Big Bend NP

[Jesshopes]

We are headed to Big Bend NP in September. We have a 37 ft TT and 10 kids. Looking for recommendations on where to camp.

Thanks

[huachuca]

Appreciate all the help. I'm just trying to keep all my info on the Park updated and didn't have any contact info for the full hookup CG.

[2gypsies1]

huachuca wrote:
Thanks for the clarification on Cottonwood - I thought I may have been missing something that could come in handy. We really enjoy staying there, often arrive late and have found the site availability postings to be somewhat unreliable.

The link you've provided seems to go to the Park Service managed Rio Grande Village campground (the one without hookups). I don't think you're able to make reservations from it for the concessionaire managed Rio Grande Village RV Park campground (the one with hookups located in front of the store). It's my understanding these are entirely separate but I could be wrong.

It would sure help to clarify things if they didn't both have such similar names.

Yikes! Time to call it a bad day for me. 🙂 You're correct again, the link goes to the dry campground and I have edited that post it to give the link for the concessionier RV park. Sorry for all the confusion.

Here's another link and at the bottom you'll see a phone number for the concessionier RV park to make reservations.

Rio Grand Village Concessionier RV Park Reservation Phone Number

[huachuca]

Thanks for the clarification on Cottonwood - I thought I may have been missing something that could come in handy. We really enjoy staying there, often arrive late and have found the site availability postings to be somewhat unreliable.

The link you've provided seems to go to the Park Service managed Rio Grande Village campground (the one without hookups). I don't think you're able to make reservations from it for the concessionaire managed Rio Grande Village RV Park campground (the one with hookups located in front of the store). It's my understanding these are entirely separate but I could be wrong.

It would sure help to clarify things if they didn't both have such similar names.

[2gypsies1]

So sorry that I stated Cottonwood campground has reservations. I have changed that in my original post. Only the group campground has reservations. We've stayed at Cottonwood with no reservations.

For the Rio Grande Village RV Park with hookups, here is where you can reserve:

Phone Number to Reserve Concessionier RV Park With Hookups in Big Bend

[huachuca]

2gypsies wrote:

prstlk wrote:

As many said you can not get your rig into any other campground INSIDE the park except the Rio Grand Campground.

The campgrounds in Big Bend they could fit their RV are:

Rio Grande Village RV with hookups - Some reservable

Rio Grande Village campground - dry camping - Some reservable

Cottonwood campground (lovely) - dry camping but no generators allowed. Some reservable

The other campground in the park is Chisos Basin with a 24' motorhome restriction and a 20' trailer restriction due to the narrow winding road. Some are reservable.

We highly recommend staying in this huge park. Once inside you'd have a lot of space to cover. Staying outside the park - even if it were only a couple miles from the 'gate' is still a very long way to get to the main areas of the park. There is nothing at the 'gate'.

Agree with your suggestions to stay within the Park and the attraction of Cottonwood. I've never figured out how to reserve a site at Cottonwood though, what am I missing? I see the option to reserve the Group sites there on recreation.gov but not an individual site. Also don't see a reservations link to the full hookup CG but would use that only as a last resort so not too important. Thanks for any help here.

Al

[2gypsies1]

prstlk wrote:

As many said you can not get your rig into any other campground INSIDE the park except the Rio Grand Campground.

The campgrounds in Big Bend they could fit their RV are:

Rio Grande Village RV with hookups - Some reservable

Rio Grande Village campground - dry camping - Some reservable

Cottonwood campground (lovely) - dry camping but no generators allowed. No reservations except for the group campground

The other campground in the park is Chisos Basin with a 24' motorhome restriction and a 20' trailer restriction due to the narrow winding road. Some are reservable.

We highly recommend staying in this huge park. Once inside you'd have a lot of space to cover. Staying outside the park - even if it were only a couple miles from the 'gate' is still a very long way to get to the main areas of the park. There is nothing at the 'gate'.

[prstlk]

Jesshopes wrote:
I really REALLY appreciate all of the very specific feedback.

prstlk, just so that I understand are you suggesting that we stay at a campground 100 miles from headquarters? Wouldn't that mean hours of driving each day?

I don't mind driving a bit but to drive 3-4 hours a day just to get to and from the park seems like it might be a bit much.

I'm not super concerned with the amenities of the park other than full hook up and, maybe, clean bathrooms. I mentioned "resort" earlier because I saw one and was trying to find out the name of it.

Location is much more important. Two years ago we stayed at the campground 1 mile from the entrance to the Grand Canyon. IT was, in my opinion, a dump...but served a perfect purpose.

Thanks again! All of this information is so helpful!

I was merely suggesting the campground in Alpine. Many, many people stay there and drive down to Big Bend due to the lack of amenities at the other parks.

You had mentioned that you were having 10 kids going with you. I was suggesting something that might help keep the kids entertained as well as something the adults might enjoy.

The drive from Alpine to Big Bend is not a bad drive at all and takes about an 1.25 hours because the speed limit on the road is primarily 70 mph. Also, remember I said the 100 miles is to the headquarters. It's only about 75 or 80 miles from the boundary.

All 4 of our trips were day trips and none of them were what we considered to be a tough driving day. We still managed to see Chisos Basin, Santa Elena Canyon on 3 of the trips and went to the Rio Grande Village as well as the other two on one of the trips.

[Jesshopes]

I really REALLY appreciate all of the very specific feedback.

prstlk, just so that I understand are you suggesting that we stay at a campground 100 miles from headquarters? Wouldn't that mean hours of driving each day?

I don't mind driving a bit but to drive 3-4 hours a day just to get to and from the park seems like it might be a bit much.

I'm not super concerned with the amenities of the park other than full hook up and, maybe, clean bathrooms. I mentioned "resort" earlier because I saw one and was trying to find out the name of it.

Location is much more important. Two years ago we stayed at the campground 1 mile from the entrance to the Grand Canyon. IT was, in my opinion, a dump...but served a perfect purpose.

Thanks again! All of this information is so helpful!

[prstlk]

We spent 4 months workamping in Alpine Texas which is about 100 miles from the Headquarters of Big Bend.

The headquarters is about 25 miles inside of the park from both entry points of the park.

After going to the park 4 times and telling many folks about it here's what I can report and recommend.

As many said you can not get your rig into any other campground INSIDE the park except the Rio Grand Campground. This campground is at the far east part of the park and is fairly remote to everything else in the park. It does have hookups and a small store there that has sandwiches and supplies. As said by some one it is all concrete parking but does have grass and picnic tables nearby. This is also the only place that takes reservations in the park.

The resort at Lajitas is great if you like to play golf but I am not sure what they would have for kids to do.

The Stillwell Ranch is 8 miles outside of the Persimmon Gap entrance. It is rustic and has little shade. Full hookups and great wifi though. The museum is great as well. But there will be little for the kids to do except ride bikes if you bring them.

Terlingua has a couple of RV parks and, unfortunately, I do not know much about them. We did hear a few good remarks about the Big Bend Resort and Adventures and they are located very close to the Highway 118 entrance to the park.

Outside of the immediate park area there are several small towns. The largest one of these is Alpine and this is where we workamped for the winter last year.

Now, I am not only recommending the park we worked at because we worked there but because we made it a point to visit all of the RV parks in Alpine, Marfa, Marathon and Ft. Davis.

Other than Ft. Davis State Park the Lost Alaskan is the nicest park you will find in the entire Big Bend area.

It does have a nice play ground and pool and splash pad (however not sure it will be open in October) and the cleanest shower/bathrooms and laundry you will ever find in an RV park. There is also a small fenced area for the dogs to be loose in. The owners live onsite and take very good care of the park.

One thing I am sure you are aware of is most places rates are for 2 or 3 people and there is an extra per person charge for the rest in the party. At Lost Alaskan it was $3.00 for any more than 2 people and everyone else over the age of 3. This is due to the extra use of water for showers and the extra strain on the sewer systems.

Alpine is a nice little town with several great restaurants and shops. If you go there be sure to eat at La Casita. It is the best Mexican food in town. They also have several fast food restaurants and a Pizza Hut.

If you have time try to drive up to Ft. Davis. The fort is a great place to visit and so is the state park there. A great place to eat here is Maddog's Cantina...the best Philly cheesesteaks and French dips in Texas!

The McDonald Observatory is a great place to visit with kids as well.

While you are in the park be sure to drive up to Chisos Basin - it a beautiful drive and the rock formations are outstanding.

Also be sure to drive down to Santa Elena Canyon. It is another beautiful drive and when you arrive there you are at the base of a 1500 foot deep canyon that has been made but he Rio Grande River.

The best thing to do is have a great time in this beautiful part of Texas.

Oh - and one other thing - the closest Walmart store is in Ft. Stockton TX. Alpine has 2 small grocery stores though but if you can stock up in Ft. Stockton.

[huachuca]

We're from NC and have been visiting Big Bend at least every other year since 78; never get tired of it. For us, staying within the Park is a major part of the experience. As you might have gathered from the previous responses, this place is a huge and you can spend a lot of time driving if you don't have a plan in place for the things you'd like to see. We found the Park website to be a great tool and the link to the Park's newspaper, The Paisano to be especially helpful

https://www.nps.gov/bibe/planyourvisit/upload/V36N1-Paisano-Spring-2016-final.pdf

It may take a bit of searching but a few years back this journal had suggestions on what to see based on the number of days you planned to visit.

I'd suggest several days in the full hookup campground at Rio Grande Village. Use that as a base to explore the attractions on the eastern and central sections of the Park. If you could go just a couple of days without hookups, moving to Cottonwood on the western end for a night or two will provide an entirely different perspective.

While there, plan for at least a half day exploring the ghost town of Terlingua just a few miles outside the western entrance to the Park. End up with dinner at the Starlight Theater which has surprisingly good food. La Kiva is a local watering hole with a really neat atmosphere even for younger children and worth a stop. Its under new ownership and the place has been completely rebuilt but the restaurant wasn't yet open when we were there last October so I can't comment on the food.

Have fun and give us a trip report with pics after your visit.

[Jesshopes]

The problem with November is that in the midwest we could have a foot of snow...which makes pulling the camper and all of our other stops a potential problem.

[Bonefish]

We go during Thanksgiving nice weather. Then again never know what the weather will be like. Study Butte is the town we stay in with a FHU campground. Only about a mile from the west gate. No matter what place you stay it is a drive. Be sure to visit the hot springs and follow all the rules. I was in a parking lot when 4 park rangers ask to search a car next to ours. Someone had notice them picking up rocks (a big no).

Sharon

[2gypsies1]

If you can adjust your schedule a little, November is an awesome time - weatherwise - and the cottonwoods at Rio Grande Village will be glorious with color against a brilliant blue sky. 🙂

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

We were campground hosts at the Chisos Basin Campground about two years ago Apr-Aug.

The road into the Chisos Basin is 'restricted' to trailers under 20 feet, RVs under 24 feet. We had no problem taking our 36' foot trailer in, nor another host with a 40' motorhome. However the two hosts sites in the campground are the only ones that could hold your rig. Also, once past the first loop, you would not be able to turn around in the CG. Your rig can't make the turn at the bottom loop, nor turn in the middle loop.

(When I say bottom loop, the campground elevation changes about 150 feet from the first/ upper loop near the entrance to the turn at campsite 60 on the bottom end of the CG.)

Full hookups - as mentioned the parking lot at Rio Grande Village is the only option within the park.

Big Bend is BIG. It takes a long time to get from one place to another. Hour drive between Rio Grande Village and the Chisos Mountains. Another hour to Santa Elena Canyon.

If your stay outside the park, you are looking at a minimum of one and one half hour drive to the 'attractions' of Big Bend from your campground.

Maverick Ranch listed above is probably the best in the area. It is 20 miles of 70/60 mph road to the park entrance. Another 40 miles down the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to Santa Elena Canyon.

30 miles from the park entrance to the Chisos Basin, 40 miles to Rio Grande Village.

There are a few full-service campgrounds in Terlingua / Study Butte near the west entrance of the park. Maverick is the only one that has a pool.

There is no swimming allowed in the Rio Grande River within the park.

Big Bend is a unique, special place. Temps will be hot anywhere you can park your rig, but enjoy the park.

I highly recommend taking a day to drive the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. There are several stops with short hikes to enjoy to various historic sites. We like hiking down the bottom of Tuff Canyon. And Santa Elena Canyon is a wonderful/ must see hike.

There is one very small store in Lajitas, and another with a bit better selection (Cottonwoods) near the park entrance. Be sure you are stocked with food before you get south of I-10 if coming from Fort Stockton, or Alpine if coming in from that direction.

Bring plenty of water. We saw many hikers dehydrated during our stay. Humidity levels are extremely low at Big Bend. The sweat evaporates off your skin before you know you are sweating. People often underestimate the amount of water they need.