| Panther Junction Panther Junction is the headquarters of Big
Bend, but sits at the center of the park rather than at its edge, so
it’s not the most quickly accessible of the park’s areas. Still, it’s
a good place to start. After visiting the main visitor center, ease
into Big Bend with a quiet hike up the Grapevine Hills Road and Trail.
For desert-picnic lounging, try Dugout Wells. Croton Spring Road is
another way to explore the park near Panther Junction, if it’s rather
rough. Rio Grande Village This area of the park rests not
only on the river, but on the border between Mexico and the United
States. Several hikes begin here, from the short Rio Grande Village
Natural Trail and Boquillas Canyon Trail to the grueling Ore Terminal
Trail and the Marufo Vega Trail. And as this is a hiker’s park, the
Ernst Tinaja and the Hot Springs Historic District both must be hiked.
The Ernst Tinaja, a “tank” filled with water year-round, is hard to
reach, but worth it. The Hot Springs Historic District preserves the
remains of a hot springs resort and you can still soak here. Stop by
Daniel’s Ranch Picnic Area on your way; it’s a great birding
spot. Castolon Castolon is west Big Bend. Start at the
Castolon Historic District and take the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive,
which ends at the famous Santa Elena Canyon, a deep, grand limestone
canyon that divides the United States and Mexico. Hiking trails exist
as detours off the main road, among them the Tuff Canyon, the Burro
Mesa Pouroff and its hidden box canyon, and the Chimneys Trail. And
when you’ve finally exhausted the Drive, the rough Old Maverick Road
will take you further, if the 13-mile drive is rough
indeed. Chisos Basin If Panther Junction is the
headquarters of the park, this is its real center, and you can eat out
and bunk in a hotel here if you’d like. The real draw is, of course,
not the facilities, but that cliff-surrounded basin. This can be
explored through a number of trails from the easy Window View Trail to
the moderate Lost Mine to the backpacking 30-mile marathon, the Outer
Mountain Loop. The highest point of Big Bend juts from the side of the
basin; this is Emory Peak and is also hikeable. Persimmon
Gap This north end of the park is also the least developed. Stop
by the Fossil Bone Exhibit and explore the desert through the Dagger
Flat Auto Trail, which ends in a Giant Dagger Yucca forest. Dog Canyon
is accessible through a moderately strenuous trail, and Devil’s Den,
another canyon, is also hikeable, as is Persimmon Peak. |
