Big Bend National Park trip

[Al and Cindy K]

Actually on a newer Tacoma now - Pyrite they say but it looks green to me. They do make great tow vehicles for an egg.

Big Bend is one of those places that either you never care to visit again or you'll return to as often as possible. We're hoping to make our next trip in the Spring, come on along.

[Paul O.]

Funny - that's the color of our 2013. They call it Pyrite Mica, I call it "fool's gold" mica, or just green! The picture is on the Tadoussac ferry in Quebec.

Our early spring trip is already planned and a reservation made at the Fort Pickens (Pensacola, FL) campground. Another time.

[Nita F.]

We will be in Big Bend around Christmas. Plan to stay in the Village lot. Stop by if you see a Bigfoot 5th wheel.

Nita & Marty

[coastsignal]

We plan to make it to RG Village about March 3-4 with our EggCamper. Hope to see some other FGRVer's!
Mark

[Radar1]

We made it to Big Bend. A winter storm before we got there caused some slick roads and we heard an 18 wheeler North of the park knocked down a power pole, and the weight of ice toppled several more due to the domino effect. The entire park was without power when we arrived although the Panther junction visitors center had backup power.
Another smaller winter storm came in earlier than predicted, so just as we checked with a ranger on the east side by the RV village, he got a call that the Chisos Basin visitors center was closing due to road conditions. We had to hightail it back to Chisos because that's where our camper was parked.
Still had a great time, even though they closed the Chisos basin road about 18 hours while we were there. Beautiful scenery even with the freezing rain.

[Al and Cindy K]

Nice photos - thanks for posting them. Did the weather allow you to get out and see much of the Park?

Al

[Radar1]

Yes, The freezing rain only cost us one day of hiking/sightseeing out of our 5 nights there. Good thing we have books! Some of the many tenters paid for a night in the lodge that night. Our propane heaters got some good use that week (we have the built in heater plus a Little Buddy that we can use to conserve battery power).

[Rob Outlaw]

I have been to Big Bend only once but stayed in the Lodge rock cabins on that venture. My wife and I hope to visit in March with our newly acquired Oliver. So for you folks who have navigated the curvy road into Chiso Basin will the Oliver Legacy Elite II towed with an F150 long bed (total length 45.5 ft) make it through the gauntlet and then be able to negotiate the smaller campsites that exist there? We're used to bad weather being from MT so that doesn't scare us to much, but we don't want to cause a major road snafu either. I remember some very tight turns on the decent into the lodge and campground area.

Thanks

[Al and Cindy K]

Rob, I've seen Class A's, tour buses and tractor trailers in the Basin so you should be able to make it as well. If you have concerns, there's a small parking lot on the right just as you turn onto the road leading up to the Basin where you could drop the Oliver and make the drive with only the F150 to check it out.

The Basin Campground is indeed tight and the back section (loop 3) has a very small hairpin at the end. I'd suggest parking at the entrance and doing a walk through to familiarize yourself with the layout. Do you have a site reserved and if so, which one?

[Rob Outlaw]

Ah, thats encouraging then. Shoot if a Class A and tour bus can do this should be reasonable for me. I do remember that parking lot too. Will probably stay away from loop 3 then. Good idea to do a walk through have had to do this a few times even with out T@b with small tight campgrounds. Not Reservations yet, we are still in the early stages of planning with a bunch of stuff on our bucket list already. Thanks for all the good info.

[D Davis]

Thanks for posting this with pics, I have always wanted to go to Big Bend NP. Especially in April. So far away from where I live... Thanks again.

[Rob Outlaw]

LOL, Big Bend is far from where almost anyone lives. Seriously it has to qualify for being the most off the beaten path of all the Nat Parks, in the lower 48 at least. But it is a very unique place and well worth the effort. April as I understand is a better month than March due to the annual bird migration. Apparently its quite the flyway with migratory birds. The yucca cactus bloom is nothing short of amazing down there. Giant yuccas!

Originally Posted by D Davis

Thanks for posting this with pics, I have always wanted to go to Big Bend NP. Especially in April. So far away from where I live... Thanks again.

[brian m.]

Hi Rob,
Yes the road into Chisos is curvy but nice. I believe the trailer size "limit" is 20 ft. and 24 ft. for motorhomes according to the NPS website.

I only counted a handful of sites that would work with our 17 ft. Casita and 1/2 ton pickup truck.

[MCDenny]

With a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a 17' trailer I thought the road was nothing. The campground is tight though.

We spent the first week of April there. Beautiful flowers everywhere. Warm days cool nights.

Furthest we have ever gotten in a car from civilization.


Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV

[Al and Cindy K]

Rob - If you're planning a March visit, you should check site availability ASAP and make your reservations. That's the busiest month in the Park due to the college kids coming down for Spring Break. If you can't get into the Basin, RGV (not the private parking lot by the same name) on the east end isn't bad and neither is Cottonwood on the west side. And April is a great time to visit.

Diane - We're up in the northeast corner of NC and have made the trip several times. There are lots of great camping opportunities between here and Big Bend to break up the drive.


Al

[Rob Outlaw]

Had not even thought about that, makes sense, will do. The more I look at Cottonwood the more appealing it seems, given our rather self sufficient capabilities with the Oliver once its built. Wish I could be there in Apr, but just not in the cards this go around. It is worth noting for anyone else planning a visit in Big Bend apparently they are in a serious drought with very limited water supplies. Prepare accordingly.

Thanks for the heads up Al & Cindy

[D Davis]

Thanks, Al & Cindy K.

[garyjona]

Great Info we should have our new Oliver this summer and plan on going to Quartzite next Feb and stopping in Big Bend on the way back probably in March so great heads up on the college kids for Reservations. I have been wanting to do the Bend for a couple years now. Thanks for the Pic's and info.

[coastsignal]

Hi Rob,
Our plans are to be at Ft. Davis, then Rio Grande Valley Campground early in March, the 7 to the 11th.
GL Mark

[Radar1]

We checked out all 3 of the NPS campgrounds while there this month. We stayed at Chisos Basin with our 16' Scamp and Dodge Dakota quad cab all 5 nights. We had picked our site based on the sites available and looking at the map. Our site # 42 was along the road on the 2nd loop, just a small siding where you pull over, so when you unhook it's almost like being parked on the side of a residential street. We just hoped that no-one would take that curve too fast when the freezing rain hit or they might end up in our bedroom. The view was spectacular though!
It would be a good idea to check Google maps satellite view before you pick a site at Chisos, some are better for large combinations than others.

They were still finishing up work on the Chisos dump station so there was no place to dump at Chisos Basin while we were there (looks like just minor finishing work left to do as of last week).

The Cottonwood campsite would be ideal for access to Santa Elena canyon hikes or kayaking. It appeared they only have one potable water outlet there, the rest of the faucets stated "non-potable".

The NPS Rio Grande village campsites were nice, and good for touring from that part of the park. There are also showers available for a fee at the camp store there, along with a laundromat.
The recommendation to spend a little time at each campground is a great one!

The road to Chisos was not as bad as I feared. It's a steady climb uphill but never steep long enough to cause any problems. I think our Subaru Outback would have performed well although we used our V8 Dakota. Good brakes for the downhill portions are probably more important than power on this road.

Fuel and propane are pricey at Big Bend. I had to exchange a bottle while there for about $30 (they can refill at the RV village but only on certain days when the propane guy works). Surprisingly, fuel was about 20 cents cheaper (but still pricey) at the RV village station than the Panther junction station, even though it was farther from civilization. Guess that can fluctuate often though. We used more propane for our heater than expected due to the low temps while we were there.

We drove down the Grapevine road to Balanced Rock and were surprised to see 2 boondocking areas along the road (no toilets or water). Seems you can camp there as long as you get a permit, don't know if those are free or not. Those are pretty close to Panther Junction so would be a good central touring base.

We will definitely go back again!