DECISION FROM ANYTHING ELSE IN THIS POST and it should be made on the current advisory rather than on this page. Chihuahua carries a serious State Department advisory level and restrictions apply to US government employees there. If you cross: daylight only, central area only, passport in hand, no valuables, and allow hours for the return queue.
THE SUN AND THE DRYNESS ARE THE REAL HAZARDS. At 3,800 feet in desert air with roughly 300 sunny days a year you dehydrate without sweating visibly and burn faster than the temperature suggests. Heat illness in summer is the likeliest injury.
FLASH FLOODING IS THE MONSOON HAZARD AND THE CITY IS BUILT ACROSS ARROYOS. Dry channels and road dips fill within minutes from rain falling on the mountains out of sight. NEVER DRIVE OR WALK INTO A FLOODED DIP: Turn Around Don't Drown is a literal instruction and people die each year across the region ignoring it.
RATTLESNAKES ARE COMMON IN THE FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS from spring to autumn, along with cactus spines that go through thin shoes. Stay on trail.
The mountain trails have no shade and no water and start at the edge of suburbs, which is the same trap as Boise's foothills: people set out casually.
Spring winds carry dust and can reduce visibility and irritate eyes and lungs.
The El Paso Packing List
Desert sun at altitude, huge daily swings, and almost no shade.
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women suits high desert exactly: a thirty to forty degree Fahrenheit swing between afternoon and night is routine here, and fine wool is cool in dry heat and warm after dark, which is the whole problem in one garment. From November to March add a heavyweight merino base layer for the nights.
A Columbia Fast Trek II fleece, which you will want every evening in any month, and a Marmot PreCip Eco rain jacket for monsoon afternoons.
A wide brim sun hat and a long sun hoodie. These are the two most important items in this bag: covered arms and a shaded neck in desert sun at 3,800 feet are cooler and safer than bare skin, which is the opposite of what most visitors assume.
Walking shoes with grip and firm soles for rocky desert trail, where cactus spines go straight through canvas.
Not linked and worth packing: HIGH-FACTOR SUNSCREEN AND SUNGLASSES; LIP BALM AND HEAVY MOISTURISER, because this is among the driest destinations in this library and skin cracks within a day; A LARGE WATER BOTTLE AND MORE WATER THAN YOU THINK FOR THE MOUNTAINS, where there is none; YOUR PASSPORT if there is any chance you cross; AND A CHECK OF THE WYLER TRAMWAY STATUS AND THE WHITE SANDS CLOSURES, both of which change. The US is almost entirely card-based and tipping is expected.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in El Paso
Emergency numbers: 911 for police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone including a locked mobile. Calls are answered locally and dispatchers will stay on the line. For non-urgent police matters many cities also run a 311 information line.
EL PASO IS CONSISTENTLY ONE OF THE SAFEST LARGE CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, which is the opposite of what most visitors expect of a border city, and CIUDAD JUAREZ ACROSS THE RIVER IS A SEPARATE AND MUCH MORE SERIOUS PICTURE. The US State Department publishes a state-by-state advisory for Mexico and CHIHUAHUA CARRIES A SERIOUS LEVEL with its own restrictions on US government employees: READ THE CURRENT ADVISORY YOURSELF, because it is updated and this page is not. If you cross at the Paso del Norte or Santa Fe Street bridges, go in daylight, stay central, carry your passport, and allow HOURS FOR THE RE-ENTRY QUEUE. THE SUN AND DRYNESS ARE THE DAILY HAZARD: 3,800 feet, desert air and roughly 300 sunny days a year mean you dehydrate without visibly sweating and burn faster than the thermometer implies, so covered arms and a brimmed hat are cooler than bare skin. FLASH FLOODING IS THE MONSOON HAZARD FROM JULY TO SEPTEMBER and the city is built across arroyos: dry channels and road dips fill within minutes from rain falling unseen on the mountains, and NEVER ENTERING A FLOODED DIP is a literal instruction that people die ignoring every year. FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS STATE PARK IS THE LARGEST URBAN PARK IN THE UNITED STATES at around 24,000 acres inside the city, with no shade and no water on its trails and RATTLESNAKES from spring to autumn. THE WYLER AERIAL TRAMWAY HAS BEEN CLOSED FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD: check with Texas Parks and Wildlife. WHITE SANDS CLOSES FOR MISSILE RANGE TESTING at short notice. Spring winds carry dust.
US State Department travel advisory: there is none, and this is not an omission. The State Department issues travel advisories for other countries, not for the United States itself, so no US advisory for this destination exists to link. In its place, the Government of Canada advice for the United States gives an equivalent third-country assessment.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits. The FCDO names no advised-against areas anywhere in the United States. The same advice also covers Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Main hospital: University Medical Center of El Paso on Alberta Avenue is the region's Level I trauma centre with a 24 hour emergency department, and Las Palmas Medical Center is the other major one. Dial 911 for police, ambulance or fire, and note that AN INCIDENT IN THE FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS also goes through 911, which dispatches the city's mountain rescue capability: give a trailhead or a park entrance name rather than a street. This is the single biggest practical difference for a visitor: there is no public health system, an emergency room visit without insurance can run into thousands of dollars, and an ambulance is billed separately and is not free. Comprehensive travel insurance with a high medical limit is not optional in the United States, and you should carry your policy number and the insurer's 24 hour number somewhere you can reach them. Urgent care clinics handle anything short of an emergency far more cheaply and quickly than an emergency room, and are the right choice for a sprain, an infection or stitches.
Official health authority: the CDC travellers' health pages, the US federal health authority for visitors. covers the US public health guidance, with the National Weather Service the authority for excessive heat, flash flood and dust storm warnings
Embassy contact: the United States is the host country, so there is no US embassy to contact. Your own country's embassy is in Washington DC, with consulates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Miami and Boston. Find yours before you travel and save the number.
Official tourism authority: Brand USA, the national tourism marketing body. covers El Paso and Texas visitor information, with Texas Parks and Wildlife the authority for Franklin Mountains State Park and the Wyler Aerial Tramway status
Takeaways
El Paso is one of the safest big cities in America. Juarez is a separate decision.
Read the current Chihuahua advisory yourself before crossing.
Covered arms and a brimmed hat are cooler than bare skin here.
Never enter a flooded dip. The monsoon fills arroyos in minutes.
Solo women safety assessment: El Paso is one of the easiest American cities in this library to travel alone in, and that will surprise anyone who assumes a border city must be the opposite: it ranks consistently among the lowest violent crime rates of any US city over half a million, downtown and the Union Plaza district are pleasant in the evening, Kern Place and the university area are comfortable, and eating alone anywhere is unremarkable. The ordinary American rule about leaving nothing visible in a parked car applies, particularly at mountain trailheads. 911 REACHES POLICE, AMBULANCE AND FIRE free from any phone; University Medical Center on Alberta Avenue is the region's Level I trauma centre; and 911 also dispatches mountain rescue into the Franklins, where you should give a trailhead rather than a street. THE UNITED STATES HAS NO PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE FOR VISITORS and insurance is essential. CROSSING INTO CIUDAD JUAREZ IS A GENUINELY DIFFERENT DECISION and it should be made on the current State Department advisory for Chihuahua, which carries a serious level and restricts US government employees, rather than on anything written here; if you go, go in daylight, stay in the central area, carry your passport and expect the return queue to take hours. EVERYTHING ELSE THAT CAN HURT YOU IS THE DESERT. At 3,800 feet with roughly 300 sunny days a year you lose water without feeling sweaty and burn much faster than the temperature suggests, so long sleeves and a brimmed hat are the cooler choice rather than the hotter one. The Franklin Mountains trails begin at the edge of the suburbs and have no shade and no water, which is exactly why people set out casually and get into trouble, and rattlesnakes are on them from spring to autumn. From July to September the monsoon fills dry arroyos and road dips within minutes from rain falling unseen on high ground, and walking or driving into one is how people die here.
Reading On
El Paso is the far western corner of Texas and is closer to New Mexico and Arizona than to the rest of its own state. The Dallas packing list is nine hours east, which is the fact that conveys the scale of Texas better than any statistic, and the Austin packing list covers the state capital. West and north, the Albuquerque packing list is four hours away and the Santa Fe packing list a little further, both sharing this high desert, this monsoon and this chile; the Phoenix packing list and the Sedona packing list cover Arizona, and the Grand Canyon packing list the canyon beyond. South into Mexico, the Mexico City packing list and the Copper Canyon packing list cover destinations in the country across the bridge, the latter being the Chihuahua rail journey that starts a few hours south. For the country, the United States travel guide for women carries the transport, the health insurance question and the regions in full. For why fine wool works in dry desert heat and on a cold desert night, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection. West along the border, the Tucson packing list covers the next desert city, about sixty miles from Mexico and shaped by the same Sonoran monsoon.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
