Big Bend National Park
OCTOBER 13, 2020
We came to Big Bend National Park in October 2020. This year has had its fill of surprises and we are doing our best to make the most of it. This is the 8th park that we've been able to see so far this year and we've loved every min of it.
We had to come to San Antonio Texas for a quick business trip. In our effort to see all 62 national parks, we decided to make the 6-hour drive to Big Bend National Park.
After leaving San Antonio, we drove about 6 hours to the park. We enjoy getting to a new park in the late afternoon/evening. This lets us get a nice hike in before the sunsets. If time permits, we ALWAYS stop off at the visitors center to talk to a ranger to plan our trip.
Here are a few hints that we thought we would share...
Balanced Rock Trail
Big bend is not close to ANYTHING. If you have an RV or like to camp, this is a great park for that. The closest towns are Marathon or Tarlingua which are at least 30 mins - 1 hour outside the park. We stayed in Fort Stockton because of the hotel, gas, and food choices. This is a good 2 hours drive each way, from Fort Stockton.
Get gas and bring food and water with you into the park. There is a gas station and a restaurant in the park, but since it takes hours to get around in the park, you might want to bring your own.
Ask a ranger, at one of the visitor centers, how the gravel roads are when you're there. Some of the hikes are off of gravel roads that can wash out. Even with a 4x4 car, we were told not to try a few of the roads on this trip. Some of the roads were too rough and were eating up tires.
Balance rock trail is a great hike is 2 miles round trip down a 6-mile Grapevine Hills gravel road. Once we arrived at the trailhead, the hike took about an hour. The hike is an easy flat trail, until the last .25 mile. At this point, you are climbing up and then down rocks. BRING BUG SPRAY! The biting flies were crazy.
Drive up to the Chisos Mountains and watch the sunset at the Windows View Trail. The trailhead is at the visitor center. It’s a nice paved flat walk .4 mile loop walk. It’s a great place to sit and watch the sunset. You can not take a vehicle longer than 20ft long, because of the tight curves in the road.
Check out the Rio Grande River. You can see it at the Rio Grande Village, where you can even get in a rowboat and cross the river into Mexico. Bring your passport though!
We chose to take the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive and then hike the Santa Elena Canyon. It’s a 1.7-mile round trip hike that leads you across a spur of the river to the rest of the hike. When we crossed it, it was about mid-thigh high. If you have water shoes or sandals it’s helpful. We took our hiking boots off and waded across. There are a few steep switchbacks to hike up, but then levels out through the reeds and is in the shade. A family decided to float back down the river instead of hiking the climb back up.
Big Bend is one of the darkest places in the lower 48 states. It's an amazing place to stargaze.
Finally, if you think you have enough water and sunscreen, you need more. This park gets HOT. Most of it is in a desert after all.
Get out of your comfort zone and HAVE FUN!
Chisos Mountains at sunset at the Windows View Trail, Big Bend National Park