Study Butte Does it exist?

DougE wrote:
In the park - Besides the hookups at Rio Grande Village, there are non-hookup campgrounds at Rio Grande Village, Chisos Basin and Castelon (Cottonwood campground). Rio Grande and Chisos have flush toilets, Cottonwood has pit toilets. There is no camping at Persimmon Gap, just a ranger and entry station. The Castelon store is closed during the hot summer months.

Because of the birds nesting on the river there is a strict no generator policy at Castelon. Both Rio Grande and Chisos allow generators from 8am to 8pm if I remember correctly.

Wise choice. We love Rio Grande Village but stay in the dry camping area. If you need full hookups then Rio Grande Village RV is the place to go. It's a gorgeous area and not dusty.

I think I'll switch to the Rio Grande Village since they have FHU now. Thanks everyone for the help.

In the park - Besides the hookups at Rio Grande Village, there are non-hookup campgrounds at Rio Grande Village, Chisos Basin and Castelon (Cottonwood campground). Rio Grande and Chisos have flush toilets, Cottonwood has pit toilets. There is no camping at Persimmon Gap, just a ranger and entry station. The Castelon store is closed during the hot summer months.

We've just returned from Big Bend and did a little reconnoitering on the parks available. If I had my druthers I would stay at Rio Grand Village RV Park - Full Hookups. Unfortunately I didn't make reservations in time to get there, but we went by there, and there are birds galore and you're yards from the river which means you have a very lush ecosystem to enjoy. You can't see the river because of all the over-grown bamboo, but you can walk to it through hiking paths all over. The sites were spaced nicely apart and it looked clean, although we don't really use the bathrooms and such. The park has a "store" which has some basics.

We stayed at the Big Bend Resorts and Adventures RV Park because of the location (central between state & national parks). There's also another park in Terlinqua-Study Butte BJ's RV Park, but either park in Terlingua looks about the same.

The RV Parks inside the National Park are pretty standard (except for the Rio Grand full hookups), and have limited hook-ups. I wouldn't try and do anything real big on that road up to Chisos Basin which is beautiful, but windy road to get to, but do go visit after you unhook. The other parks are basically primitive. We didn't check out Persimmon Gap - I don't think there is campground there.

It's a dry ecosystem there, so most parks are gravel with lots of dust - that's just the lay of the land. Except for the Rio Grand which has the river for irrigation and Chisos Basin with is a mountainous system. That part of the fun of Big Bend!

There are RV spaces with hookups in Big Bend Nat'l Park at Rio Grande Village. It's kind of a parking lot type situation but IMO is actually more pleasant than what's available at Study Butte. The advantage of Study Butte is the availability of restaurants whereas the only dining in the park is at the Chisos Basin area.

We were there many years ago, and I recall Terlingua and it's cemetery.

bigbendrvresortadventures.com is the website for the rv park in Study Butte. We stayed there and liked it just fine. It's only about 3 miles or so to the entrance of Big Bend Natl Park.

If you've never been, I would like to suggest that above and beyond the beautiful Big Bend park itself (which we loved--great scenery, not a lot of crowds), please go to Terlingua, just a few miles away. There is a little ghost town and a very unique cemetery you can wander around in--plus the Starlight Theater (now a rustic restaurant) has great food! Next to it is a little store and on the front porch there are usually "locals" you can talk to.

The high to Terlingua will lead you to Persidio and a drive that is breathtaking!

We hope to return to Big Bend soon....it is one of the favorite places we have visited. Hope you enjoy

jjwms wrote:
Yes, the RV park you mention does exist. I will guarantee you will feel the heat at that time of year. By the way, we learned that the pronunciation of Study Butte is Stew-dee Butte from one of the locals. We enjoyed our stay there because we had full hookups. That is not the case in the RV campground inside Big Bend Park.

Heck you are from Idaho, I spent a winter up there (41 deg below zero) and I doubt you are an expert on hot....heh. Try 106 deg with 90% humidity like we see down here in Florida. 110 with 20% humidity is quite bearable after that.

We mainly go hiking in the morning or evening hours when it gets really hot.

Yes, the RV park you mention does exist. I will guarantee you will feel the heat at that time of year. By the way, we learned that the pronunciation of Study Butte is Stew-dee Butte from one of the locals. We enjoyed our stay there because we had full hookups. That is not the case in the RV campground inside Big Bend Park.