Big Bend National Park

Today the girls and I went to Big Bend National Park. We are staying in Mararthon, TX so we had about a 45 minute drive to the park entrance. It is such a big park there is a lot of driving involved.

After saying goodbye to Diego in Mararthon, we saw the border patrol road block within the first few miles. They were not stopping cars going our direction, but we knew we would be paying them a visit on the way home. The drive was very pretty with desert and mountains all around us. We saw jack rabbits and road runners crossing the road on the way in.

After making it to the park entrance we picked up our junior ranger packets and any "must see" spots from the ranger at the visitors center. We had another long drive to the next visitors center and made a pencil and potty stop and then on to our first "must see" suggestion.

We arrived at Chisos Basin and found a shady spot to have a bite to eat. The ranger there recommended we try a particular hike down the road a little ways so we back tracked to that spot. We parked, got our pack together, water, etc and off we went. At the trail head we stopped to read all the warning signs and one in particular concerned Sofia. It said something along the lines of "mountain lions frequent this area/trail and may be aggressive toward humans. Do not hike this trail with small children." We had a long discussion on what exactly is meant by "small children" and decided that they must mean toddlers :) So off we went.



We had planned to hike about 2 of the 10 or so miles of the trail because of the heat, lack of shade, and the rangers suggestion. Although at this point I was doubting the rangers advice because he sent us on the mountain lion trail in the first place. We made it about 1/2 of a mile before concerns began to grow of how isolated we were and maybe 7 is considered a small child. So after a beautiful, but short hike, we made our way back to the base of the trail. On to "must see" spot number two.

We went from Chisos Basin to Maverick Junction, because once again, a ranger recommended the gravel road as a good way to get to Santa Elena Canyon. When we arrived at the junction we read the signs before entering and noticed that it said "must have 4 wheel drive." We don't have 4 wheel drive, so as we looked down the long, hot, desolate road, we decided to back track a little and take the turn at Castalon/Santa Elena Junction, which was paved. We drove down to the Santa Elena Overlook and river access and it was amazing.












We parked, hiked down, and the did what felt like an illegal move and crossed a side portion of the river up to a clearing. We were right on the side of the mountain that looks over the Rio Grande. That was worth the drive for sure and the girls loved it. They were impressed with the size and beauty, but also loved feeling like dare devils :)



 From that place (at the far southwest tip of the park) we started on our way back toward the exit. We stopped a few times for overlooks, potties, and sunsets.



We were pooped and realized that the ranger station was closed so we couldn't pick up the girls badges. They had worked so hard all day on their packets, but I think we may be back on Saturday so we can get them then.
We left around noon and arrived back to our campsite at 8pm. We were pooped.