Your Guide to 3 Days at Big Bend National Park
We spent two and a half days here on our West Texas road trip where we visited 4 national parks in one week. We explored a different area of Big Bend National Park each day. We highly recommend spending three days visiting Big Bend due to its large size. There’s a lot to see! Follow along with our stops with this map of Big Bend.
What to Know Before Visiting Big Bend:
We didn’t want to camp in Big Bend, although this is probably the easiest way to see Big Bend as it saves significant driving time in the morning. We stayed in Alpine, TX, which took about ~1 hr to reach the park entrance, ~2 hrs to get to the south end of the park. Other options to stay if you’re interested in hotels are Terlingua and Marathon, which are both a little closer than Alpine.
- Day 1: Rio Grande Valley
- Day 2: Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive
- Day 3: Chisos Basin
- Windows Trail – 5.6 mi, moderate
Day 1: RIO GRANDE VALLEY
Stop 1: Fossil Discovery Exhibit
The Fossil Discovery exhibit was a reminder of the plants and animals that once used to call Big Bend home millions of years ago. The vivid artwork marking the period of geologic time was a nice tough. There was also a short trail that we thought would lead to some of Big Bend’s fossils. It didn’t lead us to fossils, but did show us a cool viewpoint for photos
Stop 2: Boquillas Canyon Trail – 1.4 mi, moderate
Our next stop was the Boquillas Canyon trail, which provides unique viewpoints of the Rio Grande River. The trail begins with a incline upward offering an overlook of the Rio Grande River.
After this, the trail descends down in the Boquillas Canyon, followed by a flat hike up close to the Rio Grande River.
We brought our hiking poles for this hike. It’s not too strenuous, but there is a slight elevation gain and descent.
It is considered contraband to buy the Mexican handmade art and craft pieces laid out throughout the trail. A group of Mexicans were singing on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande as a request for money as well.
Stop 3: Rio Grande Village Nature Trail
Our last stop for this day was the Rio Grande Village Nature Trail. This one is shorter than the Boquillas Canyon trail, but offers similar viewpoints. We enjoyed the beginning of the trail the most. It offers close up views of wildlife in the creek. We saw snakes, turtles, and plenty of fish!
Day 2: ROSS MAXWELL SCENIC DRIVE
Terlingua: Today, we entered the park through Terlingua, which is on the western side of the park. The small ghost town has cute cafes, antique shops, and deserted buildings for photos.
Stop 1: Sam Neil Ranch Trail – 0.46 mi, easy
We decided to make a few stops on the Ross Maxwell Scenic drive as we drove all the way down to the Santa Elena Canyon. Our first stop was the Sam Neil Ranch Trail. I thought I would see a ranch on this one, but there was only a small shed, many cacti, and windmills. It was nice to stretch our legs a bit, but this isn’t a trail to make a stop at if you’re pressed for time this day.
Stop 2: Homer Wilson Blue Creek Ranch Trail – 0.7 mi, easy, ~130 ft elevation change
This one was more exciting than the Sam Neil Ranch trail. It’s a short hike down to an old ranch house.
You can see the home from the trailhead.
The inside of the ranch house was nice and cool and offered some shade.
It was cool to see how this ranch was built in early 1900s. At the house, you can also take the Blue Creek Trail further into the wilderness.
Stop 3: Sotol Vista Overlook
This was a quick stop for us to take some more photos of the Big Bend scenery.
Stop 4: Mule Ears Viewpoint
We knew we didn’t have time to do the entire Mule Ears trail today, but we also stopped at the viewpoint and took some photos!
Stop 5: Santa Elena Canyon Trail – 1.5 mi, 610 ft elevation change, moderate
This is one of the most popular hikes at Big Bend and for good reason. It’s a fun short hike with great views!
There’s a Santa Elena Canyon viewpoint just prior to the trailhead at which we stopped and took a quick photo.
The Santa Elena Canyon marks the end of the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive and the parking lot was packed when we arrived. We hadn’t seen many humans during our stay, and realized that everyone was here.
The trail starts off across a sandy area heading directly towards the Rio Grande.
Eventually you reach the river banks of the Rio Grande to get some great photos.
After this, the trail heads up a series of switchbacks as you gain elevation and then later descend back down. The switchbacks were short and were not too difficult to climb.
After this, the trail winds alongside the cliffside overlooking the Rio Grande and slowly begins to descend back down into the canyon.
We were slightly disappointed by the end of the hike. The hike drops you off onto a muddy patch that leads directly into the water. It wasn’t the best spot for photos.
The waters were deep, but plenty of people were crossing the Rio Grande the day we visited.
We backtracked a bit and found a better spot for photos after this.
Day 3: CHISOS BASIN
Stop 1: Windows Trail – 5.6 mi, elevation change 948 ft, moderate
We began this trail at the Chisos Basin visitor center. Note that this adds a significant amount of hiking to the overall trail.
This hike actually begins by descending down from the Chisos Basin visitor center to the Chisos Basin campground via a number of switchbacks. By starting off at the visitor center, we were able to get some panoramic views of Oak Creek Canyon.
You can see the Windows Trail viewpoint at the start of the hike and the overall desert vista offers a gorgeous photo opportunity.
You can also start the trail at the Chisos Basin campground (near campsite #51) which cuts off significant elevation gain and 1.6 mi from your overall hike.
After reaching the campground, the hike itself is relatively flat with an overall steady descend with a few minor elevation gain and losses as you head towards the Window.
After about a mile of hiking, the environment changes and the trail becomes more shaded with denser trees.
As you hike through the trees, it may be hard to tell that you’re nearing the canyon until you near the first canyon bend.
The end of the trail involves walking up smoothed over, rocky steps. These rocks can be slippery and there may be some puddles if it has recently rained.
The trail ends at the “window” a small opening where the canyon walls open up to offer a view out over Big Bend. Keep a distance from the window as the rocks looked smooth and easy to slip on.
This is a good spot to take a short break and eat a snack. There were many birds here trying to grab some food from hikers.
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