Big Bend National Park Day 1

Posted by hankster

On Monday headed in the Big Bend NP about 9:30am. It was nice sunny day, a few clouds and just a bit hazy. I fun going into a place and not really knowing where you are going to go and what to expect. Stopped at the entrance gate, paid the $20 for a 7 day pass, took the map and decided to hit the main HQ at Panther Junction which about 20 miles away and is sort of in the middle of the park.

Once there I got a few ideas of what to see from the rangers and figured I would just do the main paved roads first, see the main sights and then maybe dig a bit deeper into the less traveled dirt roads. I could see that I would not be able to travel all of the paved roads in one day so it was off the the far southeast part of the park to Rio Grande Village where there is an overlook to the Rio Grande River. Rio Grande Village also has the only spot in the park where you can camp in an RV with hookups. It's not much of a camping area as it is just a parking lot that they added hookups to, but it would be a cool place to stay just because it is in the park. I didn't drive through the RV camping area but it appeared they were close to full.

It isn't the destination that is so great but the drive to get to them. On one side of the road you see the mountains and other side desert for miles. It seems every few miles the scenery changes and there is a serprise you I didn't expect. Even though there were bear and mountain lion warning signs, all I ever seen was a roadrunner or two.

While driving down to the Rio Grande Village I noticed a dirt road named Hot Springs. This got my curiosity up so I just had to go down it on when leaving the Village. While the dirt road is far from smooth, it is passable with a car. Once you get down the road for a mile or so you come on a small parking are with signs that warn no trailers or even dual wheel trucks beyond this point. I'm adventurous and even though my quad cab long bed truck can be a pain to maneuver I figured I'd give it try. Much the road is one lane with walls one one side and a 20' cliff drop on the other. I made it though the mile road but it was tight and I I almost got a scrape on the side of the truck bed a coupe of times.

A 1/2 mile walk gets you back to the Hot Spring which is right on the Rio Grande River and has been built up so you can easily get in and have a nice hot soak. I'd didn't bring any bathing gear so I just sat a bit and enjoyed to river. Along the path to the hot spring you find trinkets for sale. It appears they are made by some of Mexico's native population that cross the Rio Grande to place them there for visitors to purchase. If you look across the river where the trinkets are you'll see a couple of them sitting next to the river watching. It was an enjoyable side trip and I was glad I took the time to visit.

I then headed to Chisos Basin which is up in the mountains a bit. It is a steep curvy drive with a number of sharp 180 degree turns. They recommend no trailers over 20' or RVs over 24' on this road and I would agree. This is a great drive that cuts through the mountains and leads to a primitive camping area and a developed resort area that has a restaurant, store and motel style rooms. Another great drive that you can't miss.

From there it was time to head back to the RV. I had already spent over 6 hours in Big Bend NP and I was bushed. I got back to the RV, puled out the awning and me a Spud just sat in the shade to enjoy the rest of the evening. Temps were in the low 60's and it was nice just to sit and relax.

More pictures of my first day in Big Bend NP.