Brian Greenstone

BrianGreenstone.com

brian@briangreenstone.com

The Greenstone Guide to Austin & The Hil Country


BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK

ABOUT THE PLACE

There's so much you could say about this park that it would take hundreds of pages, so I won't even go there. Instead, I'll just say that this is a place that everyone should visit at least twice, and even then you'd never see it all. There are dozens of hiking trails with wildly varying scenery, and there are canoe trips down the Rio Grand you can do too. There is extensive information on the web regarding Big Bend, but the bottom line is that it's awesome! My only beef is that the National Park system is a bit more tyrannical than the state park system, so you can't bring pets or have fires anywhere, and they will fine you. If you want a slightly less bureaucratic experience then you can visit Big Bend Ranch State Park instead, but the National park has a lot more to offer.

Be prepared to do a lot of driving in the park. Nothing is near anything else. It's a 45 minute drive just to get to the showers from the camping area, so be sure you have a full tank of gas before getting to the park. There's a store in the park for gas and supplies, but you'll pay a premium.


HOW TO GET THERE

Take I10 to Alpine and head south.


PICTURES

Click here for Panoramas of Big Bend National Park's Trails


Here are pictures of canoeing down the Rio Grande thru Santa Elena Canyon:


©2001-2011 Brian Greenstone