Our first auto tour of Big Bend National Park took us through all the climate zones. The park is gigantic; the road distance across the terrain from east to west is more than 60 miles and elevations range from about 1,400′ to nearly 6,000′. Magnificent ridges of mountain groups screen each other from view. The rock is both sedimentary and igneous so the variety of geological formations is nearly infinite. Before we even left the RV campground area, we spotted a golden fronted woodpecker, roadrunners, a vermilion flycatcher, a coyote, a chipmunk and either a Bell’s or Hutton’s vireo. There are ravens as big as bread loaves lingering around the trailer.
We initiated our cruise in the southeast end of the park in the area surrounding Rio Grande Village, located, strangely, right next to the Rio Grande. At this point in the river’s progress to the sea, it is anything but “grande.” Perhaps “poquito (itty-bitty)” or “verde (green)” would be a better description. In a few months the rain, if any, will come and the river will exhibit a substantially higher flow rate and a different color.
In this end of the park is the Boquillas Crossing, a pathway into Mexico across the river. Once travelers have shown their valid passport to the Homeland Security goons on this side of the river, a phone call is made to the ferrymen on the Mexico side who will dispatch their craft to transport your car into the tiny town of Boquillas, Mexico. It costs $5, round trip. A good portion of the Boquillas residences appear to be pastel-colored steel containerized cargo units with rectangular window holes cut in the sides.
There is also a Boquillas Canyon Overlook not much further down the road and the river and rock formation views are terrific. One can linger near the Rio Grande at about 1,700′ elevation and gaze up the almost-vertical cliff faces to see the pines growing up on the surrounding 6,000′ ridges. The scenery is fantastic.
After a spin down all the paved roads in the east end of the park, we drove west for about 20 miles, climbing all the way, to Panther Junction, location of a road intersection, a government visitor center and an Alon gas station. From the intersection, we turned southwest and drove up the curvy and sometimes-steep road into the Chisos Mountains, specifically to Chisos Basin. This is a truly spectacular drive from warm desert with a variety of stabby and prickly vegetation into a juniper, pine, fir and leafy hardwood forest above 5,000′ elevation. The basin is completely surrounded by massive rock cliffs and a truly amazing assortment of flora. I highly recommend a visit to Chisos Basin if you want to be overwhelmed with stunning scenery.
Before we ran out of light, we drove out of the Basin, down to Panther Junction and continuing downhill to Rio Grande Village. We spotted a foraging coyote wandering around near our trailer. He seemed unconcerned with us tourists because he pinched a loaf not far from the Barbarian Invader before disappearing toward the river.
It was a day of astounding scenery. Big Bend is a truly gorgeous gem that most folks will never see. The park may be a long way from nowhere but the sights here are amazing.
We have included a few pix. Click here