Traveling with the Longdogs: Big Bend........the Chisos Mountains

We set off about 0900 for our first day in Big Bend. It is about 7 miles from our RV park in Terlingua to the entrance of Big Bend National Park.

As we approached the booth at the entrance to the park, I was very surprised to see that it was not manned. In these days when money for parks is never enough, it seems ridiculous that a ranger is not collecting fees from those that don't have park passes. We drove in and out of the park twice a day for three days and the booth was closed every time. Of course, you are supposed to go to the Visitor's Center and buy a pass but I really doubt whether that happens. Other parks use work camper volunteers if they don't have ranger staff which makes a lot of sense.

Everywhere you go in the park is a distance because this is the largest park. Our goal for today was the Chisos Mountains. The Chisos have at least four peaks that are nearly 8000 feet so those that say Texas has no mountains and is flat are sadly mistaken.

The view is beautiful wherever you look.

The mountains are beautiful with mist graying the more distance ranges.

And yes, it is October but there are flowers in the desert.

The Chisos mountain basin is about seven miles away when you turn off the main road cutting across the park.

There is a campground for tents and smaller RVs due to the road itself as well as the small camping places. And yes, there are bears and mountain lions so campers need to pay heed and use the provided bear boxes for food.

Some of the mountain ranges are smoother while others like these are jagged all depending on the type of rock and erosion.

The CCC was active here so there are nice buildings built to last.

This is a bear box in the campground. We took a tour through the campground but didn't get many pictures because people were camping.

You will climb further up the narrow winding road to get to the Visitor's Center and the Lodge.

There is more information about bear interaction so campers are prepared.

The Chisos Basin has miles and miles of trails in the mountains. One of the more accessible ones is the Window View Trail.

We walked this trail as the view at the mid point is pretty wonderful and the trail is an easy half mile.

Aw....the window view.

You can truly see for miles below.

More desert beauty. Even after the cacti have bloomed, there is still lots of color.

Old school RVing.

There is a Visitor's Center which is definitely worth visiting. There is also a store which is interesting. The restaurant has a magnificent view but I can't verify that because we brought our own lunch. There are quite a few buildings with motel rooms and a few more rustic cabins but I would be sure I had a reservation before I took a chance.