Big Bend National Park – the key word here is Big – so big, in fact, that the park is home to thousands of species of plants, animals, and insects, and is so large that it contains an entire mountain range! The park is also quite a ways away from major cities, being in far southwestern Texas up against the Rio Grande River and just across from Mexico, allowing it to be a dark sky location.

The Chisos Mountains dominate the center of the park, with the high point being Emory Peak at 7,832 feet of elevation. Surrounding the mountains are thousands of acres of the Chihuahuan Desert. At the southern border is the Rio Grande River at an elevation of around 1,800 feet. The park covers a whopping 1,252 square miles. With this size, variety of elevations, and various ecosystems, there is an enormous potential for hiking, wildlife spotting, and photography.

The Trip to Big Bend

I took a week-long trip to Big Bend with my sister in early November 2023. We planned on hiking several trails, plus backpacking in the Chisos Mountains, which included a climb to the top of Emory Peak. The trip did not disappoint! For the first three days, we took shorter hikes of one to five miles each, including Persimmon Gap Draw, Boquillas Canyon, Ernst Tinaja, Balanced Rock, Rio Grande Village Nature Trail, Pine Canyon, Lost Mine, and the Window. All of these led up to our main event–backpacking to a backcountry campsite high in the mountains.

Our big trek started (after a couple of false starts) at The Basin, which is the trailhead for many trails. We hoisted our packs and began the hike up Laguna Meadows Trail. It got cloudier as the day went on, and was mostly cloudy by evening. We repeatedly passed and were passed by a group of college-aged “kids” on the hike, but otherwise saw very few other hikers on the climb. We spotted a black bear (there are about 30 to 40 in the park) about 100 feet off of the trail at one point, but it was too far away, moving too fast, and in too much brush to get any pictures.

We saw several Mexican Jays that caught our eye due to their bright blue coloring. At the intersection of Colima Trail, the group of “kids” continued south, and we turned east. We went up and over a saddle on the Colima Trail, and then down to Boot Canyon. This part of the hike was about 5.4 miles, with about 2,400 feet of climbing and about 520 feet of descent, and took us around 4 ½ hours, carrying packs weighing roughly 35 pounds each – not exactly ultralight, but we were also carrying about 1.5 gallons of water each, as there was no guarantee that Boot Spring would be flowing enough to replenish our supplies. That evening, we had seven or eight deer pass near the campsite and a later-identified acorn woodpecker that was busy in the trees. It was a chilly evening, so we were in our tents by a little after 7 o’clock. I read for a while and then tossed and turned much of the night – my lightweight air mattress is REALLY noisy! It was about 50° overnight and we had no other “visitors” that we know of.

The next morning, we had our breakfast and saw two young bucks (brothers?) grooming each other and then play-fighting. We had carried small day packs with us so that we could spend the day hiking without the burden of full backpacks. We left our backpacks in the provided bear boxes, flattened our tents (apparently bears get curious about tents left standing), and hiked south in Boot Canyon. When we hiked, there were numerous pools and even some flowing water in the canyon due to some recent rain. We arrived at the end of Boot Canyon Trail at the South Rim, then hiked an easy trail toward the Southwest Rim. We then turned around and continued back along the South Rim to the East and Northeast Rim and finally back to camp. It was a beautiful, mostly sunny day with some cirrus clouds. Despite quite a bit of haze, the views from the rims are spectacular! The Rio Grande River is visible out there in the distance and Mexico just beyond. I really enjoyed the loop and was reluctant to leave. The total distance of the loop was around 6.7 miles with about 2,180 feet of climbing, and it took us 5 1/2 hours, with plenty of stops for photos.

The trail along the rim is well-used and easy to follow as it winds along the edge and up and over several higher ridges. It passes through an area of the East Rim that had been burned in 2021 and is just starting to recover, and most of the campsites were in burned areas. I like the direction that we hiked – counterclockwise – as the hike down from the East Rim to Boot Canyon is quite narrow, steep, rough, and when we hiked it, somewhat overgrown – it would have been quite difficult in the opposite direction. On the return to our campsite, we stopped to refill our water supply at Boot Spring, which was flowing at least a liter per minute – something that you can’t always count on. Back at the campsite, we rested and watched birds flit about.

There was a Peregrine Falcon that visited briefly, and numerous woodpeckers pecking the trees, at least one catching bugs out of the air. After dinner, while sitting in camp enjoying the evening, a bear visited. He seemed quite interested in us, looking from several angles around the campsite, getting to within 25 feet at times! I tried to take a couple of pictures, but they came out blurry because it was nearly dark. We eventually (after probably only five minutes or so), got him to leave by yelling and throwing a couple of rocks. He seemed somewhat young and scared of us, at one point standing on his hind legs behind a tree, like he was thinking about climbing it. He soon moved on, and we didn’t see him again. That evening, we also heard in the distance, and then just above our campsite after dark, a Western Screech Owl – quite the thrilling evening!

The next morning, we broke camp and hiked down Boot Canyon Trail (fairly level trail for about a mile) to the Emory Peak Trail. We left our packs in the bear boxes and then hiked up to Emory Peak, which is about 1.5 miles with about 800 feet of climbing. The trail gets rougher and steeper we climbed, until you reach the last 25 feet. We found we needed to scramble up an exposed rock face of large granite boulders, but the 360° view from Emory Peak, the highest point in the park, is superb. Climbing back down seemed the most treacherous with all of that steep rock and exposure, with no room for any false steps. Once we made it off the peak, we hiked back down and picked up our packs. This was where we saw the most other hikers on the trip, as there were about a dozen resting at this point. Then we hiked down the Pinnacles Trail to our vehicle. The total distance this day was about 8.5 miles with 3,000 feet of descent and 1,700 feet of climbing, and took us six hours with many breaks for photos and rests.

Other Hikes of Note

Pine Canyon

Pine Canyon Trail starts from a trailhead off of the main paved roads at the end of a one-lane 6.4 mile track that goes across the desert. The road is rough but was suitable, when we drove it, for a Subaru Forester or similar vehicle. The lower part of Pine Canyon Trail crosses a large Sotol (a type of agave with long, sawtoothed leaves) grassland and slowly climbs into a forested Pinõn-Juniper canyon on the east side of the Chisos Mountains.

The shaded canyon is full of a variety of large trees (including the national champion Arizona Yellow Pine, with a 105 foot height and 9-foot girth – unfortunately we did not know this at the time so did not know to look for it). There are also oaks, junipers, and maples along the trail. The last half mile gets quite steep until you reach a 200 foot-tall pour-off. It had a trickle of water when we were there. The hike was about 4.3 miles round-trip with about 1,000 feet elevation gain to the end.

Lost Mine

The Lost Mine Trail starts steeply from the parking lot, then less steeply but continuously, with many switchbacks along the way, up onto a ridge overlooking excellent views of the surrounding desert and mountains. This is one of the more popular hikes in the park, and for good reason –the views from the end are amazing, rivaling the views from the South Rim. A pair of ravens felt the same way as they perched on one of the large rocks and watched us. The hike is a total of 4.8 miles round-trip with about 1,100 feet elevation gain to the end.

Ernst Tinaja

To get to Ernst Tinaja you must first travel the rough four-wheel drive (high clearance needed) Old Ore Road for about five miles. From the trailhead, it’s an easy one-mile walk up a dry wash with very little elevation gain (less than 300 feet) to the tinaja – a pool or depression carved out of the rock below a waterfall. There were several small pools in the wash along the way. The tinaja is in a sloped canyon at the end, and is surrounded by twisted, colorful sedimentary (mainly limestone) rock layers with some fossil shells visible. This is a very good short hike, provided you have the right vehicle to get to the trailhead.

The Window

The Window Trail starts in Chisos Basin Campground between sites 49 and 51. There is also a trailhead at The Basin, which adds nearly a mile of hiking each way. The trail descends through Oak Creek Canyon to the Window pour-off. The top of the Window pour-off is slickrock–very slick, and is not a place I'd like to be if the rock was wet, with a near 200 foot drop off. Near the end of the trail, we took a side trail (Oak Spring trail) up to an overlook high above the Window, with great views of the surrounding desert and mountains.

Along the trail and at the Window, there are usually a few visitors, as this is another of the most popular hikes in the park. The view through the window frames panoramic desert vistas. The hike (without the side jaunt to the overlook) is about 4.8 miles round-trip with 900 feet elevation drop to the end (and 900 feet back up to the trailhead!). The extra side-trip to the overlook adds just over a half-mile and an extra 350 feet of climbing and descent, but the view is worth the extra effort.

Need to Know

Information

There are four developed campgrounds in the park. Information on seasons and reservations can be found here. Advance reservations are needed for all camping in the park. Permits are not needed for hiking. There are five visitor centers. Water is a concern and we packed in all that we needed.

Getting There

Big Bend National Park is quite isolated, and a long way from major cities. It is about 4 hours south of Midland-Odessa, 5 hours from El Paso, and over 8 hours from Dallas. The nearest major airports are at Midland/Odessa, Texas (235 miles from park headquarters) and El Paso, Texas (330 miles from park headquarters).

Best Time to Go

November through April are the busiest times. Later spring, summer, and early fall can be very hot. Summer can be even hotter. Spring break gets very busy. Campground and lodging reservations are required and can be made up to six months in advance.

Maps and Books

We used the Trails Illustrated 225 topo map of the park and the Falcon Guide: Hiking Big Bend National Park. Also, the Hiker’s Guide 2021 by The Big Bend Natural History Association is a good source. I additionally found Nature Watch Big Bend to be very informative about the park. Lastly, there is a Best Easy Day Hikes: Big Bend National Park guidebook available.

Editor's Note: This article by Steve and Melissa Ancik originally appeared in Issue 56 of TrailGroove Magazine. You can read the original article here for additional photos and content.