River Road in Big Bend National Park is a 51 mile primitive road that runs along the Rio Grande River, from Castolon to just West of Rio Grande Village. During the hottest parts of the year, this area is probably best avoided, as it gets much hotter along the Rio Grande than the rest of […]
Big Bend National Park
Review: Chisos Mountain Lodge – Big Bend National Park
Chisos Mountain Lodge is a passable place to stay in Big Bend National Park if you have to be in the center of things and just aren’t interested in doing any camping. You’ll have a good restaurant within walking distance next door and mutliple trails begin in the immediate vicinity. Don’t expect luxury though. If you’re looking […]
Ward Spring Trail – Big Bend National Park
Ward Spring Trail is a modest uphill hike from the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to the base of the Chisos Mountains. The spring itself was originally used as a water source for cattle on the Homer Wilson Ranch. As you hike the trail, you’ll see the old galvanized pipe along the trail that was used to move […]
Backcountry Camping – Pine Canyon Road – Big Bend
If you want to do some backcountry camping near the base of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park, but don’t want to deal with all of the traffic off of Glenn Spring Road, Pine Canyon Road or Juniper Canyon Road are good options. Pine Canyon Road is a much better quality road than […]
Review: The Gage Hotel – Marathon, Texas
You want to go to Big Bend National Park, but you have no interest in roughing it? The Gage Hotel is the best destination if you’re coming in from the North side. That is, if you don’t mind shelling out a little money. Neither the rooms nor the food are cheap. It is, in our opinion […]
Devil’s Den Trail – Big Bend National Park
The Trailhead for Devil’s Den Trail can either be the Trailhead for Dog Canyon Trail, or you can start it a little further South (as recommended in Hiking Big Bend National Park by Laurence Parent), which we won’t cover here as we started our hike at the Dog Canyon Trailhead (we did both areas in […]
Backcountry Camping: Grapevine Hills Road – Big Bend
If you’re looking for a good backcountry camping spot in Big Bend National Park, but still want to be near Chisos Basin and park headquarters at Panther Junction, Grapevine Hills Road is a good option. You can get to the turn-off to Grapevine Hills Road by taking a left out of Panther Junction and driving […]
Dog Canyon Trail – Big Bend National Park
To get to the Trailhead for Dog Canyon Trail, head South about 3.5 miles from the Persimmon Gap Visitor’s Center. Park in the pull-off on the left with the roadside exhibit (find it here on your GPS 29.622407, -103.142906). If you pass a bridge, you’ll know you’ve gone too far. Distance: 1.9 miles one way […]
Backcountry Camping: Glenn Spring Road – Big Bend
Glenn Spring Road is a 16 mile unimproved dirt road that runs from a point just a few miles Southeast of Panther Junction on Hwy 118 to River Road East near the Rio Grande. The backcountry campsites on this road are primarily on the North portion of the road. To get there, take a right […]
Backcountry Camping: Croton Spring – Big Bend
Two campsites. Each site accommodates 2 vehicles and 6 people. Croton Spring is one of the easier backcountry campsites to get to in Big Bend National Park (you can almost say it’s not a backcountry campsite, but park management would probably differ with you on that). It’s the first left turn past the turn-off to […]