Big Bend National Park

TripLeader

Explorer
In November 2013, two friends and I went to Big Bend. Here's a small report about the trip.
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It was pretty foggy for some of the days we were there. Sometimes it cleared up by afternoon, sometimes it did not.
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We first checked out a couple of places like Castolon and Santa Elena Canyon.
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We also checked out Dorgan House, which was a failed resort called "Mexitex."
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We backpacked up into the Chisos Mountains. We spent two nights and three days up there. The first day we climbed Emory Peak, the highest point in the park.
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After that, we hiked and camped our way to the South Rim.
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The South Rim. It's just a spectacular place, and should be on everyone's list of places to see.
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roverrocks

Expedition Leader
Terrific shots!! I've never been to Big Bend and your shots make me want to head out soon with the wife!!
 

TripLeader

Explorer
A view of Emory Peak from the South Rim.
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We ate our dinner that evening, as the sun set, from a viewpoint of the SE corner of the rim.
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After we came down from the mountains, we visited the small, unusual town of Terlingua. The cemetery there is worth a visit.
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We did a dayhike out to Mule Ears. I think it turned out to be about 7 or 8 miles roundtrip.
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The view looking back toward the Chisos from Mule Ears.
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TripLeader

Explorer
One of the old ranch sites we visited.
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We drove down Black Gap Road one of our days. We were in a 2012 Tacoma DCSB with the TRD Off Road package. The road, from my understanding, is the roughest road in the park.
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As we were driving, we saw a canyon off one side of the road. We got out and explored it for about an hour.
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We went and visited the Mariscal Mine. It was quite impressive. An old mercury mine that finally closed in the 1940s, if I remember correctly. There was quite a lot to see, from the mine itself, to the surrounding miner's cabins, to the landscape.
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1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
very cool trip and an area I really want to visit.
I grew up in Texas and never knew much about Big Bend but now that I am in Arizona I really want to spend some time there.

How many days would you say is needed to see a good bit of the park?
 

TripLeader

Explorer
Some of the last things we visited...
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This was at the Sam Nail Ranch.
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Cattail Falls.
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The Ernst Tinaja. (The canyon above it was very cool, but we ran out of time to explore it completely.)
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A single grave on the side of a road.
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TripLeader

Explorer
very cool trip and an area I really want to visit.
I grew up in Texas and never knew much about Big Bend but now that I am in Arizona I really want to spend some time there.

How many days would you say is needed to see a good bit of the park?

I think we were there for 7 days total. It depends on how much you want to do, but I saw 7 days is about the minimum. There's a lot of driving required to get around. I think we hit our plan pretty well. (We wanted to see certain things, as well as leaving time open to hit things that we did not know about prior to going.) I had been there once before, but it was a backpacking trip--we did the Outer Mountain Loop. This time was about half hiking, and half car travelling.
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The short answer is, as long as you do a little research before going, you will not regret going, and you will appreciate all the time you spend there.
 

TripLeader

Explorer
Terrific shots!! I've never been to Big Bend and your shots make me want to head out soon with the wife!!

Thanks. Big Bend is just an incredible, unexpected place. Another fantastic quality of it--it gets few visitors compared to most other national parks.
 

Strizzo

Explorer
you went to mariscal mine and no pic of you sitting in the old car?

Great place, can't imagine smelting mercury in those summer temps!
 

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