Big Bend National Park, Texas

After two days of driving, we finally reached Big Bend National Park! We have been hearing a lot of this park and couldn't wait to explore. Very excited!

We arrived at the Persimmon Gap entrance station and the entrance fee is $30 per vehicle and the pass is valid for 7 days. There is no reservation required at the time we visit. They don't issue day pass and no limit of of number of visitors enter the park each day.

As we drove south on Highway 385 (Persimmon Gap Road), our first stop was at Fossil Discovery Exhibit. Took picture of the super big, super croc called Deinosuchus. There are artworks and stories on big bend geologic and history. A short trail to a panoramic view. It also has an fossil themed climbing structures for kids.

After the exhibit, we stopped at Panther Junction Visitor Center. The kids wanted to do the junior ranger program and there were activities to do around there. The kids were very serious! Our first time seeing purple prickly cactus.

Mommy saw a balanced rock picture in the visitor center but we were told that it's unpaved road to get there. The ranger wasn't sure if regular sedan car can get to it. Daddy could tell mommy was a little disappointed hearing that. But after some research online (there were cell reception at the visitor center), it seems like it is manageable for a sedan car but maybe challenging depending on road condition. Later, another ranger told us it should be ok as well. It was about 7-8 miles of unpaved road to the balanced rock parking space. It was a little bumpy and at certain occasion there were some big  mud holes. We maneuvered as safe as we possible could without getting stuck on those uneven mud holes. We were one of the only two sedan cars when we got there :)

There is a trail (not sure how long) to get to the balanced rock. It took us about 2-3 hours for the entire excursion. The scenery was beautiful and the weather was perfect. We walked until we saw a resting place half way and it was under a rock!

We played there and then we continued our walk. After a while we got to a sign that said 'Balance rock 0.25 miles.' So we just kept walking but it was very rocky!

Finally we arrived at the balanced rock! Since it was quite some hard work (driving and hiking) to get here, might as well take more pictures from different angles under the big giant balance rock :) Then we ate lunch. We ate sandwiches and drank lemon tea.

We explored the place and then it was about time to go. Didi explored different paths and holes. I found some blind prickly pears. I touched a cactus but it wasn’t hard. Then when I started to walk I got pricks all over my hand! We spent almost half an hour taking pricks out! Then we just kept walking back to the car.

Then we took Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to Santa Elena Canyon Trail. It was about an hour drive.. Big Bend is huge. The view was amazing along the road. It was about 4pm and hardly any traffic. Tips. We were told earlier by a ranger that Santa Elena Canyon, Chisos Basin and Boquillas Canyon are very popular and usually get pretty croweded starting around 10am to afternoon. We figured by late afternoon, it would be much better, and indeed! Minimal crowd and parking is widely available.

Santa Elena Canyon, amazing!

As always another trail! We still walked but this time it was all sand. Then we hiked up the mountain and then we saw people having bamboo sticks! They said there was a lot at the end. So we kept walking all the way until we saw bamboo! We took some pictures by the river, then we got bamboo, then we played in the sand and then went in the car.

We love this place!

We drove one hour to our motel, Chico's Mining at Terlinqua. It was getting dark half way before we exit out the park. The park was pretty much black and it was quite a driving experience. Another tip, most of Big Bend National Park has no cellurar reception, so pre-downloded the offline Google map help a lot. We ate dinner, did some national booklet pages and then brushed our teeth then showered and then played then went to sleep.

The next day, we finished our national park booklet! We first went to the Hot Springs trail. This was also unpaved road to get to it. But this is a lot shorter than the balanced rock. It is only about 2 miles. However, towards the Hot Spring parking space there is a section only one way and the road is quite narrow with unguard slope. 

After a short hike, we reached the Hot Spring. It was a small little square area by Ria Grande river. The water is hot (but not too hot) inside the little area, while the river stream is chilly. Quite interesting. We didn't bring our swimming suits so we just soaked our feet in the Hot Spring.

Then we walked out of the trail and drove to the Rio Grande overlook. After that we drove to the Rio Grande visitor center to get our badges. We went in and got our badges and then went to the Boquillas Crossing. It was only around 11am and the parking lot was already full. We had to find a nearby parking space and then walked all the way to the port of entry where we were brief with some important information before crossing to Mexico.

Passport is required for everyone crossing the border. We went across the Rio Grande river on a little boat into Mexico! It costs $5 each person (including kid) and it is valid for roundtrip. You can choose to walk over the river as well if the water is not too high. We saw a family did that. Didi's expression was priceless when we told him we would be at Mexico by just crossing that narrow river. Once we reached the Mexico side, there were few options to get to a small village nearby. It is about 0.5 mile distance uphill. You can walk, or pay to ride on a vehicle, donkeys or horses. We paid another $7 each person (roundtrip) for donkeys for the kids and horses for adults, plus tip for the guide.

Then we ate lunch at Boquillas Restaurant. It was a smaller restaurant with limited selection. But the service and food was much faster than the more established restaurant across the street where we waited for a while with no one came to us and most of the tables were still waiting to order their food or waiting for their food. The food at the restaurant was ok.

Since the village had a bunch of souvenirs and toys, we bought a cup and a walking stick. The stuff are overpriced but it is more a donation to help the local community. We chit chat a bit with the locals (in Spanish, yay) and found out that there is a small school with only about 20+ kids. Imagine how small the village is! One interesting fact we found out is that the locals don't actually live in those houses  (which are very old and seem about to collapse) on that main tourist street where they sell the souvenirs. They have a more liveable house further inside the village.

Then we headed down to the USA by riding donkeys and horses again and then crossed the Rio Grande. We knew the border entry would be slow, but we didn't expect to wait about two hours! There was only one machine to communicate remotely to a U.S. custom border agent located in El Paso. 

After that we walked back to our car. Then we drove to Boquillas Canyon Overlook and hit the trail as well. From time to time, we would see these souvenirs laying on the ground for self-service payment at this area. They are the same type of souvenirs we saw at the Mexican village.

We hiked up and down then straight. After a while we saw sand! The hike was easy and the view was very nice. We were there around sunset time and we only saw one or two families. We played there then we headed to our car.

Came across few horses on the way back.

Then we ate dinner at Chili Pepper Cafe closeby to our motel. We ate tacos, rice, beans, chicken, salsa and shrimp. The shrimp dish was very delicious. Then we went to our motel.

It was a clear night sky. We went outside to enjoy the stars. I even saw shooting stars! Then we brushed our teeth and showered. Then I did my rubik's cube one time then went to sleep.

The next morning, we woke up early and right in time to enjoy the sunrise, and got ready for our next destination. Good bye Big Bend National Park!