I’m back from another hiatus & dropping photos & a crazzzy story from one the most underrated National Parks in the U.S. imo
Big Bend National Park
We spent 3 full days exploring this gem deep in Southwest Texas & it did not disappoint.
It is the ONLY National Park to house an entire mountain range—the Chisos mountains—& is home to a large swath of the Chihuahuan Desert, Santa Elena Canyon, parts of the Rio Grande, limestone canyons, hot springs & miles upon miles of hiking with unbeatable views.
With its location on the Mexican border, temperatures soar in the summer & it is HOT 🥵 The best time to visit is October through April with March being the busiest month.
The park has 3 main sections, each with their own incredible views – Rio Grande Village, Chisos Basin and Santa Elena Canyon. Chisos basin was my favorite.
Here are a few trails we recommend in each section of the park *[Save for later]*:
1. Lost Mine Trail
2. The Window Trail
3. Santa Elena Canyon Trail
4. Boquillas Canyon Trail
5. Ernst Tinaja Trail
Now for that crazzzy story—On our way to Ernst Tinaja Trail, we ended up finding out— by pure necessity I might add—that rock mode in our Jeep works 🙈!
We decided to take the long route to Ernst Tinaja Trail via Ole Ore Road from the North thinking it would be a good way to see more of the park—the map & signs said 4×4 required which we encountered frequently during our adventures around Utah so we thought it would be no problem. We assumed it would just be an unmaintained gravel/dirt road, maybe some big ruts, but nothing too crazy.
Y’all 🫣 we were so wrong & what we thought would be a pleasant afternoon drive turned into steep rocky road, bouldering & legit rock climbing with our Jeep 🙈 we had zero service, temperatures rose to over a hundred degrees & I thought for sure we were going to pop a tire, roll the Jeep, or break down & be stuck in the desert for days.
My brain kept flashing terrible scenarios & visions of us crawling across the blistering hot sand with leathery sunburned skin, cracked lips, parched mouths, trying to get help only to be confronted by a rattle snake that slithers up & attacks—ha, a little extreme, I know😜 [Who else’s mind goes to the extremes in unexpected situations?]
Thank goodness, the Jeep did her thing & pushed through the challenges because we made it to the main road in one piece 🙌🏼 The 26.5 mile drive took us HOURS & we are now even more obsessed with our Jeep than we were before. Moral of the story: talk to a park ranger to get a true understanding of the 4×4 only roads in the National Parks before venturing down them blindly!
Drop your questions or comments below & tell me about an unexpected situation that you’ve encountered on vacation🤭.
