I didn’t expect this to happen, but Big Bend National Park became one of my absolute favorites when Mom and I visited in late April. Before we went, I didn’t know much about this park other than it’s in a remote part of West Texas and separated from Mexico by only the Rio Grande. I also assumed it would be a pretty cool place since it is a national park. In my experience, national parks are typically designated as such for good reason. Maybe it was a lucky combination of great weather, blooming cacti, and post-Covid timing, but there was something special about Big Bend and the beauty of the desert in spring.

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Many of my blog posts highlight how much you can see with even just a short time to visit a National Park, but this one is a little different. You really need multiple days to experience this park. We spent 2 and a half days just sightseeing the national park, and that was with some key areas, like the Hot Springs, closed due to COVID. Also, there is no easy or quick way to get to this park, and once you arrive, the place is huge. I’ll share more about travel logistics and recommendations later in this post, but first, I want to talk about the park.

The star attraction of the park is the short hike into Santa Elena Canyon, which was absolutely gorgeous on the day we visited. Located at the end of the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, the 1.8 mile round-trip trail isn’t difficult, but it is a bit steep in places. The views are definitely worth the effort. The trail ends when it meets the river, at which point you can ditch your hiking boots and enjoy a walk in the river between the picturesque walls of the canyon. We had planned ahead and brought water shoes, but plenty of people waded in barefoot.

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It would have been hard to top that first day, but on our second day, we drove to the opposite side of the park for another short hike into Boquillas Canyon. This was another beautiful area, although the trail got a little rougher than our comfort zone before we reached the end, so we turned around a bit early. Even so, it was well worth a visit.

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In “normal” times, there’s a border crossing station in this part of the park where visitors can legally cross the Rio Grande to visit the Mexican town of Boquillas. The border station was closed due to COVID, so that wasn’t an option during our trip. As you can imagine, the tourism economy of the town has been wrecked by the pandemic, and local entrepreneurs have set up “shops” along the trails in this part of the park where visitors can purchase crafts. Around lunchtime on the day of our visit, tamales and empanadas could also be purchased from locals on horseback.

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During most of our visit, the Chisos Basin section of the park was closed due to wildfires in the area. It re-opened on our final morning in the park, and we squeezed in a brief visit to see the Chisos Mountains and walk the short Window View Trail before we had to depart.

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Finally, I have to devote at least part of this post to the cacti of the Chihuahuan Desert. Through sheer luck and a few pandemic re-schedulings of our trip, we managed to visit Big Bend during what seemed to be the peak of an awesome cactus blooming season in late April. The abundance of spring blooms was part of what made our trip so special. These are just a few of my many colorful cacti photos.

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Logistics: We flew into the closest major airport, Midland-Odessa (MAF), which is still around a 4-hour drive from the entrance to Big Bend National Park, and we proceeded to put a lot of miles on our rental car. (If you want to take any of the park’s gravel roads, you need an SUV with some ground clearance. I’m not sure the rental car guy knew what he was unleashing when he casually mentioned we had picked a vehicle with All-Wheel-Drive.

Lodging recommendations: We enjoyed staying one night at the historic Holland Hotel in Alpine. For two people, the small but inexpensive “Nina’s Room” was a great option for one night. Alpine was also a great spot to stock up on picnic supplies and water before venturing into the park.

Near the park, we stayed three nights at Lajitas Golf Resort, which I would highly recommend! Weeknight prices are less expensive than weekends, and we took advantage of that. The restaurant at Lajitas was also excellent.

Other recommendations: Starlight Theatre in Terlingua Ghost Town was a great place for dinner, but you need to arrive early to secure a table. (By early, I mean 30 minutes before they open, and expect to wait in line. We arrived right at 5:00 – when they opened – on a Tuesday night with no live music, and we were lucky to get the last table of the first dinner seating.)

Big Bend Ranch State Park is a huge expanse of public land just to the west of Big Bend National Park. We opted to drive in through the state park, going from Alpine to Presidio, and then along the scenic Camino del Rio (River Road). We enjoyed the Hoodoos Trail and Closed Canyon Trail along the way as well. This was on our first day after flying in, and it made for an introduction to the area. If you choose this route, be sure to stop at Fort Leaton State Historic Site to pay the entrance fee and pick up a map of the park.

Within Big Bend National Park, the Lower Burro Mesa Pouroff Trail was short and easy, but also very scenic. I recommend it highly. We also enjoyed the Rio Grande Nature Trail, and the Fossil Discovery Exhibit would be a great stop for families with kids interested in dinosaurs.

We put our rental SUV to the test by driving the graveled Old Maverick Road instead of backtracking up the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive from Santa Elena Canyon. We didn’t have any trouble other than the washboard road was unpleasant, but it really wasn’t worth the effort. I’d recommend re-tracing your path and skipping the gravel road. The Ross Maxwell scenic drive is a highlight of the park anyhow, so seeing it twice is far from a drawback.

We also drove the Dagger Flats Auto Trail, another gravel road, which had a good payoff at the end because we happened to be there at the time the Dagger yucca plants were in bloom. Otherwise, it would not have been worth the time spent on the rough road. After the multiple gravel roads, we felt obligated to visit a car wash before returning the rental car to the airport.

Big Bend was my 37th National Park, and I couldn’t have dreamed up a better start to 2021’s travels. It far exceeded my expectations. I hope to return in the feature, but I have a bit of apprehension that it’ll never be quite as magical as it was on this first visit.