Big Bend National Park (West Side)

ahschneid
Mar 3
10 min read

Scenic Rt 118 - Information on Caldera - south of Alpine enroute to Terlingua

23 February 2025

We drove from Las Cruces New Mexico to Terlingua/Study Butte Texas on 23 Feb 2025. Our trip was 345 miles and a little boring on I-10. We got into some scenery once we turned off onto secondary roads leading to Big Bend National Park. We arrived close to 4pm and received lots of information about the area from the park host, Mike. He's been coming to this park for 25 years, so he knows the area pretty well.

Our first day of site seeing (24 Feb 2025), we checked out Big Bend National Park's west side and then Big Bend Ranch State Park. We entered the national park at Maverick Junction and drove to the Panther Junction Visitor Center. We got some good information on hiking in the park, birding, and kayak/canoe trips. We watched the park video and learned that it is the only park of its kind where desert, mountains and a river converge. Big Bend gets its name from the Rio Grande River bending 90 degrees in the park. Also, the Chisos Mountains are the only mountain range in the United States completely within Big Bend National Park.

We then headed to Castolon, which has another "visitor center", but it's really not much. Castolon was burned in 2019 by a fire that started in Mexico and jumped the Rio Grande River. There isn't much to see at Castolon, so we kept going to Santa Elena Canyon to have our lunch.

With having entered the Central Time Zone, we had our lunch close to 2pm. Our tummies still thought it was Las Cruces and Arizona (MST) time. After lunch we drove to the Big Bend Ranch State Park. We had heard that it's beautiful in its own right.

24 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Panther Junction Visitor Center 24 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Panther Junction Visitor Center 24 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Panther Junction Visitor Center 24 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Sotol Vista - 24 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Sotol Vista - 24 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Sotol Vista - 24 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - 26 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Mule Ears - 24 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Mule Ears - 26 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Mule Ears - 26 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Castolon - 24 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Castolon - 24 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Castolon - 24 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Castolon - 24 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Castolon - 24 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Castolon - 24 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Castolon - 24 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Near Santa Elena Canyon - 24 February 2025

Wild horses?

As it turns out, we asked a park ranger and she said they're from Mexico and managed by Mexican cowboys. She said there was probably a man on horseback watching the horses and cows.

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon - 24 February 2025

Our drive to Big Bend Ranch State Park was about 25 miles from the campground. We stopped to see a few of the highlights by driving to the farthest one we wanted to see, the Hoo Doos and then stopping at a few others on the way back. To our surprise, we came upon a few Barbary sheep! We've sort of been on the lookout for javelinas, but we weren't expecting desert bighorn sheep.

Big Bend Ranch State Park - 24 February 2025

Barbary sheep, also known as Aoudad, are common in West Texas. They were introduced to Texas in the 1950s as exotic game. Native to rocky mountains in North Africa and parts of West Africa.

Big Bend Ranch State Park - Hoo Doos - 24 February 2025

Big Bend Ranch State Park - Hoo Doos along the road - 24 February 2025

Big Bend Ranch State Park - Closed Canyon - 24 February 2025

Park Ranger had informed us that this hike requires a slide down on one's bottom, so we opted not to do this one....

Big Bend Ranch State Park - Rio Grande River - 24 February 2025

Big Bend Ranch State Park - Overlook - 24 February 2025

Big Bend Ranch State Park - Overlook - 24 February 2025

Big Bend Ranch State Park - Overlook - 24 February 2025

Big Bend Ranch State Park - 24 February 2025

Big Bend Ranch State Park - 24 February 2025

Big Bend Ranch State Park - 24 February 2025

Big Bend Ranch State Park - 24 February 2025

Big Bend Ranch State Park - approaching Contrabando Movie Set - 24 February 2025

Big Bend Ranch State Park - Contrabando Movie Set - 24 February 2025

Big Bend Ranch State Park - Contrabando Movie Set - 24 February 2025

Big Bend Ranch State Park - Contrabando Movie Set - 24 February 2025

Big Bend Ranch State Park - Contrabando Movie Set - 24 February 2025

On Wednesday (26 Feb 2025) we rose at 5:30am to be on the Santa Elena Canyon trail by 8ish. We made it and really enjoyed the early morning drive in the park. The sunrise was spectacular! We took lots of pictures but none do the beauty of Big Bend National Park justice. This is one everyone should make the effort to see for themselves. We had decided to do the Santa Elena Canyon trail which is rated easy and described as a steady incline of 80 feet with a steep climb. We found the steep climb to come early in the hike, so we enjoyed the trail after that was out of the way. Also, early in the hike, we had to cross the Terlingua Creek, which was about 5 inches deep. There were tree roots to walk on and we managed to not get our feet wet or fall in. Hiking in the early morning was wonderful! We saw very few people and just enjoyed to quiet and awe of nature.

Santa Elena Canyon in distance the cut in cliffs during our early morning drive 26 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

We reached the end of the trail...

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

End of trail...

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

End of trail...

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

Seeing reflection of canyon wall on the water felt surreal...

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

Big Bend National Park - Santa Elena Canyon Trail - 26 February 2025

I told Steve this cow might be heading to Mexico for lunch there, and Steve said he'll probably end up in someone's tacos some day... It turns out the cows in the park belong to Mexico.

After our hike, we headed to Panther Junction in hopes for filling up our fuel tank. We had tried two other gas stations on Monday outside the park and they were out of diesel. We got lucky and were able to fill up at Panther Junction. We then headed to Chisos Basin to have our lunch and do another short hike to see the "Window". The visitor center was closed for lunch when we arrived, so we walked to the Window and then waited till 1pm for the visitor center to open. So far we think the Panther Junction Visitor Center is by far the best one on the west side of the park. We could have skipped the one at Castolon and Chisos.

Being in the Chisos Mountains, Anita felt it was the most beautiful part of BBNP so far. The green vegetation made the difference.

Big Bend National Park - Chisos Mountains - 26 February 2025

As we finished our lunch, this guy appeared. He seemed to be hunting for his own lunch.

Big Bend National Park - Chisos Mountains - 26 February 2025

Window View

Big Bend National Park - Chisos Mountains - 26 February 2025

Window View

Big Bend National Park - Chisos Mountains - 26 February 2025

Window View

Big Bend National Park - Chisos Mountains - 26 February 2025

Casa Grande Peak

Big Bend National Park - Chisos Mountains - 26 February 2025

Window View

Big Bend National Park - Chisos Mountains - 26 February 2025

Visitor Center

Thursday (27 Feb) was very windy, so we stayed in most of the day. We did venture out for about an hour to check out the Terlingua Ghost Town about 5 miles from our campground. It was OK. We walked through the Terlingua Trading Company and learned that the building has been there since 1908. While the town was into mercury mining, there were no deaths due to mercury poisoning. Most of the old graves in the cemetery were from influenza deaths in 1918. The Catholic Church, St. Agnes, dates back to 1914 and is still used for weddings and special occasions.

Sunrise from our campsite in Terlingua Texas 27 February 2025 Steve took this picture before Anita woke up

Terlingua Ghost Town - 27 February 2025

Terlingua Ghost Town - 27 February 2025

Trading Company

Terlingua Ghost Town - 27 February 2025

Starlight Theater had its roof blown off in a storm in 1991. The building then became a restaurant and bar. It is currently still in operation.

Terlingua Ghost Town - 27 February 2025

Terlingua Ghost Town - 27 February 2025

St. Agnes Catholic Church (1914)

Terlingua Ghost Town - 27 February 2025

St. Agnes Catholic Church (1914)

Terlingua Ghost Town - 27 February 2025

St. Agnes Catholic Church (1914)

Terlingua Ghost Town - 27 February 2025

Terlingua Cemetery (1902)

Terlingua Ghost Town - 27 February 2025

Terlingua Cemetery (1902)

Terlingua Ghost Town - 27 February 2025

Terlingua Cemetery (1902)

Many of the graves in the cemetery look like this.

Terlingua Ghost Town - 27 February 2025

Terlingua Cemetery (1902)

We saw two or three like this. Many of the more recent graves have coins on the tomb. We were not familiar with this custom, but when I looked it up, here's what the Internet had to say:

The tradition of leaving coins on graves, particularly military graves, is a way to honor the deceased and show respect to their sacrifice. The tradition has origins in ancient Greece and Rome.

Penny: A visitor stopped by to pay their respects
Nickel: The visitor and the deceased trained together at boot camp
Dime: The visitor served with the deceased
Quarter: The visitor was present when the deceased died

Terlingua Ghost Town - 27 February 2025

Terlingua Cemetery (1902)

Terlingua Ghost Town - 27 February 2025

Pickleball court in the Chihuahuan Desert

On Friday (28 Feb) we did the Lost Mine Trail in the Chisos Mountains of BBNP. It is rated Moderate and 4.8 miles round trip. We were on the trail by 8am and we really enjoyed the hike with the temp being cool. We planned to do the Lost Mine hike, have lunch and then the Sam Nail Ranch hike, a half mile loop. It was supposed to be a good place for seeing birds, but it would have required sitting and waiting. We were ready to head home by then, so we didn't see any birds. We did see a Mexican Jay at the top of our morning trail! It was so blue we couldn't miss it.

That evening we had a campfire! We hadn't had one in at least 5 months since none of the campgrounds we stayed at in Arizona or New Mexico had fire rings. There is also a high danger of fire in the area with there being no rain and it being desert. When we arrived, the camp host said we could have a fire but to make sure we put it out. We doused it with water when it was almost out.