Big Bend Overview

Updated March 2025 to add new content at the end of the blog from our latest visit.

On the way to nowhere, where the desert meets the mountains and the Rio Grande divides two countries you will find Big Bend National Park, an often-forgotten national park for those who reside outside of Texas.

This was my first trip to Big Bend and a return for Shannon from when she visited as a young girl on a family vacation. We arrived at the first of April after Spring Break, but didn’t beat the heat as temperatures were in the 90’s for most of the two weeks we were there. We set camp in Lajitas at the Maverick Ranch RV Park, about 20 minutes from the National Park entrance. We feel this is the best RV park in the area: large sites, clean, a swimming pool, all the amenities and great service. A bonus it is right across the street from the Lajitas Golf Resort, and you have access to all of those amenities.

I have spent a lot of time in the mountains – Rockies, Appalachians, Sierra Nevada – but not so much in a desert mountain region. I found the untainted rawness of the area and natural diversity incredibly satisfying. It seemed that there was something new and special around every corner.

Because of the heat we did our hikes in the early mornings and mixed that up with some Jeeping on the off road trails. This allowed us to take the dogs some of the time as they are not allowed on the trails in the national park. Our top 3 4 hiking trails were:

• Lost Mine
• The Window
• Balanced Rock
• Closed Canyon (state park)

And I’ll give an honorable mention to Hoodoos in Big Bend State Park. Don’t ask me to rank them as they were all completely unique from one another (click the links above for my blogs on these hiking trails). Some of the state park trails do allow dogs but carefully assess this with your pet and plan accordingly, could be too hot or too rugged.

In addition to the great hiking, off roading and scenic drives we did some incredible zip lining and a trip to Boquillas Del Carmen Mexico which was a very unique experience. Boquillas is known as one of the safest border crossings into Mexico… and the crossing is done by rowboat! Yes, after briefly going through US customs, you take a short trail down to the river. $10 gets you a round-trip passage across the Rio Grande with a captain to row you on the very short crossing. Riding the burros (donkey) into town with your personal escort was awesome, along with lunch and a cocktail with new friends at one of the two restaurants in town. A definite “must do” when you visit Big Bend!

Keep in mind that this is a desert area and for the most part has been unaltered from its pure form. Don’t expect modern chain restaurants and hotels. But this is one of the things that makes it special… and speaking of food, we did find a few places we especially enjoyed:

• The Bean Café: a beautiful drive to Presidio
• Starlight Theater: popular and entertaining spot in Terlingua
• Canyon Brew Coffee: great cup of Jo but they have limited hours

We set out on this adventure to see the beauty of this country and meet great people along the way. This trip checked both boxes. Special thanks to Nick and Donna for making the trip even more special. We will see you down the road a piece!

Be sure to check out our photos of Big Bend.

Update: Return trip in December 2024

We returned to Big Bend for an encore appearance over the holidays and stayed for a month meeting up with old friends and making new ones. It was nice getting to spend more time there this trip, allowing us to cover much more of the park and also have some needed downtime. We revisited our favorite hikes from the first visit, but found many new adventures this time around.

The bookend canyons

Big Bend is bookended by Santa Elena Canyon to the west and Boquillas Canyon to the east. Both are beautiful and have short hikes to get you deep into the canyon with amazing views from both high and low. We saw wild horses grazing at both canyons and even got serenaded by a guitarist at Santa Elena Canyon who was getting ready to perform at a wedding at the riverfront.

Up the river with a paddle

The whole crew (ten of us) did a Rio Grande River trip on New Years eve hosted by Far Flung Outdoor Center. We canoed through a beautiful section of the river within the state park boundaries. This made for a very pleasant day and great way to end the year.

The grandaddy hike

Emory Peak (the highest point in Big Bend) and the South Rim trail are the ultimate hikes in the park. The are both hard hikes at 10-12 miles and around 2,400 feet of elevation gain. Some even add them both together as one day-hike but that would be well beyond my limits. I had my heart set on Emory Peak but all the good tips we got, diverted us to South Rim, and that advice did not disappoint. The views at the rim are incredible! We clocked in at around 12 1/2 miles and I felt every foot of it, and the effort also paid off with a black bear sighting.

A Badge of Honor

Black Gap Road is a popular Jeep Badge of Honor trail that we did not get a chance to do the first time around but tackled this time. This was a super fun trail that adds the opportunity to also drive most of the 54-mile River Road. Although nothing overly technical, River Road gives you views of the backside of the Chisos Basin. This makes for a long day, but it was very enjoyable.

A pine forest in the desert

Glenn Springs Road is the access to Black Gap but also the road that takes you to a very unique Big Bend hike, Pine Canyon. The four-mile round-trip trail starts out in a desert landscape with a moderate climb and then enters the canyon below Lost Mine. The landscape quickly changes to a forest of unique trees and ultimately to the sheer cliffs of a waterfall that is dry this time of year but still quite amazing. This was a favorite hike for all of us.

An old ore and a tinaja

Old Ore Road is another great 4-wheel drive trail in the park. It’s a long road, although not as long as River Road, and goes through some varied terrain and great views along the way. There’s also a big surprise as you get 5 miles from the end (traveling north to south). A short side trail takes you to the Ernst Tinaja trailhead. This might just be the most unique part of the park. This short canyon hike takes you through unique rock formations and then to the Tinajas, or pockets of water formed by waterfalls. Seeing a water feature like this anywhere is incredible but especially in the desert!

Christmas Mountain

Twas the season so we climbed the mountain! This is a unique off-road opportunity for a select few each day. The road going to Christmas Mountain is on private land and operated by the Terlingua Ranch Lodge. They allow two small groups to go up each day since there is no safe way to pass on the trail. We got lucky enough to get an afternoon reservation one day and literally had the mountain to ourselves. The narrow shelf road leads to an awesome 360 degree overlook on top.

Stuck between a rock and a cave

If you’ve ever driven into Lajitas you may have noticed a bunch of white domed structures off to the north of the road. These unique (yes, I’ve used that word a lot, but this is Big Bend) structures are vacation rentals as part of The Summit at Big Bend. Well, if you drive past these the narrow dirt road goes up the mountain to even more) unique structures. First you will find a small lodge that is built around an old mine, but then you will come to two “luxury caves”. Coined Texas’ only cave hotel rooms, they are certainly a site to be seen. Continue the journey to the summit and you will come to a picnic table and hammocks and some of the best view in the area. If you venture here, please respect the area and any potential guests that might be staying there because you are on private property.

Lajitas Mesa

Last, but certainly not least, is a fairly strenuous hike accessed right from our RV park to the Lajitas Mesa. The mesa is the backdrop to the RV park and we amazed ourselves afterwards with climbing this beast, as we gazed back up at it. It was good warmup hike for the South Rim and offered its own great views and a treat with seeing a herd of aoudad, an exotic north African sheep, and a family of javelinas.

We left Big Bend with new friends and a renewed appreciation for this amazing (and yes “unique”) place. We feel we covered the park well but know there always something new to explore, so we’ll be back.

Be sure to check out our updated photos of Big Bend.