Big Bend National Park

Big Bend covers more than 800,000 acres, a spread of Chihuahuan Desert about the size of Rhode Island, and it holds three very different worlds inside one boundary. There is the desert itself, wide and dry and full of cactus, ocotillo, and lizards. There is the river, the Rio Grande, which forms the whole southern border of the park and the border between the United States and Mexico. And there are the Chisos Mountains, which climb to Emory Peak at 7,832 feet, high enough that the top is cool and green while the desert below bakes.

The mountains are what geographers call a sky island: a range that rises so far above the hot desert around it that the climate up top is like a different place entirely, cooler and wetter, with pine and oak and even black bears and mountain lions. Down at river level, the Rio Grande has carved three great canyons. The most famous is Santa Elena Canyon, where sheer limestone walls stand about 1,500 feet tall, straight up on both sides, with the green river slipping quietly between them. A short hike takes you right to the mouth of it, where Texas is on your left and Mexico is on your right.

The park sees more than 450 kinds of birds, more than any other national park in the country, along with roadrunners, javelinas, and the occasional bear. The one hike people talk about most is the Window Trail, which follows a canyon down through the Chisos Basin to a natural rock frame, the Window, where the whole desert and the far mountains suddenly open up in front of you. Big Bend rewards patience and a little planning, but it gives back a kind of quiet and space that is getting harder to find.

• North Entrance at Persimmon Gap, off US-385 coming down from Marathon, is open year-round. This is the main way in from the north and the road leads toward Panther Junction, the park's central hub and visitor center.
• West Entrance at Maverick, off TX-118 from Study Butte and Terlingua, is also open year-round. It is the closest entrance to Santa Elena Canyon and the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive along the western side of the park.
• Big Bend is remote, so plan your driving approach carefully. From the north, come down US-385 through Marathon, which is about 40 miles from the park. From the west, take TX-118 through Alpine and Study Butte. Either way you will be driving a long way through empty country, so fill your gas tank and stock up on food and water before you reach the park.

• Santa Elena Canyon is the park's signature sight. An easy hike of about 1.7 miles round trip carries you into the mouth of a canyon whose sheer walls stand around 1,500 feet tall, with the Rio Grande flowing quietly between them and Mexico on the far side.
• The Chisos Basin sits at 5,401 feet, cradled in the mountains, and holds the park's lodge, campground, and restaurant. It is the cool green heart of Big Bend and the trailhead for the Window Trail and the climb toward Emory Peak.
• Boquillas Crossing lets you cross the Rio Grande into the little Mexican village of Boquillas del Carmen by rowboat. It is an official port of entry, so you must bring a US passport, and the crossing keeps its own seasonal days and hours.
• The Boquillas Hot Springs sit right on the riverbank, the ruins of an old bathhouse where warm mineral water pools beside the cool Rio Grande, reached by a short walk from the historic Hot Springs district.

People have lived in this hard, beautiful country for a very long time. The Chisos people gave the mountains their name and made their home in the high country before newcomers arrived. Later the Comanche rode a great war trail through the region on their way to and from Mexico, and Apache bands moved through the desert and the canyons as well. The land holds their marks in rock shelters, painted pictographs, and trails worn into the desert floor, and the park works to protect and respect those places.

The country along the Rio Grande also carries a deep Mexican and Mexican-American heritage. Long before there was a park, families ranched and farmed the river bottoms and the desert flats, running cattle and goats, growing crops in the floodplain, and building small communities on both sides of the water. Villages like Boquillas grew up around the river crossings, and the border here was for generations more a place people lived across than a line that divided them.

The idea of a national park in the Big Bend country took shape in the 1930s. Texans pushed for it, the state bought up the land, and the Civilian Conservation Corps came in to build roads and trails, including much of the winding route up into the Chisos Basin, work you can still see and use today. In 1944 the state handed the land to the federal government and Big Bend became a national park, the first national park in Texas.

In the years since, the park has grown into one of the great strongholds of dark, quiet desert in the country. Ranching families moved on, the desert reclaimed old homesteads, and the wildlife came back. Today Big Bend protects not just the canyons and mountains but the layered human story of the borderlands, from the first peoples of the Chisos to the ranchers and river communities who called this remote corner of Texas home.

• Big Bend has some of the darkest night skies in the entire lower forty-eight. It is certified as an International Dark Sky Park, and on a clear, moonless night the Milky Way is bright enough to cast a faint shadow.
• More kinds of birds have been recorded here, over 450 species, than in any other national park in the United States, because the river, the desert, and the mountains bring together birds from very different worlds.
• The Chisos Mountains are the only mountain range in the country that sits entirely inside a single national park.
• You can legally cross into Mexico inside the park. At Boquillas Crossing a rower ferries visitors across the Rio Grande in a small boat to the village of Boquillas del Carmen, and it is an official port of entry, so a passport is required.
• Big Bend is home to dinosaur history. Fossils found in the park include the bones of one of the largest flying creatures ever discovered, a pterosaur with a wingspan estimated around 35 feet.
• The temperature swing here is huge. On a summer day the desert floor along the river can top 100 degrees while the Chisos Basin, only a short drive up, stays many degrees cooler in the mountains.
• The Rio Grande, which forms the park's whole southern border, is also an international boundary, so one bank is Texas and the United States while the other is the state of Coahuila in Mexico.

• An entrance fee applies, charged per vehicle and good for seven days. Interagency annual passes are accepted; check the park website for current rates.
• There is no gas station inside the park. The last fuel is at Study Butte near the west entrance, about 26 miles out, or at Marathon to the north, about 40 miles away, so fill up before you arrive.
• Cell service is nonexistent in most of the park, so download maps ahead of time, tell someone your plans, and do not count on your phone for directions or help.
• The Chisos Basin, up at 5,401 feet in the mountains, has a lodge, a campground, and a restaurant, and it is cooler than the desert below. It is the one place inside the park with rooms, so it books up well ahead.
• Carry far more water than you think you need, at least a gallon per person per day in the desert, and start any long hike early in the morning before the heat builds.

Very remote. Big Bend sits in the far southwest corner of Texas, hours from any city, and there is no gas station inside the park. Fill your tank and stock up on food, water, and any supplies before you arrive, either at Marathon about 40 miles north or Study Butte about 26 miles west. Cell service does not work in most of the park, so download maps ahead of time and let someone know your plans.

Yes. Big Bend charges a per-vehicle entrance fee that is good for seven days, and interagency annual passes are accepted. Check the National Park Service website for the current rate before you go.

The park is open year-round and both main entrances stay open in every season. Some roads, backcountry areas, and the Boquillas border crossing keep their own seasonal or weather-dependent schedules, and summer heat can make certain trails unsafe in the middle of the day. Check current conditions on the park website before you set out.

Fall through spring is the sweet spot, roughly October into April. The desert is far more comfortable then, with mild days and cool nights, and the higher Chisos Basin is pleasant. Summer can be dangerously hot down along the river and in the low desert, so if you come in summer, stay high in the mountains and hike only in the early morning.

The desert floor along the Rio Grande can top 100 degrees in summer, and the heat can be dangerous for hiking. The Chisos Basin, up around 5,400 feet in the mountains, runs noticeably cooler, sometimes many degrees cooler than the river. If you visit in the warm months, plan to spend the hottest hours up in the Chisos and carry plenty of water everywhere you go.

Yes. The Boquillas Crossing inside the park is an official port of entry where a rower ferries visitors across the Rio Grande to the village of Boquillas del Carmen. You must bring a US passport, and the crossing keeps its own seasonal days and hours, so check that it is open before you plan on it.

It is some of the best in the country. Big Bend is an International Dark Sky Park with almost no light pollution for hundreds of miles, so on a clear night far from the full moon the Milky Way stretches bright across the whole sky. Bring a red flashlight, let your eyes adjust for a while, and look up from anywhere away from lit buildings.

Because the park is so large and so far from everything, give it at least two or three days. That is enough to hike Santa Elena Canyon, explore the Chisos Basin and the Window Trail, drive the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, and spend an evening under the stars. A week is not too much if you want to slow down and take it all in.

Pets are allowed in developed areas, on roads, and in campgrounds, but they are not permitted on trails or in the backcountry, which rules out most of the hikes. In the desert heat, never leave a pet in a vehicle and always carry water for them. Check the park website for the current pet rules before you come.

Respect the heat and the distances. Carry at least a gallon of water per person per day, start long hikes early, and turn back before you run low. The Rio Grande can look calm but has currents and drop-offs, so be careful near and in the water. Watch for javelinas, snakes, and, in the mountains, the occasional bear or mountain lion, and give all wildlife plenty of room.