Big Bend NP Campgrounds

Charlie D. wrote:
Views are incredible and close to McDonald Observatory.

Well worth the trip on a "star Night" to look at the stars with a few of the small telescopes.




Photo at Ft Davis SP

No issues with water and showers and laundry were open in late March of last year. When you leave Big Bend try to take a few days at Ft. Davis and stay in the state park. They have Wi-Fi and cable TV. Views are incredible and close to McDonald Observatory.

If the contractor is still running the RV FHU campsites, then they will still be running the pay showers and laundry.

The hardest hit location due to the drought is the Panther Junction HQ area where the only water well was going dry in 2014, then the Castolon housing and Cottonwood campground, where the well water has to be heavily treated before it is usable.

The RGV wells were doing okay when we were there, though they were near historic lows.

The Chisos Basin gets its water from springs below The Window, though the water has to be pumped about four miles in a 6 inch pipe uphill 3,600 ft to a 20,000 gal tank above the Lodge.

There is a lengthy environmental story behind why over 2/3 of the natural springs at Big Bend have disappeared in the past 140 years, and avoiding the lost of most of the rest is impossible.

PawPaw n Gram: Thanks for the details on Chisos Basin campground.

Have they closed the showers and laundry which were available at the little store at Rio Grande Village?

2gypsies wrote:
Keep in mind that February can still bring cold nights so if you want to use your furnace it will probably wear your battery down. If you stay in Rio Grande Village campground, you can run your generator during the day to charge it up. If you stay in Cottonwood campground you can't use a generator at any time.

There is one section in Rio Grande Village campground that prohibits generators. If you need to run your generator make sure you get a site in the generator allowed section.

frizzen wrote:
Doug E

You said his 29 footer is too big to take to Chisos. How long would you say is the max?

We were campground hosts at Chisos Basin CG four months in 2014.

My sig pic is taken at the host site there. Be aware that I had to back the 36' TT up through the CG to get to where I could go through the upper loop to turn. Where the host spots were located, there was no possibility to turn the rig in the lower 2/3 of the campground.

There are NO pull thru sites in the Chisos Basin CG. There are several wide spots in the roadway designed for parking a car or small camper parallel to the flow of traffic. The only level spot is the handicapped spot.

The largest rig I saw in the CG was a 32' class C in the upper loop, site #9. I did see a couple 30's footers lower in the CG in some of the wide spot 'pull thrus'.

We occasionally had to stop traffic and send a camping trailer the wrong way through a camping loop so the slide would be on the curb side. There isn't room for road side slides to clear passing vehicles in most of those pull alongside sites.

Class C's and very small Class A's are easier to handle in the tight confines of the CG than a trailer.

We saw several 18-25 ft trailers, but one issue is truck size. A long wheelbase truck and a 16 ft Casita can't make the turn at the bottom of the campground. A mid wheelbase truck and a 20 ft can make the turn.

One worry of the NPS is the twisty turns - five switchbacks - from the top of the pass into the campground. It's not a problem for large Class A's (big tour busses make the trip several times a week). But it is a challenge for trailers which cut to the inside of the truck wheel track. They blocked traffic when we took out trailer in, but we took it out without a problem.

I saw several people scrape the side of their Class C/ trailer on some of the barriers in the CG (and some scrape cars and trucks).

I would recommend a visit to the CG before taking any rig larger than the NPS guidelines.

No, I never plan to take my TT into that CG for dry camping, though I know two places I could fit the TT, it wouldn't be level, but it would fit.

But some careful preparation can take a larger rig into the Basin Campground.

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I recommend a couple days at Cottonwood, and a few days at Rio Grande Village. Avoids long drives at 45 mph.

You can spend a whole day visiting the various stops along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive from the main road down to Castolon/ Cottonwood. Be sure to get out and walk up the floor of Tuff Canyon.

Something I didn't see mentioned - Rio Grande Village campground is 100 sites. Many of the more private sites are not suitable for RVs.

Cottonwood is 24 sites - an open, shaded, area.

Very different feel to each campground.

There are no showers in any of the NPS campgrounds. The entire park is under a water shortage.

Big Bend offers three very different environments - a desert area, a river side ecology and a mountain area. Take time to visit each.

Keep in mind that February can still bring cold nights so if you want to use your furnace it will probably wear your battery down. If you stay in Rio Grande Village campground, you can run your generator during the day to charge it up. If you stay in Cottonwood campground you can't use a generator at any time.

Thank you everyone for all of the great input. We are now even more excited about this upcoming trip. Just looking for some clear roads so we can head south.

frizzen wrote:
Doug E

You said his 29 footer is too big to take to Chisos. How long would you say is the max?

The NPS says 20' trailers and 24' RV's and I'm inclined to agree with them. The pads are very short. We had a 19' hybrid up there and barely fit. The tongue was about 5' in the air, the rear bumper nearly on the ground. There are a couple of spots that are pull-throughs that might hold something a little longer, but not much.

Doug E

You said his 29 footer is too big to take to Chisos. How long would you say is the max?