ljrunner05
Adventurer
Awesome Report and Photos! Time to start planning a trip to Texas...
Big Bend National Park and Ranch State Park - January 2016
- Thread starter wngrog
- Start date
LexusAllTerrain
Expedition Leader
Waiting for the pictures thru BBRSP
1leglance
2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
Great pics and writeup, I really like family adventures and getting the kids out to play....family and friends even better.
I grew up in Texas but never went to Big Bend, looks like I need to head out from Arizona and check it out, thanks for the report and please post more.
I grew up in Texas but never went to Big Bend, looks like I need to head out from Arizona and check it out, thanks for the report and please post more.
wngrog
Adventurer
Two and 1/2 days is a hard push to see as much of Big Bend as we did. Being an off-road trip as much as possible, it is tempting to want to use Old Maverick Road to exit the park, but if you go out through Study Butte, the most beautiful route is along Ross Maxwell Loop in my opinion. Of course, it is paved, but it is superb. Quickly you climb out of the river area and are soon looking west back toward Santa Elena Canyon.
My favorite stop among many is The Sam Nail Ranch.
Water pumps from the original windmill that is still in operation
We took off after the ranch for Terlingua/Study Butte for lunch and to resupply for the trip to Big Bend Ranch State Park.
When I finish this up, @ntsaint will post up the GPS maps and the distances we traveled on and off road.
My favorite stop among many is The Sam Nail Ranch.
Water pumps from the original windmill that is still in operation
We took off after the ranch for Terlingua/Study Butte for lunch and to resupply for the trip to Big Bend Ranch State Park.
When I finish this up, @ntsaint will post up the GPS maps and the distances we traveled on and off road.
wngrog
Adventurer
Mine is a 1998 with 150,000 miles, factory locked. Suspension is OME Tbars, Slee Heavy rears, Iron Man Pro shocks. Slee diff drop. Tires are 305-65-18 BFG KO2
The white one with the armor is a 2006 with factory AHC and 275-70-18 Nitto TGs
The green one has a full Iron Man heavy suspension with Pro shocks.
The other white one is bone stock.
The white one with the armor is a 2006 with factory AHC and 275-70-18 Nitto TGs
The green one has a full Iron Man heavy suspension with Pro shocks.
The other white one is bone stock.
wngrog
Adventurer
Just like some of you reading this story, I was dying to see Big Bend Ranch State Park. Years ago, on my 3rd trip to Big Bend, my friend Price Burdine regaled me with stories of hiking for days to the center of El Solitario, an ancient volcano crater, that is in the NE part of the park. Now, thanks to the land becoming a State Park, I would be driving my Land Cruiser to the spot it took him days to reach on foot.
We left the pavement about 10 miles south of Presidio and entered into Big Bend Ranch State Park. This place is desolatation personified.
The gravel roads that we drove to the HQ 25 miles in the interior of the park were in excellent condition with very little washboard.
I kept starting and stopping and taking pictures. Even after 3 days in the National Park I was still amazed to see there were actual rock formations that were different here than any we had seen yet.
25-30 miles after we left FM170, we rolled into the Ranch HQ.
BBRSP does a great job allowing you to book sites ahead of time. This is nice since we really didn't know much about the sites and our timeline getting in. We had Guale 2 and Tres Papalotes. They are in opposite parts of the park, and after seeing the time it took to get in and out of the park, we decided that we would prioritize the east side of the park so I could finally see El Solitario.
After talking to a beautiful Park employee at the desk, she helped us select Tres Papalotes due to the size of our group and the proximity to The Road to Nowhere in El Solitatio.
We left the pavement about 10 miles south of Presidio and entered into Big Bend Ranch State Park. This place is desolatation personified.
The gravel roads that we drove to the HQ 25 miles in the interior of the park were in excellent condition with very little washboard.
I kept starting and stopping and taking pictures. Even after 3 days in the National Park I was still amazed to see there were actual rock formations that were different here than any we had seen yet.
25-30 miles after we left FM170, we rolled into the Ranch HQ.
BBRSP does a great job allowing you to book sites ahead of time. This is nice since we really didn't know much about the sites and our timeline getting in. We had Guale 2 and Tres Papalotes. They are in opposite parts of the park, and after seeing the time it took to get in and out of the park, we decided that we would prioritize the east side of the park so I could finally see El Solitario.
After talking to a beautiful Park employee at the desk, she helped us select Tres Papalotes due to the size of our group and the proximity to The Road to Nowhere in El Solitatio.
wngrog
Adventurer
We arrived in camp just a little over an hour after we left Ranch HQ. The road was a bit slower, but for the most part we made real good time. There were 4 LOW trails splintering off the main trail we were on just about every mile. It seems like the wheeling, hiking and biking opportunities are endless.
The signage in BBRSP has great signs. I still operate off paper maps and I was easily able to follow along on the paper map they provided me.
As you can see, the track has gotten more defined versus the wide gravel roads we had to the HQ and a few miles past
I saw this nice fat Javalena along the way.....these things look like pigs but they are really rodents. Large rodents.
We rolled into camp just as the sun was setting to the Southwest.
The signage in BBRSP has great signs. I still operate off paper maps and I was easily able to follow along on the paper map they provided me.
As you can see, the track has gotten more defined versus the wide gravel roads we had to the HQ and a few miles past
I saw this nice fat Javalena along the way.....these things look like pigs but they are really rodents. Large rodents.
We rolled into camp just as the sun was setting to the Southwest.
wngrog
Adventurer
So, the absolute most awesome part of the Big Bend Ranch State Park is that they allow ground fires.
We all packed in a bundle of wood for the night and the next morning. When I go back to the State Park, I will bring my M416 with fuel and wood so I can support about 3 days of wheeling this park and camping.
I tossed my Solar Shower on the roof at Terlingua and it was sitting at a balmy 80* when we got to camp. I slipped out the FrontRunner arm, tied it up and took my first shower in 3 days.
We fired up the Skottle, tossed some Venison Sausage on it and started heating up dinner while the sun set.
"Expo" ladder in use
Sunset was awesome
God Bless America. God Bless a great fire.
Photo Gallery Lajitas to Tres Papalotes
http://www.rockmidgetphotography.co...Texas-January-2016/Big-Bend-Ranch-State-Park/
We all packed in a bundle of wood for the night and the next morning. When I go back to the State Park, I will bring my M416 with fuel and wood so I can support about 3 days of wheeling this park and camping.
I tossed my Solar Shower on the roof at Terlingua and it was sitting at a balmy 80* when we got to camp. I slipped out the FrontRunner arm, tied it up and took my first shower in 3 days.
We fired up the Skottle, tossed some Venison Sausage on it and started heating up dinner while the sun set.
"Expo" ladder in use
Sunset was awesome
God Bless America. God Bless a great fire.
Photo Gallery Lajitas to Tres Papalotes
http://www.rockmidgetphotography.co...Texas-January-2016/Big-Bend-Ranch-State-Park/
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wngrog
Adventurer
The next morning Fireman kicked up the campfire with the remaining wood and Andy pulled the espressos
Andy noticed that there were hundreds of birds around the well drinking. We snuck around and watched and took pictures
So many of the windmills have been converted to solar now
wngrog
Adventurer
After wandering around camp for an hour, we hit the trail to the Uranium mine south of camp. The drive up got a bit more technical. We all used 4 low for the climb.
There were two mines. One was close to the road with no way to turn the trucks around at the top. We just admired it from a distance and pressed on up the hill to our destination
Patrick was photographing his shoes. Something about expo fashion.
There were two mines. One was close to the road with no way to turn the trucks around at the top. We just admired it from a distance and pressed on up the hill to our destination
Patrick was photographing his shoes. Something about expo fashion.
wngrog
Adventurer
This mine is cool......not really the mine as much as the vantage point from the mine. You really feel like you are at the end of the world up there.
Our gang......
The mine itself is capped off but you can climb on it and look down forever. This thing was active during the Cold War when we were mining Uranium as fast as we could to make bombs.
I sent the crew down so I could photograph them from the peak and also so I could fly their decent with my Phantom Quad Copter. These things are banned in National Parks but not yet in BBRSP
Our gang......
The mine itself is capped off but you can climb on it and look down forever. This thing was active during the Cold War when we were mining Uranium as fast as we could to make bombs.
I sent the crew down so I could photograph them from the peak and also so I could fly their decent with my Phantom Quad Copter. These things are banned in National Parks but not yet in BBRSP