With only one full day to spend in Big Bend National Park, the parental units were up and at em at the butt crack of dawn. The landscape didn’t change much, except for the border patrol station, until just outside the park.
The entrance booth to the park was unmanned. The plan was to buy a Senior National Parks pass, but free was even better. The visitors center and one lone gas station are located in Panther Junction. After obtaining the much coveted park map and gassing up, we were off. National Parks are quite stingy with their maps. They do not share them with nearby visitor centers or local Chambers. This was a constant problem at the hardware store which sits at the eastern gateway to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Van mom has been known to acquire park maps in unconventional ways in order to provide them to her customers.
The Chisos Mountain drive was closed due to fires. The view was supposed to be spectacular, but will have to wait for another time. We continued on to the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. This is a winding 30 mile out and back paved road.. There are numerous places to stop and enjoy the spectacular beauty and vistas.
The Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive ends at Santa Elena Canyon. Van mom could hardly wait to get there. This canyon is cut by Rio Grande River with towering walls 1500 ft in height. The wall on the left is in Mexico and wall on the right is in the Texas. A short, but glute burning hike (1.7 miles) takes you into the canyon. The river was low so that van mom and dad could walk between the canyon walls for quite a distance. Van mom recommends getting there early in the day to beat the crowds and the heat.
The park is full of hiking trails. Again, that will have to wait for another day.