Big Bend National Park | Santa Elena Canyon & Hot Spring скачать в хорошем качестве

Big Bend National Park | Santa Elena Canyon & Hot Spring

We decided last minute to take this trip in order to test out some new gear we got for our upcoming trip to Yosemite in May. We stayed "off grid" near Terlingua for two nights and "back country" for one night in Big Bend. Off grid just means a primitive campsite with no electricity or water and back country is tent camping to a campsite you have to backpack to. You can find a million of these off grid camspites on airbnb, most of them are off Terlingua Ranch Rd. Make sure you read the reviews... they are not all created equally. Some have compost toilets, solar power and a bed, others don't. You can find anything from small cabins to tents and yurts. For the back country camping in the park you'll need to purchase a permit ahead of time on recreation.gov to reserve your campsite. We stayed at the Boulder Meadow #1 campsite on the Pinnacles Trail. The Pinnacles Tail is the first part of the South Rim, clockwise. The trailhead is at Chisos Basin. How to get to the Hot Spring: 17 miles past the Panther Junction Visitors Center inside the park and on your right is the road to the Hot Spring. From here you'll take a 2 mile dirt road to the trailhead. Park your vehicle and the Hot Spring is only .25 miles from the trailhead past the old Langford Bathouse structures and around the bend. Just follow the river. Don't forget to check out the prehistoric pictographs and petroglyphs on your way to the Hot Spring. There will be a sign about the historic healing waters when you have arrived. If you can't find it from here the river might be too high! That happened to us our first time visiting. Better luck next time, but we promise it's worth trying again. You can also do the short 1.5 mile Hot Springs Tail loop that starts and ends at the parking lot. It has some great views of the river. Santa Elena Canyon is the most popular day hike in Big Bend National Park, due to its spectacular views, accessible trailhead and easy trail. It's 1.6 miles roundtrip. The trailhead begins at the end of the 30 mile road at the Santa Elana Junction from the main road. Walk from the parking lot down to the river and take a right. The river inlet quickly dries up, exposing the bed and allowing you to cross and begin the hike. The trail starts with a steep incline of stairs and then down the canyon until it dead ends .8 miles in. Terlingua Ranch is a great spot to check out if youre staying anywhere near there and it helps break up the harshness of off grid primitive camping. You can stop in to get a real meal if youre getting tired of camping food and you can even use their pool for $8 per person and their steaming hot showers for $2 per person. Highly recommend. We haven't had the chance to check out their lodges yet, but hopefully will get a chance to someday. Museum of The Big Bend in Alpine was a pleasant surprise. Its very well done and we actually learned some pretty interesting facts about Big Bend that we didn't know before. It's definitely worth stopping by. Its part of the Sul Ross College campus and was rated one of the best small town museums in America by USA Today. Entrance fee is $10 per person as of April 2025. We usually enjoy unplugging on these trips but we decided to bring a portable DVD player for our camping night. There are no campfires allowed in the back country of Big Bend and theres only so much you can read so theres not a whole lot to do in the evening. Plus it was starting to get pretty chilly. I thought it would be fun to watch a spooky movie in the tent. We'd definitely try it again sometime. Wilson's Tips: If you get to the park before the sun comes up, you'll never have to pay an entrance fee. Entrance fees are currently $30 per vehicle as of April 2025. Don't skip out on the Lajitas General Store in Lajitas. It's about 20 minutes west of Terlingua near Big Bend State Park. They make amazing deli sandwiches that you can pack for any day hike. Definitely worth the detour. Don't forget to pay your respects to the Mayor and his wife. They like moon pies and wine coolers. Pick up the Hiking Big Bend National Park "Falcon Guide." This book is loaded with detailed facts about every hike in the park and exactly how to get there. It even includes elevation facts and great tips. It's a must have for hiking in Big Bend. We frequently refer to it. **CHISOS BASIN WILL CLOSE FOR APPROXIMATELY 2 YEARS STARTING JULY 2025** The Chisos Mountains and trails will still be accessible to those with back country permits but everything else will be closed for rennovations: including the road to the Chisos Basin, the visitors center, the gift shop and all the lodging quarters. Big Bend is building a whole new lodge for the area.