A Guide to Our National Parks for People Who Hate Nature
Big Bend National Park
(Texas)
Visit the official website:
Big Bend is our nation's remotest National Park.
(And that's saying a lot, considering
eight
of
them
are
in
Alaska!)
Located at the southern tip of southwest Texas,
100 miles from the nearest superhighway,
Big Bend is a park that people don't visit by accident.
36% of visitors are returning customers.
WHAT'S COOL ABOUT BIG BEND
This park is about hiking. I know. It's nothing but miles and miles of desert for as far as the eye can see. It's like driving through the setting of every western movie you've ever seen.
Big Bend is all about hiking.
I know. This just became my least favorite park, too.
The entire park is nothing but miles and miles of desert train.
In fact, driving through it feels like driving across the set of every western movie you've ever seen.
And that's what's great about Big Bend.
you can have all the fun of hiking without actually doing any hiking!
At any point on the park road, you can pull over and wander out into a scenic desert-scape
for hours and hours....
OR
you can pull over,
wander for 5 or 10 minutes,
get back in your car
and move on to the next scenic desert-scape.
Sure, there are a couple of unique formations
(attractions)
in the park
(Like Balanced Rock in Grapevine Hills)
(or The Window at the end of the aptly named, The Window Trail)
that require some hiking to get to.
But for the most part, what you see is what you get.
You want to climb a craggy outcropping of rock?
Pull over next to a craggy outcropping fo rock.
You want to wander through a field of yucca?
There's a field of yucca right next to the roadway.
You can spend as much or as little time as you need exploring nature
at any given stop
and be back to the car before you get bored.
And never feel like you missed anything.
Another great thing
about the park
is that there are parts of it you can only reach
with an all-terrain or high-clearance vehicle.
So rent an ATV and feel like a real outdoorsperson
when you can take a short cut
and get to parts of the park
that aren't accessible to avid hikers
who brought only camping gear. Ha!
Another thing that's cool about the park is that the weather is warm year-round.
This means that in the winter
when Yosemite and Yellowstoe
are offering reduced services,
Big Bend is still warm and sunny
and as hoppin' as it'll ever be.
In fact, Big Bend's busiest time of year
is November - April.
IN A MINUTE
Big Bend in a minute is easy
because it's all just desert.
Stop at the first scenic outlook
past the Persimmon Gap Visitor Center
and you'll get the gist of it.
Unfortunately,
you'll have to drive 100 miles off the nearest interstate to do it,
so you might want to spend more than a minute, just to justify the gas.
If you came in through the Persimmon Gap Entrance Station,
you might as well exit through
the Maverick Junction Entrance
(or vice versa)
so you'll at least see some of the park on your way out of it.
HOW TO GET HURT THE PARK
Mess with the Border Patrol.
Big Bend is located in southwest Texas
right along the U.S. / Mexican border
at the "big bend" in the Rio Grande
where the water is shallow enough to wade across.
So the park is patrolled by U.S. Border Patrol in
addition to the park rangers.
You can also expect to be stopped at a highway check point
after you leave the park and have your border patrolled in person.
Aside from smuggling illegal aliens,
you can also get in trouble for buying unauthorized souvenirs
at locations other than the park gift shops.
And the fines can be steep.
THINGS YOU CAN SEE FROM YOUR CAR
The Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.
(But do get out of your car once in awhile.)
If you've driven through Arizona, Utah or, well, west Texas,
you'll probably feel like you've already seen
deserts like Big Bend.
But what you don't get driving through on the freeway
is the chance to pull off at the side of the road,
get out of the car
and feel all the noise of the world lifted off your ears.
It's peaceful and quiet here
like you've never seen at a busy rest stop in New Mexico.
And it's yours for as long as you'd like to take it in.
WHEN TO GET THERE / BEST TIME TO SEE THE PARK
Big Bend is busiest during the winter months and holidays.
Not that Big Bend is especially Christmas-y.
But at a time of year when many of the other National Parks are offering reduced
services to match the reduced visits in winter,
Big Bend is still sunny and warm.
I am told that Big Bend is also becoming a popular Spring Break destination.