Big Bend National Park is immense and remote. If you’re planning on visiting this special place, do yourself a favor and spend at least a week or two. There are many lifetimes of things to see and do here, but this amount of time will give you a taste. You’ll surely leave wanting to come back. Since we had enough time to do many hikes spread all around the park, I’m splitting up my stories from Big Bend into a 4-part series. This is part 1.
The following hikes are all located west of Chisos Basin and south of route 118. All of these hikes are reached from the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, a worthwhile road to explore even if you never do any hiking. It’s incredibly beautiful and there are several stops with viewpoints and interpretive signs. It’s a great way to get an introduction to Big Bend. You’ll definitely want to drive all the way to the Santa Elena Canyon overlook, one of the most spectacular views in the park. Note that our visit took place in late January and early February, so your mileage may vary at a different time of year. Be sure to check current conditions at the park to be aware of any road closures or other factors that will impact your visit.
Upper Burro Mesa Pouroff
4.4 mi. | 540′ ele. gain | 2:45 hr. | Official route info
This was our first hike and welcome to Big Bend! I was so thrilled to get out of the van and get my feet on the ground. Since learning that there are over 50 species of cactus in the park, I couldn’t wait to try my hand at finding and identifying as many as I could.
As we walked across the hot, brown desert, we stopped frequently so I could look at the plants. Many of them I could narrow down to a general category, which was good enough for me. I took a million pictures. The route follows a wash that starts wide and eventually closes in with rock walls, leading to a “pouroff” or dry fall (as I’m used to calling these things).
I was so excited to see blooming flowers, skittering lizards, singing birds and buzzing insects. Everything was brown at a distance, but it was really brimming with life here! The resurrection plant was one of my favorite discoveries. It’s a plant well-adapted to desert life. When it’s dry, it curls up and looks dead. But when it has enough water, it turns green and unfurls into a beautiful rosette. So beautiful!
Not being used to the desert heat, our steps got slower and more labored as the hike wore on. The sun was draining my will to live. And it was only January. We got to a point in the canyon where I thought the trail just petered out, already forgetting about the viewpoint part, and we sat down to eat lunch. After getting some water and calories in me, I smartened up and looked at the map again. We’re not there yet!
There’s a bit of scrambling to do in order to get to the dramatic endpoint of the hike, though if you’re not comfortable with the terrain I’d say it’s definitely not worth going all the way to the end. If there were a viewing platform built over the top of the falls it would provide a much better view. We enjoyed the scrambly bits, so we were happy to do the final portion. Besides, the narrow canyon walls provided some much appreciated shade.
We hiked back in the hot afternoon sun. Did I mention the heat? At the start of the trail, a signboard reminds visitors to bring plenty of water and sun protection, as well as avoiding hiking in the middle of the day. I was definitely ready to get back to the van and pull a cold bubbly water out of the fridge.
Mule Ears Spring
4.1 mi. | 440′ ele. gain | 2 hr. | Official route info
After downing a refreshing cold beverage, we geared up for our second hike of the day to Mule Ears Spring. Here, we saw more cactus, including one that was new to me: club-cholla! It was a small, sprawling little guy that really liked this particular area. In fact, despite being right down the road from the previous hike, it seemed like all the geology was different here. I used all the fun plants and rocks as excuses to stop and take a million more pictures. Glad that the days of being limited to 24 photos per roll of film are gone.
Though we saw only one other person on our last hike, there were several groups of people on the trail here, including one group who were heading out on an overnight adventure. That did not appeal to me, since you have to carry all your water!
But, perhaps they chose this trail because there is actually some water here. Our day hike goal was to read Mule Ears Spring. You know when you get there because there’s suddenly LOTS of green. Grasses, shrubs, trees, flowers, algae, you name it. We also saw some tadpoles and frogs in the water there. Unbelievable that just steps away you return to the arid desert.
During the hike back, thick clouds rolled in. The breeze picked up. The sky kept us from overheating despite the trail going uphill all the way to the van. We hurried back, because we had one more very important stop to make: The Starlight Theatre. I read that they don’t take reservations and they get very busy, so we aimed on getting there before they opened at 5. Lucky us, we got seated right away and had a nice meal in this remote Texas outpost.
Santa Elena Canyon
2 mi. | 100′ ele. gain | 1:40 hr. Official route info
After watching the park movie in the visitor center, we knew we had to make it to Santa Elena Canyon for sunrise. The timelapse showing the walls turn orange with the day’s first sunlight looked spectacular. We got up early one morning and drove all the way down the road to watch this phenomenon.
We stopped at the drive-up viewpoint around 7:50 am to see the show. We’d already stopped at a few other pullouts along the way to breathe in the vastness of the desert. After making breakfast, we bundled up to head out on our hike. Contrary to the previous hike in this tale, it felt cold enough for a beanie and puffy coat today!
You can see the 1000′ cliff walls of this canyon from many miles away. Now, we found ourselves at the river’s edge, at the base of this yawning crevasse. I felt very small.
Since the Rio Grande runs through this canyon, the route changes as the water reshapes the landscape. From the trailhead, we walked toward the obvious trail leading into the canyon, but got confused. We ended up mistakenly turning right and following a use trail for a bit before it got overgrown enough that I decided to check my map. We turned back, following the feeder creek until we found a small pass cutting straight up a steep embankment. I located the trail in the palo verde scrub above that led us back to the official route.
Though this is a short hike, it’s always good to have a map! Some tourists unwittingly followed us, so we turned them around once we realized our mistake. From there, the trail was well-worn and dotted with interpretive signs. There, we learned about the layered limestone rocks and rare plants that liked to grow there. I zipped up my jacket and shoved my hands into my pockets as we entered the deep shade of the canyon.
All too soon, the trail dead ended at the vertical rock cliffs. The green water of the river beckoned for exploration, but alas we did not have any boats. It would have been fun to take a guided rafting or kayaking trip in the park, but we decided to stick to land-based adventures this time.
We stopped at the Castolon Visitor Center area on our way out, but there was some major construction going on and the visitor center was closed. Once they’re finished up, this should be a good place to stop, learn about the park and take a lunch break.
Tuff Canyon
The nice thing about a designated scenic drive in a National Park is that there are often plenty of official and unofficial places to pull off the road and read a sign or go exploring. On the drive to Tuff Canyon, we noticed some really cool rocks so we turned into the next dirt pullout and began poking around. There, we got to see those rocks up close and personal, but that was just the beginning. I oohed and aahed over both the large prickly pear cactus and the more unassuming little club-cholla. I found all these weird, bleached out exoskeletons and then finally, a living, crawling giant desert millipede! And then another! These are commonly bred for the pet trade, believe it or not, but I’d never seen one in the wild before. A reminder that if you’re curious about something, it’s always worth pulling over and taking a look.
Once we arrived at Tuff Canyon, I was annoyed to find out that there were a few isolated overlooks, no loop and no official way into the canyon. We’d just see about fixing all those problems.
My downloaded map indicated that a loop might just be possible. After looking over the rail at the top of the small canyon, we investigated and found an easy route down. It was much more interesting in the belly of the beast. I found some very green resurrection plant in addition to all the curled up brown ones. The rock features were really cool and the final boss: Big Bend lupine, awaited us with its huge purple blooms at the far end of the canyon. We couldn’t see it from the upper viewpoint, so I was glad we persisted in finding a way in.
The canyon walls were steep, crumbly and unsafe. Making a loop seemed like an impossibility. But again our stubbornness paid off. Aaron found a good passage up and out without having to retrace our steps!
Cattail Falls
Despite not having an official trailhead and no longer being on the official park map, Cattail Falls is not exactly a “secret hike.” Still, the NPS clearly doesn’t want a ton of visitors up there so if you want more information on this hike, you’ll have to do a little more searching. My friend recommended visiting after a rain, so that’s just what we did.
Our route required a bit of a tedious road walk to get to the trail, but it was a nice afternoon for a hike. Though the road was dusty and boring, we ran into a couple from Texas who had extensive hiking experience in the park. They shared some of their favorite spots and made recommendations for the rest of our trip. Always good to get up-to-date advice from people who are actually out there!
Once we reached the trail, the route became a bit more interesting, though still dusty and dry. At last, we rounded a corner and faced the entrance of the canyon. Everything began to look much more green and we had the towering cliffs of the Chisos Mountains front and center.
Near the end of the hike, we hiked through a tangle of trees and shrubs, did a little boulder hopping up the creek and stood in a small amphitheater beneath…a big, wet wall. To be fair, we are pretty spoiled on waterfalls. Having spent so much time in Oregon, we’ve seen tons of big, dramatic waterfalls (including the Trail of Ten Falls). We’ve already seen waterfalls in the desert like Darwin Falls. Sigh. But it literally felt cool to be there. I enjoyed the shade, humidity, and marked drop in temperature. I also enjoyed observing all the different plants thriving there and listening to all the birds.
The hike out, admitedly, was long and boring and I could not wait to be done. I reminded myself that I may never get back here, so I needed to pack as many experiences into this visit as possible.
Chimneys
5.9 mi. | 520′ ele. gain | 3:30 hr. | Official route info
Last stop on the west side was the Chimneys Trail. I picked this one because of the petroglyphs and isolated rock features. I thought it might offer something a little different from the other trails we’d explored.
As with all the others, the trail crosses an open, hot, sunny desert before reaching the grand finale. Which, to be honest, I felt wasn’t worth the effort. Sure, there were some petroglyphs on the rocks, but there were no interpretive panels or brochures or any context. We couldn’t really tell what was genuine and what wasn’t, so it felt like kind of a bust.
To salvage our hike, we walked off trail to a small rise that provided a good place to sit and a constant breeze. There, we pulled out our art supplies so I could paint and Aaron could sketch. Despite it being a pretty spot, I still couldn’t find my mojo and was just ready to leave. We endured, but if I could recommend skipping only one of the hikes on this list, this is the one I’d skip.
Overall, I loved exploring the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive and enjoyed the myriad of options it provided us. It’s accessible from Cottonwood Campground, Chisos Basin Campground, Terlingua or any of the backroads campsites on the west side.