Big Bend National Park in southwestern Texas offers more than 200 km of hiking trails.
Its wild elevation changes (from the Chisos Mountains to the desert)
are the reason for its biological and geological variety.
The Persimmon Gap in the north is the most used entrance to the park, leading
to the visitor's information center at the foot of the Chisos Mountains.
The most popular campground is located at the center of the Chisos,
in the Basin. Not only is the Basin scenic enough, but it is the trailhead for
two of the most famous hikes (the short Window trail and the long South Rim trail via Emory Peak).
If the Basin campground is full, the next best choices are along the Rio Grande:
Rio Grande Village to the east, and Cottonwood to the southwest.
Cottonwood is the least touristy.
(But Big Bend is not a busy park: we were able to find a campsite in the Basin campground on the busy Memorial Day weekend).
The nearest major airport is in El Paso (500 km), and next would be Austin (700 km).
- The "South Rim Trail" (28-30 km) climbs the Chisos Mountains, including the Emory Peak (highest peak in park at 2384m), exploring a continuously changing high-mountain desert terrain with lots of diverse vegetation and geology. The trail starts at the Basin campground (and there are two further parking lots up the road, one at the store and one at the lodge). The trail winds its way up the mountains to
the pinnacles overlooking the basin. Then a detour can be taken to the summit of Emory Peak. Returning to the Pinnacles trail and continuing south, one coasts
a creek for a while before reaching the south rim, with views extending all
the way to the Rio Grande. Following the (mostly downhill) trail to the west,
one can return to the Basin campground with views of Emory Peak on the right
and of the valley to the left.
- The hike up the Santa Elana canyon (6km) is relatively short but very rewarding.
The trailhead is located at the end of the paved road past Cottonwood camp.
The road can be flooded after rains. Unfortunately the rangers discourage
driving there if there is just a bit of water on the road, in which case you
can a) ignore the rangers (most cars will make it through 10-20cm of water)
or b) park the car before the flooded area and
start walking from there to the end of the paved road.
Once at the parking lot, walk 50 meters to the creek. The creek coming from the
right is the Terlingua Creek. The river coming from the Santa Elena
canyon in front of you is the Rio Grande. If you walk upstream about 100 meters,
you should find an easy way to wade the Terlingua creek, and you should see
the trailhead on the other bank. Once you are on the trail, it is an easy hike
up the bank of the Rio Grande into the canyon. Note the echo.
- The Burro Mesa hot springs are located about 2km from the road. The hot springs are located at the top of a dramatic cliff and the trail is a display of typical desert vegetation.
- The Window trail from the Basin campground is popular at sunset.
- The eastern part of the park does not have trails that are as popular as these, but at least two offer great views of the river: the Boquitas overlook (at the very end of the paved road) and the Rio Grande overlook (the trail starts from the parking lot of the ranch past the store of the Rio Grande village).
- Dagger Flat is a good place to see giant yucca flowers in march and april.
Milestones for the South Rim hike:
- Basin Campground's Window trailhead
- Junction with trail to the lodge 15'
- Junction with Pinnacles trail 25'
- Top of Pinnacles 2h45' (10' break)
- Junction with Emory Peak trail 3h
- Emory Peak 3h30' (30' break)
- Colima trail junction 4h30'
- South Rim 5h30' (30' break)
- Basin Campground 9h
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Links
The trails are well marked and maintained.
The western part of the park is the most impressive.
It can be truly very hot.
Options for dining are basically limited to the "ghost town" of Terlingua.
Beware of the obnoxious border control post if you are coming from the north.
In theory, you are required to show evidence that you are a USA citizen and,
if you are not, evidence that you are legally in the USA.
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