Myself and a couple friends are hiking the Outer Mountain Loop here in a few weeks. I’ve read that it will probably be more comfortable to cache water at both Homer Wilson and Juniper Canyon. We will have a rental car so we won’t be able to access Juniper Canyon.

Does anyone know of someone who will cache water as a service? We will need it cached around 2/17-2/19. I’ve tried a few companies and none of them do it. Thanks!

Due to custody schedules and work schedules, my boyfriends and I are considering a camping trip to BBNP during, unfortunately, Spring Break. Has anyone gone to BBNP during SB? How crowded was it and does anyone have recommendations on some campsites that may be less crowded? TIA

Hey everyone! I'll be flying down to Big Bend in early march to do the Outer Mountain Loop and I'm looking for a set of eyes to go over my itinerary.

I've got some decent mountain backpacking experience, but nothing in the desert (mainly in the North Cascades). I'll be packing in a gallon a day for the first 3 days until I pickup water at Homer Wilson.
I'm mainly looking to see if Friday and Saturday are realistic and whether or not I'm missing anything I should check out!

Route Overview

As a side note: Any idea how popular the trail will be in early March? Looking for some solitude, but I'm not picky.

Thursday (Red on Map):

1.5 miles, 600ft of gain.

• Grab wilderness permits from NPS
• Stash water at Homer Wilson
• Start hiking until Boulder Meadow Campground, camp for the night.

Friday (Neon Blue):

11.5 miles, 2100ft of gain.

• Hike up to Emory Peak
• Continue on towards Juniper Canyon wilderness camping area for the night.

Saturday (Purple):

12.8 miles, 2300ft of gain.

• Hike the lower portion of the loop until Homer Wilson, where I'll pickup my water stash.
• Camp somewhere in the Blue Creek Canyon wilderness area.

Sunday (Pink):

6 miles, 2800ft of gain.

• Hike to Southwest Rim campground, camp for the night.

Monday (Yellow)

8 miles, -2000ft of gain.

• Wake up early, check out South Rim and take alternate way back.

• Drive back to Odessa, fly out!

Thanks!

Expand for the wiiiide view

Hello Reddit! I will be heading to Big Bend National Park with my girlfriend on Valentine’s weekend. She loves stargazing and doesn’t travel much, so I thought it would be a really great first trip together.

As the title says, she happens to be wheelchair bound, so any suggestions for scenic parkway roads to drive, paved or packed dirt overlooks would be greatly appreciated. We know it’s a full moon that weekend, but if there are still any notable stargazing tours or guides that would be awesome too!

Given a choice between only doing one or the other, starting from Chisos Basin, would you rather hike the Emory Peak Trail or South Rim Trail Loop, and why?

If hiking the latter, would you rather hike clockwise from the trailhead (starting with the Pinnacles Trail) or counterclockwise (starting on the Laguna Meadows Trail)?

We're going in our first trip to Big Bend in a few weeks and are really excited.

I have a question about remote sites where we can park and kinda tailgate a picnic and if the park allows bust out our Nomad grill and grill some food sometime after our hikes.

Thanks for any advice!

Hi all, is anyone here familiar with site 20 at the basin? I booked it for March, but my husband is now worried our tent won’t fit. We have a 4/5 man tent. Not little but not giant either. This is the photo from the park site, but google earth makes it seem smaller. Hoping somewhere here can say “yeah I was just there.” Thanks

Hey everyone, I’ve been offered a job near BiBe. Im beyond excited, it’s literally a dream come true for me. I kind of took a huge leap of faith on applying, never thinking it would actually happen and the realization of there not being too much housing out near Terlingua/Lajitas hit me about .3 seconds after I accepted. I’m not set to start until mid-March, and I’d really appreciate any suggestions for housing in the area, or if I should just suck it up and park a pop-up camper somewhere out there.

Thanks in advance!

The campsites have a two-car limit. Does anyone know the fee for an extra vehicle?

Looking for any border patrol experience from legal non-citizens. (Not looking to cross the border) Booked a trip in March and am sort of nervous about the vibes at the checkpoint. I’m worried that with the wrong skin color even people with legal status could get troubles… Thanks a lot

Will be attempting this hike in a group of 3. We will be bringing a gallon of water each, snacks, and sandwiches. We have proper hiking boots and are in our early 20s. We’re all fairly fit and have athletic backgrounds. However, the elevation we will have to cover has me wondering if this is too ambitious? Would appreciate any advice or thoughts.

hello every my friends and i will be going on a trip to big bend and i live in austin so i dont hike much, i was wondering what shoes to buy, i was thinking hiking boots but i dont ever go hiking, i was thinking maybe walking or running shoes because i do run sometimes but not regularly idk though. any tips from experts on the big bend terrain? should i just buy the hiking boots and return them? i would clean them afterwards of course

Wanted to share a quick story of one of my hikes at Big Bend and see if y’all have any similar stories:

Had some time to kill one day and decided to solo hike Ward springs (Christmas time 2024). Supposed to be a quick hike. Less than 3 miles round trip and I am a fast hiker. Thinking I’d be done in less than 2 hours with stops for photographs and with not a ton of elevation change - I just grabbed a water bottle and my camera and went out.

About a mile in I get a weird feeling like I’m being watched. Felt totally exposed like if something wanted to attack me it could have easily hidden and snuck up at me from any angle. Quietest moments I have experienced during my week there. I have a mild panic attack that I barely brought any water, none of my survival supplies, am in a T-shirt and shorts, and just one protein bar. I keep going but with about 1/4 of the way to go cannot stomach going any further. Snap some last few pictures and doubled back. Passed a family with little kids on my way and felt silly.

I tell my friend who I was meeting up with later in the day, and she says she also had an experience of being followed/watched/creepy feeling on Ward Springs on two separate occasions.

Will go back and attempt that trail again with a full day pack and some bear spray and will report my findings 😅

Hi! This is my first solo national park trip, I'd love some eyes and advice on my loose plans so far. I want to do exploring/hiking during the day, and star gazing at night. I'm a little nervous about it being a solo hiking trip, but I don't think I'm planning anything outside of my capabilities. Fitness wise, I'm a long distance runner and used to having to balance sweating, hydration and fueling.

I'm flying in late on Sunday Feb 22nd, staying in Midland/Odessa, then picking up a rental car in the morning on the 23rd. I leave late morning on Thursday the 27th. I'm staying at an Airbnb in Terlingua.

The first day I'm picking up a car at 8am and driving in from Midland. Was thinking of driving the Scenic Drive, and doing one or two short easy trails. Santa Elena Canyon, Mule Ears? Maybe go to the ranger center and ask for their advice, get maps. Then groceries and checking into my Airbnb after 4pm.

Then over the next few days (Mon, Tues, Weds) I want to do one all day excursion to do the South Rim Trail, going through Laguna Meadows, Pinnacle, and Boot Canyon, and then over the other days cover a few shorter ones, the list I'm looking at/choosing from is: Lost Mine, The Window, Ward Springs, Pine Canyon, Burro Spring, Ernst Tinaja Trail.

I'm still figuring out where everything is and what makes sense to do. I have rented a Jeep, but I've never driven an all wheel drive vehicle, so probably shouldn't be tackling anything treacherous by myself. If I don't need the Jeep I can downgrade to a small SUV or something.

I have a Garmin Forerunner that I can download GPS maps for, and a couple guide books with maps, and a compass. For stargazing at night I have nothing fancy, some binoculars and apps on my phone.

I would appreciate any advice or resources, I've checked out the Wiki and the National Parks sites, and will continue to do so.

Thanks much.

Planned this trip almost 3 months ago however I never considered the size of the tent because I didn’t realize the Chisos Basin Campground was so tight. I only noticed now thanks to a YouTube video. I’m only going with 2 other friends but I have this tent that my family uses whenever we camp. We’re staying in loop 2 campground 033 if that’ll provide any further info. I was trying to look at pictures of the campsite but I really can’t tell.

Hey all, im planning a short 2 day trip to big bend this weekend and below is my itinerary. Please let me know if there’s some better things at the park. I can hike a bit more on day2 or more drives etc.

Day1

Drive to Lost mine trail n hike

Window view trail .3 miles for sunset

Day2 Sunrise at window view

Ross maxwell scenic drive Santa elena canyon trail hike

Try hot springs trail, rio grande overlook, nature trail

I'm trying to plan a trip for my fiancé's birthday, we will be traveling with a group of 6 and im having a really hard time finding a decent affordable place. We will be there 2/22 - 3/1. Do yall have any links or tips? Thank you all so much!! We are looking to stay near big bend national park as that's primarily where we want to be!