I spent the past 5 days at Big Bend National Park. This park is located in extreme SW Texas and offers an abundant amount of hiking trails and breathtaking views.
You don’t have to hike to get some scenic views, but you definitely get more by doing so. Most of the hikes had to be done early as the temperature in parts of the park rose above 95. In the desert, there is no shade.
The Chisos Mountain Lodge is the way to go as far as lodging. It is situated in the Chisos Mountain Basin and is beautiful. We had a room, but next time, will go with one of their secluded cottages. There is no air conditioner, but if you go the right time of year, there is no need.
The restaurant at the Lodge has great food, but is rather expensive to eat three meals a day. Especially, since it is the only place to sit down and eat within 30-50 miles. I suggest taking along some sandwich fixings and microwavable food for the times you don’t want to spend the money at the restaurant. The room we had contained a refrigerator and microwave. I think next time we are only going to have breakfast in the dining room. Dessert in the restaurant on the last day is a great parting treat. We can definitely recommend the apple cobbler and chocolate sundae.
It is better to have breakfast at the restaurant and if you get there early enough, there is no telling what kind of wildlife you will “run into”. Also, in the late evening, wildlife can be spotted just about anywhere. We saw skunk and deer off our balcony just about every evening. Yes, I loved seeing the skunks. Being from Houston, I rarely see them alive.
After a good breakfast each morning, we were ready to hike.
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Below are some of the trails we hiked.
Chihuahuan Desert Nature Trail
We were really wanting to hike the Window Trail, but it was closed due to increased bear activity (yikes).
We also visited a couple of interesting sites outside the park. Study Butte and The Terlingua Ghost Town.
All of the pictures I took can be found in my Big Bend Gallery.
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I have lived in Texas all my life and knew of Big Bend National Park, but had no idea of the beauty contained within. I highly recommend to anyone looking for a place to vacation. We are already planning to go back in 2010 as there is still so much more to see.
Wow – the pics are just fabulous! Sounds like you had a really good time. Too bad you were unable to hike down the Window Trail – it really is incredible. The only problem with that trail is that it is quite long and it is literally uphill the entire way back! But so worth the effort. I have been there several times but like I mentioned on FB, I haven’t been in a long while. Reading this makes me want to go again and soon! I have always been in the springtime when the weather is quite mild – I can’t imagine going in August – you are so brave! I would like to go in October – I think that would also be ideal. Maybe next time we will try the Lodge, but we have always gone camping – we love doing the tent thing! Anyway, enough rambling – thanks for sharing your trip.
By: gabriellyn on August 23, 2008
at 10:40 am