“USA 🇺🇸 Texas ~Terlingua at Big Bend National Park”

• October 28, 2023
• By Pen
• 0 Comment

We picked the Roadrunner Travelers RV Park, for its close proximity, to Big Bend National Park. It was sure a beautiful morning to explore the National Park, and we got an early start, before it got too hot. Temperatures here are back to hot in the afternoon, once we left New Mexico behind.

At the Park gate, we got a heads-up from the ranger, about the recent rains in the area. The timing for the flash flooding which happened here, coincides with the big rain that we got hit with while traveling through New Mexico. The flooding here, in Big Bend caused the Rio Grande Rio Grande River to rise quite a bit, and though that River went back to low stages, almost the next day, the damage around its banks and standing water with debris in low places on the road system take longer to clear up. As a result, they had to close the “Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive,” two miles before the end. Unfortunately this meant the “go to” hike of the entire park; “Santa Elena Canyon Trail” was closed as well. That was where we were headed, but it was not meant to be, today.
We were both quite disappointed, because the hiking trail actually borders the Rio Grande River. But, the Terlingua River was too flooded to cross at this time.

Timing is everything, when it comes to getting the adventure you want, or not. It is tough, because it’s not like we can pop on over here again, next month and try again.

We are staying optimistic, but it’s totally okay, since there is plenty to do.  It’s only been another day and another storm is coming in. We don’t want to be anywhere eat a canyon hike to the Rio Grande River.

I actually have a list I started, many years, since I’ve (we’ve) been big time travelers for o er 20 years; I call it my “missed opportunities.” It’s for all the times I, or we went out of our way to experience something awesome, only to be skunked from the opportunity, for various reasons. Sadly, if things are not improved in three days, when we will try again, I will be adding this Hike to that list.

*Life*

In the meantime, we are excited about another adventure that involves crossing the Rio Grand River, via Big Bend National Park, with way more driving, in another direction, which will be super fun, too. (and that will be a new blog post).

If you do have a chance to do this hike, though, here is the info….

About The Santa Elena Canyon Trail ⬇️

The Terlingua Fault line formed the canyon, which tore apart, an otherwise, impenetrable 1,500-foot wall of rock.

The Rio Grande River flows west through the canyon, allowing kayakers and rafters to explore further than, is possible on foot.

The river also acts as the official border between the United States and Mexico, as it does throughout Big Bend National Park.

More about Santa Elena Canyon Trail ⬇️

• Duration of the hike: 1.4 miles round trip
• Elevation gain (80 feet)
• Trail safety tips: watch out for snakes and mountain lions
• Trail rules: no pets, bicycles, or camping

⬆️ Not my picture, obviously, but here in the Canyon is the Rio Grande River: Mexico is on the left side, and the U.S. is on the right

⬆️ This Scenic Drive is 30 miles long to get to the Santa Elena Canyon Trail Head 

We absolutely loved visiting this Park. There were very few vehicles and people, and when we pulled over and just stopped, to take it all in, our ears rang from the quiet. It was pretty awesome. I would say this Park reminded  of The Badlands and Monument Valley; like a combination of the two.  Of course there are no two National Parks alike, anywhere, but after visiting so many of them, I can say there are similarities. 

The Big Bend area of Texas derives its name from its location on the bend of the Rio Grande. The river creates a natural border that separates the United States from Mexico.

In 1933, Texas established Texas Canyons State Park using 15 school sections owned by the state. Lands forfeited for non payment of taxes were quickly added and the name was changed to Big Bend State Park By October, 1933 the Park included about 160,000 acres. On June 20, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill that authorized the establishment of Big Bend National Park, preserving the largest tracts of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States.

The park is comprised of 1,252 square miles of land, making it larger than the state of Rhode Island. It is also the only National Park with a Mountain Range entirely contained within iis own boundaries.

On June 6, 1944, a deed for about 700,000 acres was formally presented to President Roosevelt, and on June 12, 1944, Big Bend was established as a National Park by a Congressional Act; signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
It was designated an International Biosphere Reserve in 1976.

We spent about three hours driving through the Chihuahuan Desert. There are endless trails to take and vista viewpoints to drive to; enough we will go back in a few days and do some more driving. The photography was a little tricky today for a couple of reasons. 1. there was a haze that blocked out some beautiful mountain scenes. It did not smell of smoke, so we were not sure what caused such haze. On the way out of the Park, I stopped by the gate to ask the ranger about what the haze was from, but there was nobody manning their station by then. 2. Because we chose to go early, and beat the heat, the sun was not in an optimal position. More specifically, it seemed to be in our eyes, most of the time. Good lighting, for good photos, has the light coming from behind, and illuminating the scene. We got very little of the perfect lighting, but we did beat the heat! The best photos would defiantly be later in the day, as the sun is going down, around here. 

We just zipped along in Jonah, with her rag top down, and had a blast. The main road is very good, so this made it super fun. We still drove the scenic route, figuring we could still drive, all but those last two miles, like the ranger said, but we were completely surprised when eight miles, before the road was officially closed; at that two miles from the end…we ran into flooding! The water in the road had a measuring pole, so we could read the depth. This very first one would have flooded Jonahs floorboard, even though others low spots, beyond, might have been fine. There was no way of knowing, so we turned around. 

From there, we would go back to the area of the entrance, and drive towards Panther Junction, but decided it wasn’t as interesting that way. It was very flat and the mountains in the distance, with the funky heavy haze, were hard to see. We were feeling pretty filled-up at this point, any way, and it was starting to get hot, so we turned around and headed back to The Whale; but not before we saw this beautiful creature!

What a treat this was. We had actually been keeping our eyes out for Javalinas, since we saw plenty of scat from them, while  exploring, but we did not see any. We were so happy to see this Coyote.

So. all in all, we saw a Roadrunners and a Wiley Coyote.

Not bad at all! 

Photo Dump: Big Bend National Park ⬇️

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