Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park is a stunning landscape of desert and mountains bordering the Rio Grande River in southwest Texas that pierces into Mexico like an arrowhead from the north. The desert floor lies at about 1,800 feet above sea level while a number of the mountain peaks reach nearly 8,000 feet into the sky. Highway 385 rolls south from Marathon, TX, and aims directly into the center of the park, which lies behind this first row of mountains in the early morning sun. The entrance to the park is at Persimmon Gap, a low pass just left of center in the photograph below.
In a gross generalization the few paved roads in the park look like a trident aimed towards Mexico. Two legs reach left and right around the Chios Mountains, which command the center of Big Bend. The Chios loom in front of us on the southern horizon.
As always, the National Park Service produces an excellent guide and map. The red lines denote the paved roads and the plan is to visit all of them.
I will be exploring from east to west so the adventure starts at Panther Junction where I turn east and head down to Rio Grande Village, a park complex on the north bank of the Rio Grande. The name is a misnomer, it’s not really a village but a visitor center, campground and store. Turning at Panther Junction the highway begins a 20 mile descent to the river. It’s a very hot day (temp will eventually top out at 103), and a haze shadows the brilliant blue sky.
A thin strip of green in the distance denotes the Rio Grande River, which is meandering across a flood plain before abruptly entering a slot canyon to the east. Across the Rio Grande (hard to see because of the haze) is the Mexican village of Boquillas Del Carmen.
There is no bridge across the Rio Grande in the area. However, tourists can cross over to Boquillas by walking through a US Border Station down to the river bank, hiring a Mexican canoe to ferry across the river (though most of the time one can actually walk across the river), and then hire a burro to ride to the village which is more than a mile east of the crossing. Not on my agenda in the 100+ heat! Instead I drive a couple miles east to the Boquillas Canyon overlook. A curious pattern repeats itself along the Rio Grande for over a hundred miles. The river slices through mountain ranges in very narrow slot canyons, narrow slits in the mountains with sheer walls rising over a thousand feet on each side, and then spreads out over a flood plain before entering another canyon. There are at least four of these canyons along the southern border of Big Bend National Park. As I head east to the overlook, the road looks like it is going to collide with the enormous cliffs that appear on the Mexican side of the river.
Once at the overlook I climb nearly 100 stairs to a viewpoint. Remember, it’s over 100 degrees and I’m an old duffer, so it was a bit of a struggle. Once at the viewpoint, there is good news and bad news. To my right is a spectacular view of the Rio Grande flood plain to the west. In the distance, out of sight around a bend in the river, is Boquilllas and Rio Grande Village.
To my left is a view of the sheer canyon walls. Look closely, there is a diagonal line 0f rock in the picture from upper left to the valley floor. That’s the front edge of the slot canyon that the Rio Grande enters at this point. Here’s the bad news. I had hoped to hike to the actual entrance to the canyon but it turns out that after having already climbed all those stairs to get up to the viewpoint I now had to hike down an equal number of steps (or more!) and walk across the sandy valley floor in order to get to the canyon entrance in the distance. Didn’t happen!
Also on the viewpoint was a rock covered with Mexican handicrafts for sale and a jar in front for money. It’s somewhat of an “honor” system, there is no one manning the table because it is there illegally. All of the national park literature and rangers warn tourists that purchasing these items that appear along trails is illegal. Looking across the river into Mexico I can see a canoe pulled up on the southern bank and a couple of men in the trees, watching…
I spend the night at the campground in Rio Grande Village (which, incidentally, was full – all of the campgrounds in the park regularly fill up so planning ahead is crucial). The next day I start by driving back to Panther Junction and then just beyond, turning off the main highway and climbing up into the Chios Mountains in the center of the park, a short drive that is very narrow and steep. Vehicles longer than 24 feet are banned from the road, at 23.5 feet I sneak under the limit. The Chios Mountains are an example of a “sky island” in the desert. Temperatures are up to twenty degrees cooler in the basin in the middle of the Chios, and it is the most desirable place for tourists to stay as a result. Plants and animals exist up here in isolation. Signs warn of bears and mountain lions. There is a small lodge and campground, reservations are a must. While it is not, the basin seems like the inside of a volcano caldera, surrounded by sharp peaks on all sides. Turning left off the main road we head straight into (and up!) the Chios.
I didn’t get to take many pictures as the road is very narrow, steep, and twists and turns as it climbs up and into the basin. This views is down into the basin from the edge. If you look closely you can see the small campground on the basin floor.
Heading back down from the Chios I join the main highway and turn west for about 20 miles to Castolon Junction where we turn south and drive the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive south to once again touch the Rio Grande. The road twists and turns through the mountains climbing up to a pass that gives a stunning view south towards the Rio Grande, which is not yet visible but one of the premier sights in the park certainly is. The wall of cliffs in the background rise up from the desert floor but the cleft in the middle is Santa Elena Canyon. There the Rio Grande emerges from the west and flows east along the bottom of the cliffs.
In order to get to the canyon first the road takes us to Castolon Ranger Station. Castolon was first settled by refugees fleeing the Mexican Revolution of 1910. The small Rio Grande flood plain was farmed, mostly subsistence farming and cotton. A small US Army post was established with the goal of policing the border but by the time the few buildings were completed in 1920 the need had evaporated. The army barracks now houses the store, other buildings provide housing for park employees on a bluff scattered above and below with more ruins.
Eight miles east of Castolon along the valley floor is Santa Elena Canyon, at this point a distant vertical crack in a 1,500 foot tall wall of rock.
A viewpoint allows the first view into the canyon.
A mile further on the road ends at a parking lot where a hiking trail into the canyon begins. A short walk from the parking lot takes on out on the Rio Grande and affords spectacular views up the Rio Grande into the canyon.
Turning back the views to the north are of the Chios Mountains to the east.
Passing through Castolon and heading north up the Ross Maxwell Scenic Highway gives a different view. A unique rock formation called the “Mules Ears” come into sight. Looks like Joey’s ears to me!
The climb out of the Rio Grande Valley culminates with a stunning view to the north, down and across the desert floor.
Really a spectacular visit to an area of the country that is way off the beaten track!
Next up: The Famous River Road
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