"Giant" country in Big Bend National Park
Ridge view at Big Bend. Photo by Dave and Shelley.
Over Christmas, my friends Shelley and Dave and their daughter drove 10 hours to Big Bend National Park, located in remote southwest Texas and tucked into a wide curve of the Rio Grande. Four hundred and seventy-four long, empty miles lie between Austin and Big Bend—and, remember, Austin is located pretty much in the middle of the state. It never ceases to amaze me how wide Texas is.
(Of course, Texans love to brag on this fact. From El Paso on the west to Texarkana on the east it’s 794 miles, almost exactly the same distance as El Paso to Los Angeles, which is 790 miles. I suppose to Alaskans, however, that would be a mere Sunday drive.)
At any rate, Big Bend is a long way away, remote from all cities and all but a couple small towns. You have to really want to go to Big Bend. My friends’ photos of the rugged beauty of far west Texas are encouraging me to make the trek someday soon.
Red cactus at Tuff Canyon. This looks like ‘Santa Rita’ prickly pear and ocotillo to me. Photo by Dave and Shelley.
Sunset from Indian Lodge. Photo by Dave and Shelley.
Thanks, Dave and Shelley, for sharing your images of this dramatic landscape. I’ll add a visit to Big Bend to my list of New Year’s resolutions.
Some nice pictures. I especially like that first one.
It is worth the drive.
This just might be a little more than this homesick boy can take.
Hank, I didn’t know (or maybe I forgot) that you were from West Texas. Whereabouts? —Pam
We drove out to Big Bend in March 2001, and were there at the right time for wildflowers and blooming yuccas… and such a dark sky at night! Fabulous star watching! It sure was worth the trip. I can’t remember the name of the place right now, but there were some impressive caverns on the way back, charging quite reasonable admission fees.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
We’ve had a couple of fantastic trips to Big Bend. The variety of plant and wildlife is astounding. Where the park ends and ranching begins the environment shows a marked line of degeneration and soil erosion.
Pam —
I and my family also made the trek to Big Bend over the winter break: camping for three nights in the Chisos Basin and then on to two nights at the McDonald Observatory. Somehow in nearly 50 years in Texas I’d never been to Big Bend, nor had my children. I say go as soon as you can. It’s truly a wonderous place (and it only took us about 7 and a half hours of driving, at least to the park entrance). Those purplish opuntias are everywhere along with every other kind of spiny thing imaginable. Up in the Basin (which is the higher elevation, mountainous part of the park) the most beautiful agaves were everywhere. They called them century plants and the bloom stalks looked just like the agave americanas I’m used to around here but the plant itself was different: same color but much shorter, broader fronds. Almost like agave parryii but bigger.
Anyway, get yourself down there. The drive’s not bad (although my kids are excellent travelers, which does help) and the end definitely justifies the means.
— Susan