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Juniper Canyon Road is a great spot for some backcountry camping in Big Bend National Park. The road traffic is very light due to it being remote and the road being so rough. Just make sure that you are in a high clearance vehicle with good all-terrain tires before heading out there.
Click here for a larger topographic map of the area.
To get to Juniper Canyon Road take a right out of the Big Bend National Park Headquarters at Panther Junction and drive approximately 4.5 miles until you see the Glenn Spring Road turn-off on the right. Once you’re on Glenn Spring Road, drive just under seven miles and you’ll see a stone marker on the right marking the entrance to Juniper Canyon Road (29.191957, -103.171372).
Don’t forget, before heading out there, you need to get a backcountry use permit prior to using these sites.
Although this road is not that long, it can take quite a bit of time to get to the end. You’ll likely not want to drive more than 5 – 10 miles per hour. Its one of the rougher unimproved roads in big bend.
While you’re creeping along the rough road, keep your eyes out for Peregrine Falcons high in the brush. We saw several while we were passing through here.
Robber’s Roost Campsite
Accommodates 2 vehicles and 8 people
This campsite is the larger of the two sites on Juniper Canyon Road. There are three cleared sites for tents and plenty of room to park. Highly recommended for larger parties.
It’ll be the first campsite you see on your left. Approximately three miles after the turn-off on Juniper Canyon Road.
Twisted Shoe Campsite
Accommodates 1 vehicle and 4 people
Twisted Shoe is about a mile further down the road from Robber’s Roost. This site only has one cleared pad for a tent, so its good for small parties, but would be a bit tight for more. It has an interesting boulder sitting right next to the tent site.
Juniper Canyon Road runs a little over five miles total and dead-ends at the trailheads for Juniper Canyon Trail and Dodson Trail (29.223874, -103.241127), both long and strenuous hikes. Neither trail is recommended for inexperienced hikers, but are highly recommended for the fit and experienced.
Related Posts:
- Backcountry Campsites – Big Bend National Park
- Big Bend National Park Camping
- Big Bend National Park – Main Page
- Big Bend National Park Hiking Trails
- Big Bend National Park Maps – The Complete List
- Desert Hiking Clothing – What to Wear and Why

What car did you drive Juniper Canyon Road? The National Park website says 4×4 is required but I have never heard anyone give a description of how rough the road actually is. I drive a 2014 Subaru Outback which has AWD and was wondering if I would have any problems on the road.
A 4×4 is recommended. I think at a minimum you need high clearance and good quality all-terrain tires. The road can be very rough with quite a few large rocks and thorns that could do some damage to street tires (any tire if you’re not careful) and potentially the undercarriage of a low clearance vehicle. If you have any doubts, I would recommend NOT driving down this road. It can be very rough (one of the roughest, behind Black Gap and the far end of Paint Gap) and its very remote. A flat tire can be changed, but a punctured oil pan will put you out of business and it could be well over a day until the next vehicle comes by.
We have a Jeep Rubicon with large off-road tires and it was a bumpy, slow drive.
Pine Canyon and Glenn Spring Roads are good alternatives that are in the same general area.