Big Bend National Park

[Nita F.]

My husband and I along with our dog Meka will be heading to Big Bend National Park on December 19th. We will be taking our 94 Scamp 5th wheel on its first big trip. Are there any other fiberglass campers planning to be there around Christmas?

Nita

[Nick]

Where will you be staying. We will be near Study Butte from Dec 26 till ?

[Nita F.]

We plan to stay in the Rio Grande Village campground. Still debating on the parking lot with hookups or the regular campground area. We'll probably stay until the 27th or 28th and then start heading home with some stops along the way.

Where will you be staying. We will be near Study Butte from Dec 26 till ?

[Al and Cindy K]

Nita, I responded to your post on Yahoo / Scampers but thought I'd jump in here as well. It looks like we'll be getting to Big Bend just after you folks leave. We'll be in Palo Duro State Park on the Tuesday and Wednesday after Christmas and then plan to drive down to Big Bend on Thursday. We'll keep an eye out for you just in case you stick around a bit longer.

Nick, any plans to get over to Big Bend during your stay? We'll be at the Rio Grande Village for Thursday night and then move to the Basin for Friday through Monday. We spent a few days here in 78 and always wanted to get back. Our plans are to drive the back country roads and explore some of the more remote areas. Let us know if/when you'll be in the Park and maybe we can get together.

Al & Cindy

[Nick]

Be sure to check the road conditions at the park headquarters at Panther Junction. There is a set of small orange paper back pamphlets that you can buy at headquarters that will give you a pretty good idea of whats there to see.

Generally the river road is OK with a high clearance vehicle. Glenn Springs road too. Both sometimes rough. Mavrick Road on the west side of the park is dirt too and sometimes rough.

See Hot Springs. Boquillas Canyon. Santa Elena Canyon. Castolon. Try some of the trails in The Basin, Lost Mine Trail, Windows Trail.

Have fun. Weather can be anything. T shirts and shorts to winter clothes. We take hiking boots too.

Al; We will try to drop by the basin one day.

Nick

[Nita F.]

Nick is correct that there is much to do and see at Big Bend. We always love to introduce our friends to the park. Most of them don't comprehend how beautiful and full of life the area is until they experience it. We've been going since 1980 and still haven't seen everything!

It's been a long year with loss of a family member and dealing with the after effects of 2 major hurricanes in Louisiana. We're in much need of a Big Bend fix!

Hope to see ya'll there.

Nita

[Joseph and Melanie Castine]

Hi there,

we're in San Marcos, TX now. heading for Big Bend around February 9th. Any others (or have you extended your Christmas stay??


Happy New Year

[william russell]

All this talk about Big Bend National Park, Texas has made me very curious about the park, particularly in February. I'll be leaving Michigan on the 9th or 10th of January and I'll be heading to Key West, Florida. My INTENTION is to stay there a week or two and then meander along the gulf coast on the way to ????????? Maybe I'll head for Big Bend. Can anyone give me an idea of the weather conditions there in February and where should I try and camp. I can get along with or without facilities, but usually try and stay at the out of the way places.....unless I'm in a place like Key West.. Only reason I'm heading there is to get out of the winter clothing for a while and do a little kayaking....Any useful information would be greatly appreciasted.

Russell

Editing required because of my "fat finger" typing

[Pete Dumbleton]

The neat thing about Big Bend NP is that there are so many camping choices -- There's the Basin CG up in the mountains (may be kinda chilly) and the lower CGs by the river, plus a number of onesie-twosies for boondocking (have to register, 'tho).

http://www.nps.gov/bibe/

[william russell]

Pete...Thanks for the prompt reply to my query re. Big Bend NP..I'll check that web site as soon as I click "add reply" russell

[Andy Earthman]

I camped by the river. If I had a better tow vehicle, I would have boon-docked and saved my money. The last day I used a coin operated shower in the store down by the river. I'm not sure where they might have other showers and toilets. I'm sure it will be a bit chilly in Feb up at the Basin as Pete said. But it's not the upper Midwest, so it ain't that bad.

I dont remember what it cost but it was to much for nothing but a place to park.

[Pete Dumbleton]

On the web site in my post above, the campgrounds are cleverly hidden under "Plan your visit".

The Rio Grande campgrounds are two; one is commercial and has full hookups, the other is more standard NP. The standard one is really in two parts; one allows generators but is pretty open in hot weather and the other has lots of shaded sites but gens not allowed. Javelina, coyotes and roadrunners abound in the campground.

The Rio Grande village has the only showers and the only laundromat inside the Park, plus a small store and fuel.

A visit to the hot springs is a must, but don't try to take a trailer, pickup camper or even a dually pickup into that road -- At one point, there are two lanes separated by a gully and a very sharp corner with an overhanging rock sticking out at pickup camper height.

Big Bend is really three parks rolled up into one -- There's the river part, including canoe, kayak and raft trips (commercial or DIY), the desert part and the mountains part (the Chisos range is totally within the park boundaries).

Times to avoid Big Bend are Thanksgiving and Spring Break because that's when the place seems to get flooded by Texans on holiday

[Al and Cindy K]

William, February should be a great time to visit. Much too hot in the summer months to get out and walk the trails and that's what you need to do to really appreciate this Park. We couldn't have asked for better weather this past week. High seventies to low eighties during the day with upper forties each night. Not too hot for hiking and we only needed the furnace the first thing each morning to take the chill off. We stayed one night at Rio Grande Village and three in the Chisos Basin. The nights were actually much warmer at the Basin campground. Check http://www.nps.gov/bibe/dailyreport/ for more details.

If you really want to be alone, there are thirtyfive or so remote sites scattered across the Park on the dirt roads. Check with the rangers for road conditions but we found at least at half dozen or so that we could have gotten the Scamp into. We even met a Wrangler towing a tear drop camper along one of the roughest roads we drove on.

The three NPS campgrounds are in different environments and, schedule permitting, I'd suggest spending a couple of nights at each to get a better feel for the Park. We made the mistake of setting up in the generator section at RGV and I didn't notice the 8K industrial genset the folks across from us had until they fired it up. What a racket! Besides, the sites are much more private in the 'no generator' section.

I wouldn't recommend the RV park unless you really want/need hookups. It looked like a parking lot with big motor homes and fifth wheels all lined up in a couple of rows.

As one of the rangers told us, 'Big Bend is a place some folks tire of in a few hours while others never want to leave and there doesn't seem to be any middle ground between these extremes.' Its sure worth a visit to determine which of these categories you fit in.

Al & Cindy

[Alistair Camelford]

John, good info! We're heading to the Bend at the end of Feb as we wend our way to SoCal.Can you tell me if Cottonwood is a generator- free zone? Thought we'd try it but might give it a pass if it's wall to wall generators. I'll stick to solar!.
Thanks, Alistair

[Nita F.]

Alistair,

Cottonwood is completely no-generator zoned and only has pit toilets. I've never seen it with more than 5 campers/tenters in it any time we've visited. It is very close to the Rio Grande River surrounded by trees and tall grasses. You will probably have to get away from the river to get some open viewing areas but they aren't far away. If you forget a few supplies the Castalon store is just up the road. On the west side of the park is Maverick Road which is about 14 miles of gravel. About midway is a mud home with a roof of Ocotillo called Luna's Jackal. It's hard to believe a large family lived in it. And Maverick Road is one of the best places to view sunset! Have a great visit.


Al and Cindy, sorry we missed meeting you at BB. Hope you had a good visit. We left on the 27th to meet some friends in New Braunfels and came home on the 30th. I wasn't ready but hubby had reached his limit! Maybe we'll get to meet you somewhere in the southeast.

I must say I've had a hard time adjusting going back to work. After spending so much time in the wide open spaces of west Texas I'm feeling claustrophic in my windowless office!

Take care.
Nita

[william russell]

William, February should be a great time to visit. Much too hot in the summer months to get out and walk the trails and that's what you need to do to really appreciate this Park. Al & Cindy

John: (Al & Cindy???) Thanks for your comments regarding Big Bend NP. I'm retired and NOT on any schedule. When I hit the road it's anyplace from 2 or 3 weeks to 2 or 3 months, all depends on where I end up and what I feel like doing. I don't make hard and fixed plans or routes of any kind and I NEVER make reservations,, so I'll get to Big Bend when I get there and I'll pay close attention to what you commented on. I certainly appreciate all the comments everyone posted....makes me feel like I might WANT to go there!!!!!!!

I take back that comment about NEVER making reservations.....I had to reserve a back country camping permit for the bottom of the Grand Canyon when I camped down there, so obviously I'm not as free as A figured....

Russell

[Al and Cindy K]

Alistair - Glad the info was of some value. As Nita said, Cottonwood is totally generator free and we'll probably spend some time there on our next visit. I took a couple of credible photos of a wild turkey drinking from a spigot on our ride through this campground. Having grown up in an area which, even today, has a fair number of outhouses, pit toilets are certainly not a concern for us. FWIW, both Rio Grande Village and Chisos Basin campgrounds have 'No generator' sections with sites remote enough to exclude most noise pollution.

Nita - Wish we'd had a chance to meet up as well. If you do get anywhere near NC, be sure to let us know.

Russell - John Allen is a combination of my first and middle names (I go by Al but have been married long enough to answer to most anything spoken in loud tones). This board doesn't allow 'internet handles' and, when I signed up, I honestly didn't expect to hang around much so I just used the first thing that came to mind. If I could figure out how to change it, I'd probably switch over to 'Al & Cindy K.' As far as the retirement thing goes, I'm envious of all you folks who no longer have to be concerned with a calendar. If you should get to the east coast on one of your trips and want any suggestions for NC, give us a holler.

Al & Cindy

[william russell]

If you should get to the east coast on one of your trips and want any suggestions for NC, give us a holler.
Al & Cindy

Al: I lived in Fayettville (Ft. Bragg) for about a year and a half in 1969 and 1970. I expect I'll get back there again one of these days and get around a little more than I did then.

Russell

[Alistair Camelford]

Al &Cindy...Apparently only group campers can reserve a site at Cottonwood, so we,ve booked three nights in Chisos- where I see you have just stayed. When I got the confirmation printout (FIVE pages!!!) I see that the road is a 15% grade and we are warned that the sites are mostly too small for TTs. Sooooo...how was the road? Paved? navigable with a Toyota minivan and 13 footer? Should I rethink? (Iguess if you made it with a 16 footer I should be OK) Just advance booking jitters, I guess.
TTFN...Alistair

[Al and Cindy K]

Alistair, you'll be fine. The road is fairly steep and has three or four hairpin turns but it is paved and nothing to be concerned with. We met a 30' plus fifth wheeler pulled by a dually on our way in. They had someone scouting the turns to warn/stop oncoming traffic but apparently got down without incident.

As usual, the ReserveAmerica campground map and site desciptions were somewhat out of touch with reality. When we first arrived, I was a bit concerned because all the sites appeared to be in a central rocky clearing with minimal privacy. However, our site (#42) was fine. After setting up, we walked around and found a number of sites along the perimeter that were quite acceptable.

I suspect you'll be able to change if your site doesn't measure up. The campground host who met as as we drove in indicated she'd be happy to help us find a better spot if we weren't satisfied. Also, even though the sign on the way in indicated the campground was full, there were actually several sites available each day we were there.

You folks enjoy yourselves and please post back with your experiences in Big Bend. If you can think of anything we can help with, feel free to ask.


Al & Cindy