MFI selected Big Bend National Park as our first major stop of the 2023 travel year. On our way, we stayed for three days at a mediocre RV park between Midland and Odessa, TX. While the staff were very helpful, the owners of the park have not adequately maintained it. Likely will be the only campsite where we were only 100 yards from an operating oil well. Why would we expect anything different in Texas, right?
MFI researched her online Airstream websites and located a club-recommended campsite relatively near Big Bend. The Maverick RV Park was part of the Lajitas Golf Ranch Resort. We stayed in a full-hookup site at the base of Lajitas Mesa, which figured prominently in many of my photos. We were about 40 minutes from the western entrance to the national park. We saw a number of other RV parks in nearby Terlingua, TX; however, the quality started at below average and went quickly downhill from there.
The Texas legislature established Texas Canyons State Park in 1933 and renamed it Big Bend State Park later that year. The U.S. Congress legislated acquisition of the land for a national park in 1935. After Texas deeded the state park land to the federal government on June 12, 1944, Big Bend National Park was created and opened to visitors on July 1, 1944. The park consists of 801,163 acres, the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the U.S. The park administers nearly 118 miles of the Rio Grande River, which is part of our 1,000 mile river border with Mexico. The topography ranges from 1,800 feet at the river to Emory Peak at 7,832 feet in the Chisos Mountains, the only U.S. mountain range contained entirely within a national park. Despite being one of our largest national parks, because of its remote location and harsh dry arid climate, it only averages about 350,000 visitors annually, making it one of the least visited. Park lands protect more than 1,200 species of plants, 450 species of birds, 56 species of reptiles, and 75 species of mammals.
On our first day, we drove to the main visitor center at a spot called Panther Junction. There was a gift shop; extensive information and displays addressing the geology, biology, zoology, archaeology, paleontology, history, and main attractions; a strategically located gas station; and a relatively new 1-mile nature trail. We used the large relief map of the park for a quick overview of what we wanted to see and how we could get there. I hiked the trail.
The sky was overcast and threathening all day. Not very conducive for picture taking, but pleasant enough for a good introduction to Big Bend and some opportunities for scenic photos. The first five are of the Chisos Mountain Range. The last one is of an interesting landmark, which from this viewpoint resembled the bust of a Native American looking right while the sculptor leans against the back of his head. Maybe you see something else?
Upon leaving the park on day 1, we passed this wide, deep canyon.
I also took some stills including a zoom-in on the “Bubble” accommodations mentioned in the video.
Despite the cloudy weather and limited time for sightseeing, we were very satisfied with what we accomplished and looked forward to Day 2 with excited anticipation.
