West Big Bend....Santa Elena Canyon....Castolon

On our final day in Big Bend, we were headed to the western part of the park.

The scenery in this park of the park is unique in it's own way.

There are several completely different types of rocks mingled together.

We decided we would head directly to Santa Elena Canyon at the far end of the road so we would have a better chance of slightly cooler morning air.

I have been here once before but I stayed in the truck with the dogs while the kids and grandkids hiked the canyon. Keep in mind that no dogs are allowed on the trails in the park.

The parking lot was relatively empty which is very unusual.

Hmmmmm......looks like there was water way  up here

Normally you cross a very small creek to get to the trail into the canyon. Well, the mud was at least mid calf deep and much of the trail in the actual canyon was probably worse. Remember, I told you the Rio Grande was really up. It will be a while before this is dried out enough to enjoy.

We left and headed back stopping at places we went past on the way in. The river access is where trips by boat come and go. It was pretty messed up too.

This part of the area had ranches prior to the National Park.

La Harmonia Store was very important to the area both to Americans and Mexicans. It was the focal point for everyone in the area and served many different functions.

Our next stop was the Cottonwood Campground. I think it is the nicest campground in the park although it doesn't have hookups and offers only outhouses.....no showers. There is water available.

There was a huge fire in this area back in May. You can see how close the fire raged to the campground. There were only a couple of campers but we were lucky to get a couple of pictures of the roadrunner.

The road up the hill to Castolon was blocked to vehicle traffic but Carolyn walked up the hill to get a few pictures. The fire went through this area.

It didn't get all the buildings.

You can see the building on the left which is very large and quite important and very damaged.

These were original buildings that settlers lived in. The big building was built as a barracks but never used as one once finished. It housed the Castolon Park Store and Visitors Center......a tragic loss.

At least some of the buildings are okay and hopefully the park will get this important area opened soon.

Goat Mountain.

There is an overlook and a trail down to the Homer Wilson Ranch. It was one of the largest ranches in the area in the early 20th century. The trail down is a little rough.

The next stop was the Sam Nail Ranch. It is closer to the road and easier to get to if you are interested in hiking.

This windmill is still functioning and water bushes and trees and providing water for the birds.

The buildings are gone with only foundations to give you an idea of what the ranch looked like but the trees the Nail's planted are still there.

By this time, the sun was really hot as were we so we were ready to head back to the RV park. This particular part of the park left us feeling like we missed a lot with the fire at Castolon and the Santa Elena Canyon trail flooding.  Oh well, as I told Carolyn, you can't come to Big Bend just once.