Mule Ears Spring, Big Bend National Park
A hike through the desert to Mule Ears Spring in Big Bend National Park. Then I took some videos of the tadpoles living in the water of the spring.
Mule Ears Trail, Big Bend National Park
Hiking the Mule Ears Trail in Big Bend National Park, Texas on October 20, 2013 to Mule Ears Spring and a viewpoint.
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To download pictures please visit
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Big Bend Nation Park March 2019
Our trip to Big Bend National Park during March 2019. We spent three nights and four days in the park.
We hiked:
Mule Ears Spring Trail
Balanced Rock Trail
Rio Grande Village Nature Trail
Santa Elena Canyon Trail
Hot Springs Historic Trail
Emory Peak Trail
Ernst Tinaja
We also visited the Terlingua Ghost Town, the Rio Grande Village, and ate at the Chisos Basin lodge. We stayed at the Chisos Basin campground the first night and got a permit to stay at Paint Gap 3 for the next two nights. We also explored Old Maverick Road, Luna's Jacal, Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, Old Ore Road, the Boquillas Canyon Overlook, and the fossil exhibit.
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Rattlesnake Mountain Campsite - Big Bend National Park
Rattlesnake Mountain Campsite off of Old Maverick Road in Big Bend National Park. You can read the full descriptions of all of the backcountry campsites on Old Maverick Road here:
Big Bend National Park
My family's summer vacation to Big Bend National Park in Texas. Summer 2018.
-Travel through Dallas
-Camping in Chisos Basin(Chico's Basement)
-Window View Trail
-Lost Mine Trail
-Santa Elena Canyon / Rio Grande
-Mule Ears Spring
-Chico's Basement again
-Boquillas Canyon Trail / Rio Grande
-Hot Springs Trail / Rio Grande
-Window Trail
-Devil's Den
Twisted Shoe Campsite - Big Bend National Park
Twisted Shoe Campsite off of Juniper Canyon Road in Big Bend National Park. Read the full description of the campsites on Juniper Canyon Road at
Mule Ears Peaks
Exploration and partial ascent of the southern peak of Mule Ears in Big Bend National Park in February '18.
Big Bend National Park; HD Videos, Photos and Time-lapses of Big Bend National Park in Texas
Big Bend National Park; HD Videos, Photos and Time-lapses of Big Bend National Park in Texas
Learn all about big bend national park in Texas in this great video!
This video features a variety of views of big bend national park in Texas including photos videos and Time-lapses!
Click here for a virtual tour of the park!
Click Here to see a map of big bend!
Click Here to see LIVE webcams of big bend national park!!
Big Bend National Park in the U.S. state of Texas has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States. It contains more than 1,200 species of plants, more than 450 species of birds, 56 species of reptiles, and 75 species of mammals. The national park covers 801,163 acres.
Big Bend is one of the largest, most remote, and least-visited national parks in the lower 48 United States. In recent years, only 300,000–350,000 visitors have entered the park annually.
Big Bend's primary attraction is its hiking and backpacking trails. Particularly notable among these are the Chimneys Trail, which visits a rock formation in the desert; the Marufo Vega trail, a loop trail that passes through scenic canyons on the way to and from the Rio Grande; the South Rim trail which circles the high mountains of the Chisos; and the Outer Mountain Loop trail in the Chisos, which incorporates parts of the South Rim loop, descends into the desert along the Dodson Trail, and then returns to the Chisos Basin, completing a 30-mile loop. Other notable locations include Santa Elena Canyon, Grapevine Hills, and the Mule Ears, two imposing rock towers in the middle of the desert. Professional backpacking guide services provide trips in the park.
The park administers 118 miles (190 km) of the Rio Grande for recreational use. Professional river outfitters provide tours of the river. Use of a personal boat is permitted, but a free river float permit is required. In June 2009, the Department of Homeland Security began treating all float trips as trips that had left the country and required participants to have an acceptable form of identification such as a passport to re-enter the country.
Five paved roads are in Big Bend. Persimmon Gap to Panther Junction is a 28-mile (45 km) road from the north entrance of the park to park headquarters at Panther Junction. Panther Junction to Rio Grande Village is a 21-mile (34 km) road that descends 2,000 feet (610 m) from the park headquarters to the Rio Grande. Maverick Entrance Station to Panther Junction is a 23-mile (37 km) route from the western entrance of the park to the park headquarters. Chisos Basin Road is 6 miles (10 km) long and climbs to 5,679 feet (1,731 m) above sea level at Panther Pass before descending into the Chisos Basin. The 30-mile (48 km) Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive leads to the Castolon Historic District and Santa Elena Canyon.
The park was named after the area, which is bounded by a large bend in the river and Texas-Mexico border.
Despite its harsh desert environment, Big Bend has more than 1200 species of plants (including 60 cactus species), over 600 species of vertebrates, and about 3600 insect species. The variety of life is largely due to the diverse ecology and changes in elevation between the dry, hot desert, the cool mountains, and the fertile river valley.
Big Bend National Park. Robbers Roost Campsite on Juniper Trail
This video was shot from Robbers Roost Campsite on Juniper Trail. It looks at the Chisos Mountains from the south side and pans around to look toward the south and the Sierra Del Carmen ridge in Mexico.
Boquillas Canyon Trail
Boquillas Canyon Trail is the perfect hike to do with kids in Big Bend National Park. This 1.5 mile roundtrip hike offers stunning views of the Rio Grande River and of the canyon itself. Our kids absolutely loved this hike!
Big Bend Mule Ears Saddle
Coming down off the center hump towards the North ear in the saddle of Mule Ears Peaks
Big Bend National Park - Chisos Mountains To Rio Grande Loop Hike Jan 2016 - 85 Miles
In January 2016 I completed a 7 day backpacking trip in Big Bend National Park, Texas. Much of my chosen route was off trail, and quite remote. I did not see a single person until the end of day 4 after hiking over 50 miles. I had a mountain lion in camp night 1, heard lots of coyotes, saw Aoudad (Barbary Sheep) in Mariscal Canyon, and lots of other wildlife along the way.
Here's a quick rundown on the route I hiked:
Day 1 - Started at the Homer Wilson ranch and hiked a canyon east of Goat Mountain to the Mule ears area. Camped near Smoky Spring
Day 2 - Hiked up Jack's Pass down to Dominguez Spring, then down to camp in the open desert south of Dominguez near some badlands
Day 3 - Hiked down to the Rio near Talley, then up to the Mariscal Canyon overlook where I camped for the night
Day 4 - Hiked the spine of the Mariscal Mountain range north to Mariscal Mine, then northwest towards Elephant Tusk. Camped about 2 miles NE of ET trailhead
Day 5 - ET trail north to Adler Spring and then to the Dodson, taking that east to Juniper Canyon
Day 6 - Juniper Canyon trail to Boot Canyon to the South Rim
Day 7 - Northeast Rim trail to Boot Canyon to Pinnacles trail, down to the Chisos Basin
If you want to read more about this hike, see all the pictures, get the maps, GPX files for your GPS and more, read the full trip report on my Big Bend hike here:
Dodson Trail, Big Bend National Park
Hiking the entire length of the Dodson Trail in Big Bend National Park, Texas from the Juniper Canyon Trail to the Blue Creek Trail on October 22, 2013.
To read about this trip go to
To download pictures please visit
or here
Big Bend Corral Spring 2018 Nov
Snow in Big Bend National Park
Hiking the Outer Mountain Loop OML in Big Bend National Park and we find snow - January 2020
Big Bend National Park - Oct 2019
This is from our family trip that we took to big bend in October 2019.
Big Bend National Park - Episode 3 - Springs and Canyons
Day 3 of our first trip to Big Bend. Enjoy the hot springs and a bit of a trek into a colorful section of the desert. Wild life is of no shortage in this place.
Music by State Parkers
Thanks to Molly from the Castolon Store for all of your wonderful information and history. We really enjoyed visiting your town. #stateparkers #adventure #camping #hiking Support us on Patreon at patreon.com/stateparkers **Important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Solis Campsite #1 - Big Bend National Park
Solis Campsite #1 off of River Road East in Big Bend National Park. You can read the full descriptions of all of the backcountry campsites off of River Road East here:
Big Bend National Park
December 10-16, 2017
Salimos desde Dallas el domingo 10 de Diciembre del 2017. Llegamos al primitive campsite “Nine Point Draw” (es el campsite más al Norte del parque), después de 8 horas y media de manejo.
Llegamos justo antes de que el visitor center cerrara (4:00pm) y pagamos el permiso para pasar la noche en los “primitive roadside campsites” (backcountry permits: $12) y la entrada al parque ($25)
Pasamos la noche en medio de la nada. Hacía más frío de lo que esperábamos. Pasamos frío con los sleeping-bags de “2-seasons”, afortunadamente llevamos unas cobijas que salvaron el viaje.
Al día siguiente fuimos a “Fossil Bone Exhibit”,
me encantó toda la información que tenían de todos los fósiles de dinosaurios que han encontrado ahí.
Manejamos 1 hora y media hacia “Rio Grande Village”, dejamos el sobre con el pagó de la noche ($14) y fuimos a ver el atardecer en “Rio Grande Village Nature Trail”, el trail esta fácil, con un poco de elevación y solo son .75 millas de distancia.
Al día siguiente hicimos “Boquillas Canyon Trail” (1.3 millas) ahí es donde hablamos con los mexicanos del otro lado del río “Rio Grande”. Compré uno de los palos para caminar que vendían en su puestito y fueron los mejores $10 dls gastados en el viaje. Sin él me hubiera caído mil veces en el trail “Lost Mine”
Después, manejamos hacia “Hot Springs Canyon Trail”. Me arrepiento un poco de no haberme metido a las aguas termales. Hacia calor pero creo que no hay mejor momento para hacerlo que en Diciembre.
Manejamos una hora hacia “Chisos Basin Campground”.
La mañana siguiente salimos temprano para hacer el “Lost Mine Trail” (4.6 millas). El hielo hizo el trail mucho mas cansado de subir. Los paisajes de este trail fueron los mejores de todo el viaje. Todas las fotos de esos paisajes estaban en el cel de Julio :/
Comimos mientras manejamos hacia “Grapevine Hills” para ver “the balanced rock”. El trail estuvo corto y plano (2.2 millas), el último cuarto de milla tenías que escalar unas piedras grandes.
En la carretera de Grapevine Hills vimos a un par de personas con un telescopio del tamaño de un coche. Le pregunté que era lo que quería ver y me dijo “The Andromeda Galaxy”. Uff! Aguanté mis ganas de pedirle que me adoptara como su nieta y me ensañara todo lo que sabía y seguimos nuestro camino de regreso al campground.
Vimos el atardecer más hermoso que he visto en mi vida enmarcado por “the window” (una montaña hermosa)
Nos despertamos a las 3am y vimos la lluvia de meteoros Géminis. Estuvo hermoso! Dejamos chocolate caliente en un termo grande, el chocolatito sabía a gloria a esa hora con tanto frío y con un espectáculo increíble.
A las 6:30 am salimos hacia Terlingua, llegamos a “Big Bend River Tours”. Hicimos la reservación un día antes y pagamos un anticipo de $50, y pagamos el resto al llegar a sus oficinas ($220)
Yo quería hacer el recorrido en el cañón de Santa Elena pero el nivel del agua estaba muy bajo.
A la mitad del recorrido la guía nos hizo de comer. Estuvo muy agradable.
Todo el recorrido duró como 7 horas.
Al día siguiente manejamos una hora hacia Santa Elena Canyon Trail
(1.4 millas) y pasamos por “Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive”. Nunca había disfrutado tanto de una carretera, los paisajes que puedes apreciar desde la comodidad de tu coche son impresionantes.
El cañón de Santa Elena esta muy bonito. Definitivamente me quedé con las ganas de regresar a explorarlo en otro “river trip”.
De regreso hicimos dos trails fáciles, cortos y placenteros.
“Tuff Canyon Floor” y “Burro Mesa Pouroff Trail”
Cuando llegamos a Chisos Basin, hicimos “The Window View Trail”, es un trail pavimentado y súper corto.
Y al día siguiente nos regresamos a Dallas.
Big Bend es un parque muy diverso, tiene ríos, cañones, desierto, bosque y montañas y todo a menos de una hora de manejo.
Nos faltaron varios trails por hacer. Espero regresar pronto ????
Boot & Juniper Canyons Big Bend
Hiking the Boot Canyon and Juniper Canyon trails through the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park as part of the Outer Mountain Loop in October 2013.
To read about this trip go to
To download pictures please visit
or here