Leaving Fort Stockton and one of the state’s ugliest RV parks, we drove a few blocks and picked up US-385 south across west Texas. There is very little civilization south of town but the views of the mountains on both sides of the road are pretty good. I thought we had left all of the Texas mountains when we passed through Guadalupe Mountains National Park up on the New Mexico/Texas border near Carlsbad last week. I was wrong.
South of Marathon, Texas, the road starts to climb as we headed toward Big Bend National Park which borders the Rio Grande River and the states of Coahuila and Chihuahua in Mexico. There are massive mountains here, ranging up to around 7,800 feet. The Rio Grande has been sawing through this landscape for millions of years as it passes beneath the spectacular terrain.
We drove into the park through the strangely named Persimmon Gap at about 2,800′ elevation and continued south through the magnificent terrain to Panther Junction at 3,850′ before turning southeast downhill to Rio Grande Village alongside the river at 1,850′ elevation. We drove into and set up at the Rio Grande Village RV Park which boasts of 24 spaces, all of them full. Thank God we made a reservation because all of the park’s camping spots, with or without utility hookups, are occupied. Right off the bat, we spotted a vermilion flycatcher, a new bird on our list. We understand they also have javelinas, mule deer, mountain lions, coyotes and a host of other mammals, 450 species of birds, 55 species of reptiles including 5 types of rattlesnake, scorpions, tarantulas and 1300 species of plants. We can hardly wait to go exploring tomorrow.
There are pix. Click here