Events/Trails Trail Recommendations in Big Bend, TX

[linuxgod]

After the LCDC we're going to Mesa Verde, down to New Mexico (Taos and Santa Fe), and then spending a few days in Big Bend National Park. Anyone have trail experience in Big Bend and/or any "don't miss" opportunities? I don't mind some moderately challenging trails but we'll likely be wheeling alone (unless someone around here just happens to be there Aug 6-10.

 

[txtortoise]

None of the national park trails are particularly hard. August is rainy season so need to watch out on the sandy river road.

Generally high clearance is all that is required, with maybe some help needed at the notch on Black Gap, depending on how the ramp up or down is.

Primitive Dirt Roads - Big Bend National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

The State Park roads are narrower, more remote and come with significant pin stripping.
Big Bend Ranch State Park — Texas Parks & Wildlife Department

 

[hankinid]

Great articles on BB in the TLCA monthly magazine in March-April and May-June issues. We've not off-roaded in the BB, but when we lived in Texas we'd ride the wild horse round up every other year.

This time of the year, bring more water than you can remotely imagine you'll need. It's magical country that will blow your mind.

 

[indycole]

Big Bend is one of our favorite parks for sure. Check out the scenic drive to the Rio on the west side of the park. Also consider an excursion into Boquillas if the border is open and you have passports.

 

[linuxgod]

Thanks guys. I saw the NPS site but wasn't sure if their implied difficulty was conservative, or if there were specific trails to ride or places to see that I shouldn't miss. Big Bend Ranch SP looks more challenging... we'll see how much time we have and what we feel like doing in the heat of the day

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Aawwwwyeahhhh!! I grew up a just east of BB and a little less than a mile off the border, needless to say, there wasn't much land that I didn't cover between horse or hilux. @linuxgod if you want, I can put together a pretty remote trail route for yeah. It's going to be something that will definitely put you in places that I'm sure very few people have explored, but really will be an experience as you will feel you're in the 1800s. Just make sure you have a sat phone if you go.

Now I know a lot of people all say things like, "well it's dangerous running the border" and stuff like that, it's not, just need to be a little smart about if your running into illegals, or if you're running into drug mules. Illegals crossing as no big deal, it's possibly interfering with drugs that will get you messed up. But I do sincerely recommend bringing a firearm if you want to roam past Big Bend, preferably an AR-15 (or any other common semi-auto, I mean, they all function the same, so take your pick).

For others, I know someone might say I'm being paranoid, but seriously, most here know that I have a story for everything I do. This is no different, it's beautiful big sky country, but it ain't called the bad lands for nothin'.

 

[gentimmy]

Aawwwwyeahhhh!! I grew up a just east of BB and a little less than a mile off the border, needless to say, there wasn't much land that I didn't cover between horse or hilux. @linuxgod if you want, I can put together a pretty remote trail route for yeah. It's going to be something that will definitely put you in places that I'm sure very few people have explored, but really will be an experience as you will feel you're in the 1800s. Just make sure you have a sat phone if you go.

Now I know a lot of people all say things like, "well it's dangerous running the border" and stuff like that, it's not, just need to be a little smart about if your running into illegals, or if you're running into drug mules. Illegals crossing as no big deal, it's possibly interfering with drugs that will get you messed up. But I do sincerely recommend bringing a firearm if you want to roam past Big Bend, preferably an AR-15 (or any other common semi-auto, I mean, they all function the same, so take your pick).

For others, I know someone might say I'm being paranoid, but seriously, most here know that I have a story for everything I do. This is no different, it's beautiful big sky country, but it ain't called the bad lands for nothin'.

Let’s hear this story!

@linuxgod let us know how it goes.we are considering BBNP or PINS once it begins to cool off

 

[linuxgod]

@linuxgod if you want, I can put together a pretty remote trail route for yeah. It's going to be something that will definitely put you in places that I'm sure very few people have explored, but really will be an experience as you will feel you're in the 1800s. Just make sure you have a sat phone if you go.

I would definitely be interested in any recommendations you have of stuff to see in or out of BB. We have one day planned rafting but 2.5 days still free. Given that it will be August, I'm expecting we'll try to get any hiking done in the morning and use the afternoons for vehicular exploration, so probably 2 afternoons of wheeling for 3-5 hours, and then some evening walking exploration time of Terlingua or other towns in the area. Any recommendations of hiking trails, sites worth visiting, trails worth riding, etc are awesome.

I won't have a sat phone for ham license for this trip unfortunately, nor will I have a gun. (Nothing personally against them, I've just never felt the need to own one). I will have a spare, shovel, maxtrax, winch, rotopax, lots of water, and various recovery gear, plus a wife who is smarter than me.

 

[linuxgod]

Let’s hear this story!

@linuxgod let us know how it goes.we are considering BBNP or PINS once it begins to cool off

Sure, I'll post photos and any stories when I get back

 

[TXSunDevil]

The state park has off roading with plenty of pinstripes. It is roughly an hour of dirt from the highway to BB Ranch State Park HQ. It is a big place with few amenities. The national park is what you would expect from a national park. The Windows trail in the Chisos should not be missed. I am not sure the route you have planned but the stretch of roadway between Presidio and Lajitas is the prettiest stretch of road I have seen in Texas.

 

[G-Cat]

@wngrog

 

[hankinid]

The state park has off roading with plenty of pinstripes. It is roughly an hour of dirt from the highway to BB Ranch State Park HQ. It is a big place with few amenities. The national park is what you would expect from a national park. The Windows trail in the Chisos should not be missed. I am not sure the route you have planned but the stretch of roadway between Presidio and Lajitas is the prettiest stretch of road I have seen in Texas.

That stretch is definitely not what you're used to if you live in other parts of the state. ~1990, wife and I and another couple crossed the river in a johnboat, met 3 Mexican cowboys with horses for us. Took a 2-day ride to Copper Canyon , spent a week there and rode back. Very beautiful scenery in Mexico also.

 

[ikeb]

the comments about pin-striping on the primitive trails are no joke... some of those trails will kill a paint job. several years ago, me and a buddy went out there in his brand new F150 and hit every primitive trail we could find. the result was a permanent matte finish on the sides of his truck.

 

[indycole]

Some follow up recommendations now that I've had a chance to look at the map.

• I recall the Starlight in Terlingua having good food and beer.
• The Old Mavericks road to Santa Elena canyon is a nice, easy, intro drive.
• People raved about the Black Gap and River Roads but I have not taken them as I had a rental car.
• It looks like the Boquillas crossing is operational again. It's a fun novelty experience if you have time (and passports).
• The Lost Mine Trail is a personal favorite hike of mine. Straight up, straight back down. The peak is a great place to hang out for a bit. Take bear spray.

 

[bloc]

If you have time there is about 75 miles of gravel between timberon NM and hwy 62. probably 50 of it is relatively high speed, through old military reservation land. pretty fun stuff.

It won't cut down on your drive time through el paso but it is a lot more interesting. Also the drive up to cloudcroft from alamogordo on your way to timberon is awesome.

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

If you have time there is about 75 miles of gravel between timberon NM and hwy 62. probably 50 of it is relatively high speed, through old military reservation land. pretty fun stuff.

Please don’t drive that military reservation area. I used to be stationed out there and civilians make a big mess of things. We’ve killed a few people when conducting training because they park their trucks behind “chia pets” and get ran over by 70 ton armored vehicles or when they drive down gravel roads in the impact area when we are shooting very big bullets.

Civilians can only drive State Route 506!

The warning marking get destroyed a lot, so it’s not the easiest know if you are or not on a safe area.

If you just have to go explore outside of SR 506, call Range Control at McGegor Base Camp and get approval from the Army. 575-525-4300


Separate of that. @linuxgod, I misunderstood your timeline. I thought you had 2-3 full days. Not the afternoon of 2-3 days. The trail I was talking about would take days to complete. So that wouldn’t be a good option.

Looks like many other good options have been mentioned, plus they are in much safer areas so that’s also good.

 

[Volunteer]

So how was the trip @linuxgod and did you have a followup thread with trip details? I'm planning a trip next spring with a few guys in our Club we'll spend a week in the park and area.

 

[chris777]

Ore Road and Black Gap gravel trails/roads are pretty easy, but i enjoyed them and did put my FJ 60 in low range a couple of times. There are more challenging trails in Big Bend Ranch State Park. I wrote an article about it in Toyota Trails about 3 years ago.

 

[linuxgod]

So how was the trip @linuxgod and did you have a followup thread with trip details? I'm planning a trip next spring with a few guys in our Club we'll spend a week in the park and area.

I started writing up our trip (San Juan NF, Mesa Verde, Taos, Santa Fe, Guadalupe, and Big Bend) a week ago now that all my photos and GoPro video are uploaded. I should have something posted at http://www.rootflags.org/ in a week or so. I'll repost the Big Bend part here.

Ultimately I found the Big Bend NP trails to be fun but fairly easy. Lots of dry river beds to cross on River Road and the 200 handled it with ease. I imagine with some rain it would be impassable though. Black Gap was maintained to the point that there was concrete mixed into the rocks I suspect to hold it all together but it made the passing easy. A bit of a drop of at the end of it but I didn't scrape anything.

If I wheeled with others I'd spend a few days in BBSP on some of the harder trails. Honestly in August with temps over 100F the 3-4 days in BBNP was about all my wife and kids could handle at the end of our trip before they were ready to go home. The first night in Cottonwood was sweltering (I should've known since it was 98F when we got there at 4:30pm and despite being shaded we were literally the only people in the entire campground)

A few photos below...

Pull off along River Road. Some of the road is just flat gravel and some of it is moguls

Trail leading into Black Gap:

Bottom of Black Gap:

Alone in Cottonwood Campground:

The rest of the family melting in the heat...

 

[Volunteer]

Its funny but its not we've certainly been there melting in the summer nights of the South, we get the heat and the humidity almost year round here in South Louisiana. We usually retreat North to the MTN's for cooler weather when we can. Thanks for the pics and details between the Toyota Trails articles over the last few years and what details I can pick up from others that have made the trip I think it will be a good trip. We've been all over hitting trails and the offroad park events together for 12 years now so as we get older its more about the exploring and seeing the different areas making the most of the trips than we are about mastering the hard core trails. We spent 5 days on the High Water Mark Trail through the Ozarks last Spring and had a blast.