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State Overviews Texas Regional Overviews Big Bend Country Panhandle Plains Hill Country Prairies and Lakes Piney Woods Gulf Coast South Texas Plains Topical Overviews Biking Birding Boating Camping Fishing Golfing Hiking National Parks Off-Road Driving Scenic Drives Additional Info Festivals and Events Texas Almanac 
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Big Bend Country - Texas Overview
Big Bend Country is all complex and varied terrain, and this is reflected by its two grand national parks. Big Bend National Park is mountain, river, and desert (indeed, the Rio Grande flows right through it) with long stretches of mesquite and elevated basins. It has more species of birds than any other national park, due to its unique positioning between the United States and Mexico. The Guadalupe Mountains National Park is all high peaks and even contains the finest fossilized reef in the world. Both are paradisical for hikers, campers, and birders. El Paso's Hueco Tanks, beyond being extremely significant historically, is a rock-climber's heaven. The long desert dunes near the city are wonderful for off-roading. Down even further south in Del Rio is the massive, dual-nation Lake Amistad, Texas’s best boating lake.
The desert heat translates into hot, dusty, difficult rides. El Paso is surrounded by miles and miles of intense, technical climbs up mountains and down rocky drops, for this may be desert, but it's high, rough desert. Beginners will find some stretches of desert flat that aren't quite so intimidating. Big Bend National Park has some technically gentler rides, but it's a large park and trails can be on the same vast scale. Wherever you're biking in the Basin, be prepared with a lot of water and a lot of endurance and a little chutzpah for the trickier parts.
Big Bend Country may be the dryest part of Texas, but Lake Amistad is its most famous lake. With a surface area of 64,900 acres and daunting depths of over 200 feet, this is a boater's lake. Why, a boater could spend a month exploring the rocky shoreline and cruising the open water. The two other major lakes in Big Bend Country are Red Bluff and Balmorhea. Balmorhea is very shallow and perhaps not best suited to large boats, although it's still beautiful. Red Bluff is less shallow, a fine, clear-watered lake with some varied terrain.
There are several places to camp within Big Bend National Park itself, some only accessible by vehicles with four-wheel drive. Some, such as Chisos Basin or Rio Grande Village, are far easier to get to, but anywhere you can set down a tent is likely to be lovely. Because of its proximity to Franklin Mountains State Park, El Paso has some surprisingly rugged camping. This is mostly tent camping with no amenities. There are a few RV sites as well, but they're also on the primitive side.
Big Bend Country is not, unsurprisingly, blessed with myriad lakes, but it is home to one very significant one, Lake Amistad, just northwest of Del Rio. The other two major lakes are far shallower and smaller. Like much of Texas, Big Bend is a prime spot for bass, particularly that popular largemouth bass. Catfish are here in significant numbers as well.
Golfing in Texas's Big Bend Country may not be the easiest pasttime to pursue, nor the most catered to. However, avid golfers who'd really prefer more than one golf course per town (if that) will be pleasantly surprised by El Paso. Not only does the city proudly possess several courses, but they tend to be especially scenic in that Southwest way; Painted Dunes Desert Golf Course is especially famous for this. And if you're heading toward Big Bend National Park, stop by Ambush at Lajitas, notable for having four holes on an island of the Rio Grande River.
You'll have to pack water in to Big Bend National Park if you intend to hike through it in the summer. With over 150 miles of trails, it's just too easy to get yourself intentionally lost in the scenery. Trails can be swift, paved, and the very definition of easy. Or they can be mad, difficult climbs that require rock-scrambles, or camping off-trail and finishing the rest in the morning. But excellent they all certainly are. El Paso boasts almost as many trails in Franklin Mountain State Park and the Guadalupe Mountains tend to be far less crowded than Big Bend and exhiliratingly difficult.
The Davis Mountains serve as a reminder of just how geologically complex West Texas is. The Davis Mountain Loop coils through mountains more lush than dramatic, while, by contrast, close to a canyon as it is, El Paso's Scenic Drive is as brashly, if beautifully, urban as anything in California. El Paso is also home to such historic drives as El Camino Rio and the Mission Trail. For more rugged drives, Big Bend National Park is the better choice, if some of these roads are far too steep and winding for large vehicles. |
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