Big Things in Big Bend National Park
Place: Big Bend National Park
State: Texas
Closest Cities: El Paso, Terlingua
Time of Year: February 2025
How we got there: Plane/Road Trip
We recently did a road trip to New Mexico and Texas to see 3 national parks in 3 days ( you can read about it here https://dawntillduskaz.com/a-southwest-national-park-road-trip-3-parks-in-3-days/) and it was killing me that we could not fit Big Bend NP into that trip. The reason being that Big Bend is so remote and the closest large city is 5 hours away! We just couldn’t make that work. Our next 3 day weekend was Presidents Day and we added 2 extra days to include Valentine’s Day making this a 5 day excursion! February is a great time to visit this part of Texas because the temperatures are so mild.
Our trip started with a 45 minute Southwest flight from Phoenix to El Paso where we rented a car. This would cut 6 hours of driving leaving 5 hours left! El Paso airport is the closest major airport to Big Bend NP. This airport really embraces Valentine’s Day! We were greeted with a flower and candy!
On the drive to Terlingua where we would be spending the next 4 nights, we passed several interesting sites in the form of art. Right outside of Marfa, TX we stopped to see the most unique Prada “store” in the middle of nowhere! Super random art exhibit!
When we arrived in Terlingua, we found that we still had to drive another 16 miles out into the desert to Terlingua Ranch where we had rented a cabin. This wasn’t ideal to have to drive 16 miles to the main road every morning and another 16 miles back to our cabin every night however the ranch itself was located in a dark sky preserve which made it so worth it!! Not only that, but our cabin was so cute and the ranch had a cafe with homemade food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In fact, they were serving a Valentine’s dinner for 2 that evening including homemade chocolate cake and apple cobbler. Here is a link to their site https://terlinguaranch.com/.
I mentioned the dark sky preserve right?! Well it did not disappoint! The sky was incredible!
The next morning we drove into Big Bend National Park which took about an hour. Once inside the park, expect to drive a lot! Everything is big in Texas and this place is massive, however that is not how it got its name. Big Bend is named after the large bend in the Rio Grande River that runs through the park. The park is divided in 3 sections; The Chisos Mountains, Rio Grande Village, and The Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.
Chisos Basin
We had a big hiking day ahead of us. We planned to do 3 hikes in the Chisos Basin area of the park. The park has 3 major sections and we found it was best to do one section each day. Lost Mine Trail was top of my list but the parking area is really small and if you don’t get there early enough, it will fill up. This is exactly what happened, so we continued on to the Window Trail. This also has limited parking if you start from the Visitor’s Center so we choose to start from the Basin Campground which cuts off about 1 unnecessary mile of the hike. We hiked about 3.5 miles round trip to the Window pour off. This was an easy trail with stone steps along the way and a great view through the “window”.
Don’t confuse the Window Trail with the Window View Trail. These are two different trails, both starting from the visitor’s center. The Window Trail takes you to the “window” where as the Window View Trail just gives you a view of the “window” from afar. More on the Window View Trail later!
We thought we would check the parking at the Lost Mine Trailhead again, but with no luck. It was still full so we headed out of the Chisos Basin area and turned right toward the Panther Junction Visitor Center passing the only gas station in the park. From the Visitor’s Center we turned left in search of the Fossil Discovery Exhibit. This is worth a stop. We spent about 40 minutes reading about all the fossils found in this area and then had a picnic before heading back to the Chisos Basin for another attempt to find parking at the Lost Mine Trailhead.
This time we were in luck! Not as many people want to hike in the afternoon I guess, so we pretty much had the trail to ourselves. Lost Mine Trail is one of the most popular trails in the park. It is a 5 mile moderate round trip hike with an elevation gain of 1100 ft. At the top are beautiful views of Casa Grande, Juniper Canyon, the Chisos Basin, Pine Canyon, and the Sierra del Carmen which is in Mexico.
It was getting close to dinner by the time we finished the hike so we stopped in at the Chisos Mountain Lodge for a bite to eat while we waited for sunset. This would turn out to be a regrettable decision. We ordered a spinach salad and a grilled chicken sandwich to share. The meal was enjoyable enough at the time and then we walked over to the Window View Trail to wait for the sunset. This is a paved .5 mile trail where at certain times of the year the sun sets right in the window. This was not the case in January but the view is still nice.
As we made the stroll back to the car, I started to feel a little unwell. By the time we got back to the cabin, I realized that I had food poisoning. It was a rough night to say the least! It is no fun being sick and it is even worse when you are on vacation! We are pretty sure it was the spinach salad that did it.
Rio Grande Village
The next morning I wasn’t 100%, but the vomiting had stopped so we continued on as planned. Our early start was quite rewarding as we got to see the sunrise on the drive to the Rio Grande Village. So gorgeous!
And we spotted the wild burros and a coyote as well! It pays off to get up early!
On this morning, our first stop was the Rio Grande Hot Springs. I was hoping that the healing waters of the hot springs would bring some relief but that was wishful thinking! We drove the narrow dirt road to to the trailhead and walked about 1/2 mile to the springs.
The Rio Grande was a bit shallow in places. The other side is Mexico! You could just walk on over!
The hot springs were relaxing if you don’t mind the mud and algae!
Next on our agenda for the day was to cross the border of Mexico into the town of Boquillas Del Carmen. This takes a little more planning! You will need your passport because believe it or not, there is a small customs office right on the side of the Rio Grande just for tourists who want to legally cross the river!
You go through the building and out the door to a dirt path leading to the river. At the river you pay $5 each to the men in the rowboat and they will push (not row) you across! I imagine when the river is high you would need to row across but this was not the case!
Notice the trucks lined up on the Mexico side. There are no gas stations within 150 miles from this town. When we were leaving later in the day, we watched as men loaded gas cans onto a raft from the US side and float them across to the Mexican side. Border patrol explained that the men have relatives living in the US that purchase the gas from the one gas station in Big Bend NP and deliver it by raft to the other side!
Once on the other side, we paid a man to escort us on horseback into the village. You will need plenty of cash and US dollars are accepted. The path into town was super sandy so it was nice to be on horseback!
When we arrived, our tour guide took us to his home where is wife was selling souvenirs(every home in town was selling the same trinkets) and then he took us to a small restaurant that he recommended. I did not eat due to the episode from the previous night but Cesar enjoyed his plate with a mini tamale and mini taco!
We got a tour of town and then jumped on our horses for the ride back to the row boat.
Once back on the US side we had to go through customs which consisted of talking to a virtual customs agent on a computer and scanning your passport. Once approved we were free to come back in!
Our last stop of the day was the Boquillas Canyon Overlook and the Boquillas Canyon Trail. The trail was 1.5 miles round trip but felt longer to me because I was losing energy quickly. Knowing that is was probably our one and only trip to Big Bend, I didn’t want to miss anything! The trail took us down to the river and into the canyon where we saw some wild horses and a few cows.
After the hike we called it a day and drove the hour back to our cabin. We had dinner at the Bad Rabbit Cafe at the ranch and this time I was able to eat! I think they had the best food in the area and everything was homemade.
Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive
Our last day would be dedicated to the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive area. On the drive we watched the sunrise at Sotol Vista. We had heard that this is also a great sunset point.
Our goal was to get to Santa Elena Canyon early before the crowds. This is one of the most popular spots in Big Bend and it was my favorite! Santa Elena Canyon divides the Rio Grande with Mexico on the left and USA on the right! It is so beautiful and we made it there before we had to share it with others!
From the parking lot, there is a little boardwalk to the river.
From there you can hike the 1.5 mile trail into the canyon for some really spectacular views. It is a short steep climb on stone stairs and ramps to get to the top and you can follow the trail along the canyon walls where it will drop back down to the river.
I think these are the most special views in Big Bend National Park!
The Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive is an out and back road. It is 30 mile drive and along the way back we stopped to see the Mule Ears which is a unique rock formation. You can hike to get a bit closer but I liked the view from the lookout.
With the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive complete, we headed to Grapevine Hills Road for our next hike. This road is a dirt road with many groves and is meant for a 4 x 4. We were able to make it in a regular SUV but it is pretty bumpy! Our destination was the Balanced Rock Trailhead. This is a 2 mile out and back trail with some really cool rock formations. Most famous being Balanced Rock.
This would be our last site within Big Bend NP but we had one more anticipated adventure waiting for us back in Terlingua! I had booked us on a sunset horseback ride! While we were waiting for our ride, we drove into Lajitas to check out the resort.
Right before sunset, we saddled up and rode into the hills!
Moose had to make a pit stop!
The next morning we drove the 5 hours back to El Paso stopping to picnic under one of these roadside picnic spots!
It was a great trip despite the food poisoning! There is so much to see and do here so plan to spend at least 3 days! We hope you too get a chance to experience big things in Big Bend National Park! Please remember to hike responsibly and leave no trace!
