Early April 2021

Big Bend National Park is indeed BIG. The park, which encompasses 800,000 acres, is in the southwest corner of Texas, sharing a border with Mexico. It includes canyons, deserts, forested mountains, and the Rio Grande. Figuring out where to start can be challenging. We were really fortunate to find a guide -and new friend – to give us a hand.

We had decided that we’d camp outside of the park and make day trips into various areas. For the first time ever, we found a place to camp through Hipcamp, which is kind of an AirBNB for campers. We looked at the options in the area and chose “Valerie’s Camp,” in the Chihuahan desert near Terlingua, Texas.

The campsites are scattered around Valerie’s cabin, kind of freeform, with plenty of space for solitude.

We were the only guests the nights we were there, so we had it pretty much to ourselves. It was dry camping, which meant no electricity or water at our campsite. However, there’s a great shower and the outhouse has a flush toilet – both big deals where water is so scarce. It has lovely views. It has dark sky and stars. And Valerie is a terrific host.

As this was our debut experience with Hipcamp, we weren’t quite sure what to expect, especially after driving several miles on unpaved, unmarked roads in the desert, and being a bit uncertain about a few of our turns. Valerie greeted us as we drove in, and immediately made us feel welcome. Valerie is a professional guide for the area, as well as a hiker and camper herself, so she knows what’s interesting and meaningful to campers. She made excellent suggestions for visiting Big Bend and Terlingua. We would have missed a lot of cool stuff without her help. We are grateful to have met her. We will be staying in touch, and hope our paths will cross again!

On Easter Sunday, we made our first foray into Big Bend National Park. We drove into the center of the park to see the Chisos Basin. This is a more forested area of the park. We hiked a trail that gave us a great view of “The Window.”

The next day, we took the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, which ended at St. Elena Canyon.

With every turn in the road, the scenery grew more dramatic. This isn’t one of America’s most visited parks, which was good for us because traffic was light, but more people should come to experience this amazing park.

We decided to spend a couple more nights in Terlingua, to have the time to return to the park and explore further. We were able to get a campsite at a place that usually caters to tent campers, but made an exception for our small rig.

From this campsite, we went back into the park and explored the eastern side. We saw a Fossil Discovery Exhibit that was very well done. In earlier times (as in 256 million years ago!), this part of Texas was underwater in an inland sea. That explains why marine fossils can be found high in the mountains and part of why this area is of such archeological interest.

We continued on, driving south to the Rio Grande Overlook at Boquillas Canyon.

Boquillas Canyon is a Port of Entry for the US. Day visitors from the US used to be able to cross over to spend a day in Mexico. However, it’s currently closed. We saw a stack of wares for sale in the parking area – blankets, pottery, jewelry, walking sticks – and we saw a Mexican caballero riding his horse on the riverbank, trying to sell tequila. Valerie had advised us not to be tempted, as such purchases are illegal, and the Border Patrol is always nearby – even if you don’t see them. So, we turned down the offer of homemade tequila and moved on.

On our last night in Terlingua, we had a nice dinner at the Starlight Theatre restaurant. Another one of Val’s great suggestions!

This one-time movie theatre is the biggest action in Terlingua’s “Ghost Town,” and our dinner was very good. However, the Ghost Town itself isn’t much to write home about.

My auto enthusiast friends will recall the race car driver and hot rod Mustang developer Carroll Shelby. In the 1960s, Shelby led an investment group that bought up 350,000 acres of land around Terlingua. Shelby dreamt of creating a Palm Springs of Texas, where fat cats would hang out. His dream didn’t pan out quite that way, mostly his own Rat Pack of buddies and team mates enjoyed their time there. However, you can still see the remnants of the Terlingua racing team, especially in the fighting rabbit logo that Shelby promoted. It’s still the town’s coat of arms.

We left Terlingua and drove Route 170 west, along the Rio Grande, through Big Bend Ranch State Park.

This is a road flanked by stunning scenery. Such a surprise to see almost no other cars on the road. We stopped and hiked the Closed Canyon Trail.

This is a short, slot canyon trail that narrows the deeper you go, until near the end, very little light strikes the canyon floor. As a result, the temperatures are cooler there, and trees and wildflowers can thrive in tough conditions.

And all along the way, cacti are in bloom, mostly opuntia. The floral display, especially against a desert background, is stunning.

This drive through Presidio county is also noted for Hoodoos. Hoodoos result when a layer of harder rock is on top of soft rock, such as limestone.

Over time, the softer rock is worn away, leaving oddly shaped, sometimes precariously balanced, towering rock formations. Some people call these the Stonehenge of Texas. Mmmm…not so much to my eye. I thought they looked more like mushrooms. One broadly horizontal one definitely looked like the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile.

From here, we turned north and headed toward Marfa and Alpine, Texas