Big Bend National Park, TX

[Byron Kinnaman]

Rio Grande Village campground in Big Bend National Park is a great place to camp. There's trails, a beaver pond, lots of wild life and this time of the year some very friendly campers. I would recommend it to anybody going near there.

[Bill MacDermod]

your absolutely right, we spent 3 or 4 days there after Blue Bonnet last year and enjoyed it very much, with the terrain we felt like we were on the moon, when we left we followed the Rio Grande river over to Persidio on rt 170 then 67 north to Ft Davis state park, another very nice destination

[Anne H]

I love BB park! Unfortunately, my last trip there was cut short when my friend got heat exhaustion. There is really a lot to see and this time of year should be perfect. I look forward to hearing a LOT of stories about your trip!!

[Donna D.]

Follow Byron's and Anne's winter travels here: trips.kinnamans.net. They actually started out in January... check the January 2011 archives.

[Roger C H]

We left home Dec 28. We camped respectively in Salem and Bandon, OR; Fortuna, Lodi, Bakersfield, and S El Monte, CA; Quartszite, Sedona, Casa Grande, Yuma, Green Valley, Casa Grande, Phoenix, Yuma, and Quartzsite, AZ; Hesperia, Bakersfield, Gilroy, and we are now in Fortuna, CA on our way back home.

My wife and I are still speaking to each other.

We love our Homelet!

[genebland]

I stayed in Marathon (Marathon Motel and campground) over Spring Break 2 years ago. The park was busy, but the Marathon Motel was not too bad... and pretty cheap and it included water and cable.

The drive was not too long, and it is pretty drive too. Drove a lot of the park, and enjoyed the trip.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by genebland

I stayed in Marathon (Marathon Motel and campground) over Spring Break 2 years ago. The park was busy, but the Marathon Motel was not too bad... and pretty cheap and it included water and cable.

The drive was not too long, and it is pretty drive too. Drove a lot of the park, and enjoyed the trip.

I just checked the distance from Marathon to Rio Grand Village Campground. It's almost 90 miles.

[genebland]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

I just checked the distance from Marathon to Rio Grand Village Campground. It's almost 90 miles.

The gate to the park is not 90 miles from Marathon, and there are lots of things to do before the campground, so it sure didnt feel like driving 90 miles to get to 'the fun'.

I dont remember if I mentioned it, but I was there over Spring Break, so it was pretty crowded. I was also meeting someone else there and we also went to Fort Davis and another couple of parks in the area (is Bandara right? and McDonald State Park? We didnt make it to Marfa).... I suppose that I should have paid more attention. I had never visited that part of the state, so we did a lot of driving. Anyway, Big Bend was pretty crowded, even the back country, and we didnt spend the entire time there so Marathon was a good compromise.

My friend had stayed at the Marathon Motel and Campground before and he was especially impressed with the fireplace and rocking chairs that they have on the pavilion. So the big selling point for him was a fireplace and fire he didnt have to deal with and a rocking chair to drink his beer in.

(My friend is also cheap... The Marathon Motel charged me for the site, but he camped in a tent in the same site and they didnt charge extra.)

It was a good trip.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by genebland

The gate to the park is not 90 miles from Marathon, and there are lots of things to do before the campground, so it sure didnt feel like driving 90 miles to get to 'the fun'.

I dont remember if I mentioned it, but I was there over Spring Break, so it was pretty crowded. I was also meeting someone else there and we also went to Fort Davis and another couple of parks in the area (is Bandara right? and McDonald State Park? We didnt make it to Marfa).... I suppose that I should have paid more attention. I had never visited that part of the state, so we did a lot of driving. Anyway, Big Bend was pretty crowded, even the back country, and we didnt spend the entire time there so Marathon was a good compromise.

My friend had stayed at the Marathon Motel and Campground before and he was especially impressed with the fireplace and rocking chairs that they have on the pavilion. So the big selling point for him was a fireplace and fire he didnt have to deal with and a rocking chair to drink his beer in.

(My friend is also cheap... The Marathon Motel charged me for the site, but he camped in a tent in the same site and they didnt charge extra.)

It was a good trip.

We also stayed at Ft Davis. We drove through Marfa to get to Ft. Davis. After Ft. Davis through Marathon then into the Park and stayed at Rio Grand Village for 2 weeks. We did some driving around and really enjoyed the place except for the two days it got down to 5°F. (brrr) The scenery is great and with the old timer's card the stay at Rio Grand Village was only $7.00 per night. Entrance to park was $0.00. Someday we'll be back.

[Greg H]

Wow I live here and I have never been there.