Routes, Drive Times & Road Tips to Big BendBig Bend sits deep in far West Texas. Whether you’re coming from El Paso, Midland/Odessa, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, or Dallas/Fort Worth, choose the route that matches your arrival town and the part of the park you want...
The Big Bend is a remote region of West Texas that includes over one million acres of public land, Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, and offers many activities, from camping and river rafting to horseback riding and off-road vehicle tours. But because of the inherent remoteness, planning your trip before you leave the house will help make your Big Bend vacation more enjoyable.
Follow these tips for your next Big Bend Adventure.
Get Informed
There are many online resources for visiting the region. Read up on the area before you embark on your adventure. There is a lot of area to cover, and it is unreasonable to try and see everything in one trip. Online resources can give you advice on what to see and try and do on your trip.
Plan Ahead and Provide Backups
Big Bend is known for being remote and rugged. Because of this, your trip may not go as planned. Unforeseen things can happen and leave you stranded or worse. Plan your trip around activities and lodging, and prepare alternative activities, routes, lodging locations just in case something should go wrong.
Weather Changes
The weather in Big Bend is hard to predict. Weather can change rapidly in most seasons, changing from hot and sunny to cold and rainy. Be sure to bring clothes for different climates. Temperatures can reach more than 110 degrees in the summer, but if a thunderstorm blows through, the temperature can drop rapidly to the 70’s or 60’s in a matter of minutes. These rapid changes in weather can put a damper on an otherwise fun trip if not anticipated.
Bring Appropriate Supplies
It is important to be prepared, but bringing a truckload of gadgets is inadvisable. Besides adding weight to hiking or boating trips, gadgets distract from the natural beauty and scenery that surrounds the visitor in this remote region. So, bring only what you need, cell phone, plenty of water, camping and survival gear, and leave the rest up to the local outfitters.
Plan Around Activities
There are numerous activities available to every visitor to the area. Unfortunately, not all activities are available year round. River rafting is a very popular activity, but at times, the Rio Grande water level is low, making rafting difficult. Most of the time you can still go canoeing, at water levels ideal for beginners. But canoeing is not for everyone, and by planning a backup like horseback riding, Jeep tours, or hiking, your trip can be just as enjoyable.
Enjoy Yourself
Things go wrong, and your attitude will determine whether it will ruin the family vacation or create opportunities for unanticipated fun. Perspective is everything, and the key to a good vacation attitude is not take things so seriously. If the trip doesn’t follow the plan exactly, that’s ok, enjoy yourself anyway.
Planning your adventure is not difficult. Being prepared for the unanticipated can make the difference between disaster and memorable.
Would you like more resources for visiting the Big Bend?
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Thanks to Adrien Torres for sharing this rare sighting of waterfalls flowing (thanks to recent rains) in Cañón de Santa Elena, Parque Nacional, just across the river from Big Bend National Park. 🙌
#BigBendNationalPark #WestTexas #CanonDeSantaElena #ParqueNacional
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Amazing Big Bend sunrise captured by @marcusc_photo ☀️🙌
#bigbend #nationalpark #westtexas #traveltexas #bigbendnationalpark #nps
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Chisos Basin to remain open in Big Bend National Park. 🙌
With construction plans on hold, the previously anticipated closures will no longer take place, which means that winding road into the mountains will stay open and ready to welcome visitors.
Those who know, know: when summer heat settles over the desert, the Chisos Basin answers with fresh breezes, cooler temps and shaded trails.
Visit nps.gov for more information.
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Good news for winter travelers! Chisos Basin will remain OPEN through the 2025 winter season, including lodging, trails, the visitor center, and food services.
Next summer, thanks to funding from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) Legacy Restoration Fund, construction work on significant improvements to the Chisos Basin area of the park is expected to begin on May 1, 2026, and continue for approximately two years.
Until then, enjoy the beauty of the basin!
#visitbigbend #vbb #chisosbasin #westtexas #bigbend #bigbendnps
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✨ Your Big Bend stargazing calendar: July 14 – August 15 ✨
Home to some of the darkest night skies in the lower 48, Big Bend was made for looking up. Here`s what`s lighting up (and darkening) our skies over the next month (Photo by @tonymaples):
🌑 July 14 — New Moon. Tonight! The darkest skies of the month mean the Milky Way core glows overhead all evening. No telescope required. 📸 by @marcusc_photo
🌒 July 15–17 — Earthshine moon meets Venus. Look west at dusk for a razor-thin crescent glowing with "earthshine" — sunlight reflecting off Earth onto the moon`s dark side. On the 16th and 17th, it pairs up with brilliant Venus. 📸 by @visitpresidiotexas
☄️ July 17 — Perseid season begins. The year`s most beloved meteor shower starts flinging its first shooting stars across our skies (and keeps going through Aug 24). 📸 by Lee McMillan
🌕 July 29 — Full Buck Moon. Watch it rise over the Chisos Mountains — bring a camera. 📸 by @timmckennaterlingua
🌠 July 30–31 — Double meteor shower. The Southern Delta Aquariids (up to 25/hour) and Alpha Capricornids peak together. The bright moon will wash some out, so catch them after midnight the week before the peak. 📸 @gregvaughnphotos
💥 August 12–13 — The Perseids PEAK, under a new moon. This is the one. 60–100 meteors per hour with zero moonlight to compete with — expected to be one of the best Perseid displays in years. Best after midnight until dawn. 📷 by NPS/ L. Nowell
💫 August 14–15 — Venus at its brightest. Look west just after sunset for the dazzling "evening star" at its greatest distance from the sun. 📸 by 📷 NPS CA. Hoyt
Terlingua, Lajitas, Marathon, Study Butte. Every corner of Brewster County is a front-row seat. Send to your best stargazing buddies now, because that Perseids weekend won`t wait. 🔭
📸 by @shari_hunt_photography
#VisitBigBend #BigBendNationalPark #DarkSkies #Perseids2026 #MeteorShower #Stargazing #TexasTravel #Terlingua #Marathon #BrewsterCounty
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"Big Bend National Park is bigger than Rhode Island and the only national park that contains an entire mountain range, the Chisos Mountains. The skies are dark, the roads to the park are long," notes Carrie Dennis in her recent piece for @travelandleisure. "Majestic Big Bend National Park is fabulous for hiking, scenic car rides, and the Fossil Discovery Exhibit."
Beautifully photographed by Jon Mattrisch @jmke.visuals, the article highlights @bigbendnps`s enormous skies and expansive landscapes and the ‘serene trails leading through the rugged peaks of the Chisos Mountains.’ These moments reflect just why Big Bend is such a treasure. Dive into the full story linked in bio!
#bigbendnps #bigbend #nps #nationalparks #westtexas #visitbigbend #travelleisure
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"Deep inside a remote cave in Big Bend, archeologists have uncovered a pristine hunting kit — potentially the oldest intact weapon system in North America. This discovery offers a rare glimpse into the lives of ancient hunters, revealing tools, weapons, and even a folded pronghorn hide left untouched for thousands of years. Each artifact tells a story of survival, craftsmanship, and the deep connect between humans and the land." - @TexasParksWildlife
Read the full story in the March TPW Magazine linked in bio.
#texasparks #nationalparks #visitbigbend #bigbendnps #bigbend #nps
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Spring in West Texas means bluebonnets are back, covering the fields in a blue spectacle.
It`s a great time to see these iconic Texas flowers up close.
Beautiful photo by @gooolsby
#BluebonnetBloom #texasbluebonnets #bluebonnet #westtexas #traveltexas
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