Day 16-18: Big Bend
National Park #4
Big Bend is one one of those places you need to experience to believe. Pictures simply can’t capture the grand scale of the park or the unique landscapes, canyons, trails, and vistas it contains. It was the park that nearly everyone of our friends brought up when we told them about this trip, and now we know why.
First thing you need to know about Big Bend: It’s going to take some time to do it right, so plan accordingly. Located in the most remote corner of West Texas, it took us about 7 hours to drive there from Austin. The park is absolutely enormous, and takes a while to traverse.
The second thing you need to know: There’s actually two parks down here. While Big Bend National Park is the larger and more well known, Big Bend Ranch State Park is right next door and is worth a day (or two) all to itself.
Big Bend Ranch State Park (& Lajitas)
Located on the far southwest side of the National Park, the State Park has some incredible sights all its own. For easy of access, we recommend staying in Lajitas at the Lajitas Golf Resort. This gives you easy access to the state park and the resort has a wide variety of activities they host including horse back riding, shooting, zip lining, and of course, golf.
From Lajitas we ventured out down Hwy 170 which runs right along the Rio Grande. About 40 minutes down the road is the first stop you’ll want to make, Closed Canyon Trail. As the name suggests, this slot canyon meanders down towards the Rio Grand (though the trail is closed off before you get to the river) and provides a great appetizer to what’s to come. While not as grand as some of the other canyons in the National Park, it’s also much less traveled so you really get some time to explore without as many tourists. A few miles down the road from Closed Canyons are the Hoodoos of Big Bend Ranch State Park, rock formations that are well worth the quick hike.
On your way out of the State Park area and into Big Bend National Park, be sure to stop by the Terlingua Ghost Town. There’s really no way to describe Terlingua (other than profoundly strange) but it’s worth the visit. We didn’t time it right, but if you are going through in the evening we’ve heard great things about the Starlight Theatre. Go there, and tell us what we missed!
Big Bend National Park - Day 1
There’s a couple things you should not miss if you go to Big Bend National Park. The first we hit was the Santa Elena Canyon, about a 1.5 hour drive from Lajitas. Our second canyon in as many days, this one is certainly on a grander scale than Closed Canyon, though with many more people (and drones) around. The canyon here actually runs on both sides of the Rio Grande, and you can easily wade across the knee deep water and set foot on Mexico. It’s not a long hike, but there are rocks and steps to traverse on your way in.
Our next stop was the Sotol Vista Overlook. There are countless overlooks in Big Bend, but you’d be hard pressed to find a better one. From here you can see and capture (nearly) the entire western side of the park, included a small speck in the distance which turned out to be the gigantic canyon we’d just waded through. Special bonus: another giant tool was flying a drone at the overlook*
*A special note about drones: They aren’t allowed in national parks. Also, they make you look like an asshat.
Big Bend National Park - Day 2
On Day 2 we headed up to the Chisos Basin to hike The Window Trail, a gorgeous 5-mile trek that takes you through Oak Creek Canyon to the Window pour off. This was easily one of our favorite hikes of the entire trip, and is well worth the 3-4 hours it takes to drive in, hike, take pictures, and hike back out. We strongly recommend you go early to avoid the crowds, especially at the end of the hike near the window itself.
Our one regret is that there were a number of popular hikes and sights that we didn’t get to with our limited time. It really does take 3-4 solid days in the park to do it justice. We’ve heard great things about the Lost Mine Trail (which you’ll also need to get to early in order to beat the crowds) and any of the Emory Peak trails (10+ miles).
What you need to know:
Incredible park that is worth the trip. Make sure you can spend 3-4 days here.
Big Bend is enormous and given the terrain (and the border) it takes a while to get between points of interest.
There are three main campgrounds and they fill up quickly. Book in advance. We stayed at Rio Grande Village, which was nice but is a drive from many of the major trails. If you can, spend a night at the Chisos Basin Campground.
Don’t expect much, if any, cell service or Wi-Fi.
If you have the time, spend a day at Big Bend Ranch State Park and Terlingua.