Big Bend NP

Before you go or as soon as you arrive in the park, pick up a copy of the "Paved Road Guide", the "Backcountry Road Guide" and the "Hikers Guide". All under $4.00 each. See here. Wish we had discovered them sooner in our trip than we did.

BJs has city reverse osmosis water.

There is one FHU concessionaire campground in the national park at Rio Grande Village - it is a parking lot with hookups and a few tables at the back of the 'sites'.

The commercial RV parks outside the national park are not a lot better, but are closer to some other facilities such as a restaurant or some light shopping.

All the NPS campgrounds in the park are dry camping. Chisos Basin CG is at 5,150-5,000 ft elevation and not suitable for anything longer than 20-25 feet. Your rig won't fit any of the camping spots. Cottonwood is a no-generator campground.

Commercial parks I've looked at include -

Stillwell Ranch CG - on Hwy 2627 a few miles east of the north park entrance - really a location for hunters and far from most of the 'scenic' parts of Big Bend.

Big Bend Resort and Adventures - in Study Butte/ Terlingua near the west park entrance - another gravel parking lot with FHU pull-thrus - but next to the motel/ gas station/ restaurant

BJ's as mentioned above

The 'fanciest' is Maverick Ranch in Lajitas - a lot of folks with big Class A's seem to prefer that CG.

Terlingua Ranch Lodge offer RV sites. It is located just over the first hill north of Study Butte - but I've never seen a review or met anyone who stayed there.

Within the park there are three separate zones/ ecologies - a desert, a river valley and a mountain range

During your visit the cactus and other plants should be blooming and it is a beautiful time.

My must list includes -

Dagger Flats Auto Route in the north park of the park - the Dagger Yucca should be fantastic in late March/ early April.

Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive - a couple days can be spent at the various stops along this route

Santa Elena Canyon - a neat walk into a narrow canyon

Rio Grande Village Nature Trail - a good overview of how the river impacts the park

Lost Mine Trail near the top of the pass into the Chisos Basin

Window View Trail - a short handicapped accessible paved loop off the Chisos Mountain Lodge parking lot - great place to watch the sunset through the Window

Grapevine Hills and the Balanced Rock - accessible by almost all vehicles

With a 4x4 you might be able to travel some of the longer gravel roads. Always check with a visitors center / ranger before going on those. Conditions change daily and some can be simply dangerous after a rain for several days. Some parts of the River Road and Black Gap Road can require 24 inches of ground clearance. Long wheelbase vehicles can be unable to turn around in some places.

(My sig pic was taken at our host site in the Chisos Basin CG in April 2014)

The Park is big an awesome. Don't miss going on the dirt road down to the Rio Grande to the old US Army camp. The hiking was wonderful in the highlands. The campground in the Park highlands looked really nice but we couldn't fit our rig in. The one down on the Rio at the east end of the Park didn't look very appealing. The campgrounds in Terlingua were pretty dust and hard scrabble. We stayed Maverick in Lajitas. It was really nice, but it did add some drive time the Park. The drive west of Lajitas along the Rio is scenic.

When we were in Terlingua the shopping opportunities were very limited and expensive. I understand there is a new grocery, but I bet the prices are still high. Suggest that you arrive fully stocked. There is nothing at Lajitas for provisions. Gas/diesel was very expensive.

My only warning about staying in the area is the water quality. The water is so hard it is cloudy. It will water spot everything in your RV instantly. Don't go there without a Flow Pure water softener or similar unit. Filters will not take care of the issue. If you don't have a softener, bring CLR.

If by RV parks you mean outside the park, we stayed at BJ's in Terlingua and loved it. It's just a gravel lot, but the owners are great and very helpful. They are like tour guides. They even do things with the guests, take them on hikes, etc. They know which eating establishment will have music which night, things like that. They have good water too.

Within the park we stayed at Rio Grande Village, in the dry camping section. If it's hot, you might want electricity for AC?

Avoid March 19-27 (week of Good Friday) park will be in overflow. I usually avoid the week after too. Easter is early this year so it would be best to go early April to see flowers blooming. Cactus blooms late April to early May. If you must have hookups use Rio Grande Village in the park or Study Butte out the west side. Best non-hookup campground for your large rig is at Rio Grande campground on the eastern end of the park. Try to take in as many of the Ranger-led programs as you can - day time hikes and evening programs. There's about 150 miles of paved roads within the park and many unimproved dirt roads to roam.