How Long Does It Take To Hike Charon's Garden Wilderness

The Named Peaks in Charon's Garden, Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

With two kids and a job, it's hard to get away for multiple week-long trips. So lately I've been looking for more opportunities to cram a lot into a single day hike.

Like its name suggests, Charon's Garden is a fun place just to go and play. The gnarly topography often ends in cliffs or impassible ravines. The mountains are mostly exposed granite slabs, boulders, and talus. Oak shrubs grow thick and low to the ground which makes bushwacking a tough slog, until you find a clear game trail that cuts right through the bush. The scrambling is mostly class 2, with an occasional class 3 or rare class 4. This trip report describes a day hike linking all the named peaks in the Charon's Garden Wilderness, but it would be just as fun as a two-day backpack if you can secure a backcountry camping permit.

Connecting all the named peaks in the Charon's Garden Wilderness is about 10 miles as the crow flies, and 8,000 feet of elevation change (4k up, 4k down). For me, this is a tough day in off-trail terrain. But Charon's Garden reminds me of a "build your own adventure book" – it's easy to make your route as long and challenging as you want. My route was the easiest way to get to all of these places. When given the choice between a class 3 scramble or a class 4 scramble, I took the 3 every time. There's easy bail out points throughout the route: on the western half go east until you hit the Charon's Garden Trail and hike out; on the eastern side, head east to the park road. I carried a 20* quilt, a tarp, and some extra food in case I chose to spend the night out there. But my plan was to finish it in a single day.

Summary stats
Distance: 10.6 mile loop, 9.25 hours
Elevation: 8,200 ft (4,100 up, 4,100 down) – 770 ft per mile
Tread: almost entirely off-trail
Date: December, 2018

The terrain is a mix of granite mountains with prairie in between. The prairie areas are usually fast and easy to travel through but the oak here grows in scrubby brushes low to the ground making it difficult to fight through.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EohoE7CD3bE
On my way to Sunset Peak I followed a broad prairie between two mountains. It was the most obvious route for me, and game too apparently. I heard a loud rumbling and a herd of bison came running towards me so I jumped up on a boulder to get out of their way.

There's plenty of game trails formed by deer, elk, and bison that make it easier to get through the thicker scrub.

Approaching Mount Mitchell.

Boulders and slabs on the eastern side of the wilderness.

Water collects in little pot holes in the granite. They were all frozen over when I was there but had clean water under the ice. Some of the creeks were flowing, and you'll find the occasional spring seeping out of cracks in the rocks.

It was pretty common to pick a route that seems good, only to have it end in cliffs. This picture above was taken approaching the top of Lincoln. Between me and this 50 ft class 5 climb was a class 4 down climb into a small chute. To the right (east), it cliffed out. To the left (west) the chute went, but had two 20 ft class 4 down climbs. I took a 50 ft hank of cord and used it to lower my pack down these sections.

There were a few times where the only way through was to crawl through gaps under boulders.

Porcupine near the summit of Twin Rocks Mountain.

I saw at least 20 cow elk, two bull elk, and several deer on this route. This bull was standing right in my most direct path (on the top of Elk Mountain, of course), and he didn't want to move. So I walked way around.

Essential gear
Grippy shoes for all the boulder hopping. I wore LaSportiva TX3.
Water was plentiful in January and I carried a lightweight filter that attaches to a water bottle.
Map and compass – you'll need strong navigation and route-finding skills.

Resources and other trip reports
Summit Post: https://www.summitpost.org/charon-s-garden-wilderness/274583
Stav is Lost: https://www.stavislost.com/hikes/trail/charons-garden-wilderness-big-loop
Big Bend Chat: https://www.google.com/search?q=wichita+mountains+site%3Abigbendchat.com&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS816US816&oq=wichita+mountains+site%3Abigbendchat.com&aqs=chrome..69i57.8334j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8