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The Bend in the River

© Bob Thaxton

Some of the most spectacular scenery in Texas lies out west in the Big Bend region where the Rio Grande makes a gigantic S-curve. This is the sort of landscape associated with the state, especially by those whose mental images of Texas were formed by watching western movies filmed with locations in Arizona or Utah standing in for the Lone Star State.

Despite the awesome scenery, most of the state’s population resides hundreds of miles to the east, and many Texans have never visited the Big Bend region. Similarly, many travelers coming to the state never venture west of San Antonio or Fort Worth. These factors leave Big Bend National Park as one of the most sparsely utilized in the national park system. Yet those who do make the long trip out to Big Bend often are so enthralled by it that they return again and again.

No one stumbles upon Big Bend National Park by accident. The park’s entrances are more than 100 miles from the nearest interstate highway. Commercial airline service is even farther away. Buses and trains don’t go there. There are no major cities nearby. El Paso is more than 300 miles west of Big Bend, and San Antonio lies a comparable distance to the east. Even for permanent residents of West Texas, a trip to Big Bend involves more than a Sunday afternoon excursion.

If you’re coming from the central or eastern regions of Texas, the most direct route is to take U.S. Highway 90 going west from San Antonio. When you get to Marathon, you’ll be within about an hour’s drive south on Highway 385 to the northern entrance to the park. If approaching from the west, take Interstate 10 going east from El Paso, and when you get to Van Horn, exit to Highway 90. But you probably won’t want to go all the way to Marathon on 90 before heading south. You can reach the park’s western entrance via Highway 67 from Marfa to Presidio and Ranch Road 170 from Presidio to Study Butte or via Highway 118 from Alpine to Study Butte. The park is open 24 hours a day throughout the year. The main visitor center, at Panther Junction, is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day except Christmas.

Fall and spring are the best times to make the trip to Big Bend. According to the National Park Service, March and April are the months that bring the most visitors to the park, partly because it’s a popular spring break destination. Visitation is at its lowest in August and September. And if you ever go in August, you’ll quickly realize why. It gets really hot in the summertime in West Texas. In fact, the nearby town of Presidio often has the distinction of recording the state’s highest temperature on summer days – sometimes the highest in the nation.