Information about Backcountry camping at BBNP

Information about Big Bend National Park Backcountry camping and Backcountry Permits.

BBNP has many miles of backcountry dirt roads.  Along many of these dirt roads there are backcountry campsites.    A few campsites are accessible by any size RV.  These are generally within a mile or so of the paved highway.  Others require some high clearance without a long overhang behind the rear axle.  On most RV's it is the overhang and not the ground clearance. On some you may need 4 wheel drive to crawl over rocks and climb up short steep, rocky sections of the road, so no RV’s there.

There are 5 sites, Grapevine Hills Rd #2 & #3, Paint Gap Rd #1, 2 & 3 which don’t allow RV’s to camp there.  The reason is that these sites are highly visible from the paved highway.  Since they require people doing “zone camping" to be out of sight of paved highways, it is only fair to require RV’s to be out of sight of the paved highway.  This seems reasonably fair to me, even though it remove 5 campsites which could be accessible by RV’s

There are 6 backcountry campsites which are accessible by almost any size RV.

-- Hanold Draw

-- Grapevine Hills #1

--  Croton Springs #1 & #2.  These share a single parking area.

--  K Bar #2.   

--  K Bar #1 is good for RV’s up to about 30’.  The parking area is too small for large RV’s to pull into.

Photo of Croton Springs #1 & #2

The campsites are just scraped off sections of the desert ground with old telephone poles laying on the ground for borders.  Most have bear & javalina resistant food boxes, but no tables, grills or fire pits.  No campfires are permitted.  For a complete list of regulations go here.

With a few exceptions these campsites are several hundred yards or several miles from another campsite.  Because of the distance between campsites there is a great deal of privacy in spite of being in wide open country.   To view photos and info about the campsites go to  Big Bend National Park Primitive Roadside Campsites

 

A backcountry permit is required to stay in these campsites. There is a $10 fee ($5 with a federal senior pass) for the backcountry permit.  The backcountry camping is free.  The permit is good for up to 14 consecutive days.  If you come out of the backcountry and spend a night at a place other than in the backcountry, then you need another $10 permit to backcountry camp. 

You must go to a visitor center to get a permit. To help you plan your backcountry camping and view the availability of campsites you can log on to the Big Bend NP Backcountry Permits website.  (If you are into overnight backpacking, this website also includes the hike-in sites in the Chisos Mountains.)  While in the website you can fill out a worksheet with the backcountry sites and dates you want to stay at them.  You still must go to the VC to actually have your permit issued.  You can fill out your worksheet one day before you start your BC stay, but if you do, you MUST pick up your permit that day.  The computer system purges all worksheets at 6:30am each day, so any previous day’s worksheets not resulting in a permit are gone each morning.   

This is a real improvement over the old system where the park used a big paper book with all the campsites listed in the book.  You needed to go the Panther Junction VC to see the campsite book or if you were at one of the other VC they would call PJ and log in your selection.  About a year ago, a BBNP volunteer computerized the back country permit system.   

    

Days 13 & 14. Heading back to San Antonio.

Days 13 & 14.  Heading back to San Antonio.

Way too soon it was time to head back home.  

Along the way we stopped and fixed lunch at the Pecos High Bridge picnic area on US-90 about 40 miles west of Del Rio.  The last time we stopped here, about 10 years ago, there were signs prohibiting overnight parking.  The signs are gone now, so it looks like a really nice place to park your RV overnight.  Great views of the Pecos River Arm of Lake Amistad.

Looking up river

Looking down river toward the mouth of the Pecos River at Rio Grande River

This is where the Pecos meets the Rio Grande. Lake Amistad is about 35’ low.  If the lake was full, there would be 15'-20' of water here instead of the little stream you see.

At the picnic area there are three historic markers describing the High Bridge and the area.

We spent the night at Governor's Landing CG at Lake Amistad National Recreation Area.  The next day we headed on home.  No pictures of Governor's Landing.   

Days 10-12. Back to Chisos Basin CG, Valentines Day & hike on Lost Mine Trail.

Days 10-12.  Back to Chisos Basin CG, Valentines Day & hike on Lost Mine Trail.

We spent 3 warm pleasant days at the Chisos Basin CG.  We took site #18 with a nice view of Sharon’s druids on the mountains to the north and Casa Grande to the east.  More on “Sharon’s Druids” later.

The NP warns that because of the steep winding road to the Chisos Basin motorhomes longer than 24’ and trailers longer than 20’ or 22’ should not come up into the basin.  The big limiting factor, in my opinion, is almost none of the campsites can accommodate a MH or trailer longer than 30’.   About 20 of the 60 campsites are suitable only for tenting.  The parking pad is either very steep or too small to park a vehicle longer than a car or van.  

As far as vehicle length, we see 43’ to 45’ tour buses in the Chisos Basin area most every time we visit BBNP.  Also one of the camp hosts this year is in a 40’ motorhome.  Having said that, I don't believe you would be able to drive a vehicle longer than about 35' up the road w/o crossing the center line on the steep turns.      

Chisos Basin CG has 60 small campsites.  Some of the sites are reservable and only sites 1-18 allow generator operation.  In my opinion the following campsite #’s have room to park a 25’to 30’ RV:  6, 7, 15, 18, 25, 26, 29, 36, 38, 46, 47, and 54.  For site #'s 46 &47 you will have to back up the road about 25 yards and then back into the site.  On several of the sites you might not have room for a tow vehicle or your toad.  There is overflow parking across the road from CG registration booth.  The overflow parking is in the same parking lot as parking for the amphitheater.  

 We arrived on Valentine’s Day and had a nice lunch at the Chisos Lodge restaurant and a relaxing afternoon/evening at camp.

Each evening, happy hour is spent watching “Sharon’s Durids”.  The Druids are the pinnacles on the mountain side in the following pictures.  As the sun sets, or rises the shadows lengthen or shorten making the druids appear to march up or down the mountain side. 

We also had a great view of Casa Grande.

Each morning we had a pretty moon setting through the Chisos Basin Window:

Fairly early (about 8:30) one morning I hiked Lost Mine Trail.  Lost Mine Trail is the best trail in the park to hike for the distance and effort required.  There are fantastic views along the trail.  At the trail head there is a trail brochure available for $1.  It describes the plants and views along the trail.  Trail length is about 4.8 miles round trip and elevation gain is about 1100’, starting at about 5700’, ending about 6800’.    

Even if you can’t hike the entire trail, it is a fairly easy 3/4 mile hike, one way, to a saddle (low spot between two mountain peaks) with great views looking towards the Rio Grande River, Mexico, Juniper Canyon, and the east rim of the Chisos Mt’s.

A couple of view from the saddle.

Looking at Casa Grande from the saddle

About 200 yards from the start of the trail I saw movement in the bushes to my right.  It turned out to be a really nice 8 or 10 point Sierra Del Carmen white tail deer. I never would have noticed him if he hadn't moved.  These deer smaller versions of the white tail deer found in Texas and are isolated in the mountains in this area.  They are unable to survive in the desert lowlands, to be able to migrate to other areas. 

Look closely in the center of the following pictures for the deer’s head and antlers.

Two examples of the good trail conditions

Looking back at Casa Grande, Chisos Basin and the Window from one of the switch backs along the last mile of the trail.

At the end of the trail looking southeast at the east rim of the Chisos and Mexico.  The brown peak in the center is called Elephant Tusk. 

At the very end of the trail

Looking back at Casa Grande and the Basin.

Enjoying the view.

Google Earth Views of the trail:

The easy first ¾ mile to the saddle

The switchbacks to the top

Along the trail I saw some prickly pear cactus with long yellow spines which looked very pretty in the bright sunlight.

Day 8 & 9. Grapevine Hills Rd & trail to Balanced Rock. Drive to Castalon & Cottonwood CG

Day 8 & 9.  Grapevine Hills Rd & trail to Balanced Rock.  Drive to Castalon & Cottonwood CG

We left Pine Canyon and moved to Grapevine Hills Rd and campsite GH#3.  Campsites GH#2 & #3 share the same cleared off area. This is one of the few backcountry campsites which share the same area.  Most are separated by ¼ mile or more. 

We had a neighbor this night, a very nice German couple camping in a very small VW van.  Their van is not sold in the US, they brought it over from Germany.  So far they have spent 6 months touring the eastern US and Texas.  They are planning on going to Alaska this summer and then down into Mexico later in 2014 & 2015.  They are considering touring South America after that. 

This is the shared camping area.  You can see the wildlife resistant food boxes for each campsite.  GH#2 on the right and GH#3 on the left. 

In the afternoon, Misty took a nap on the dashboard in the warm sunshine.

More sunset pictures.

In the morning I took a nice hike on Grapevine Hills Trail to Balanced Rock. 

The first ¾ miles of the trail is level with some sandy areas.   Looking down at the trail

 and has pretty views of the rocks.

The last ¼ mile of the trail to Balanced Rock required climbing some rocks.  The trail heads up on the left side of the photo. 

and goes up these rocks. 

A little perspective on the steepness.

More of the trail.  That's a 4' high steel trail marker at the top center of the photo.

And Balanced Rock at the end of the trail.
To give you a perspective on the size of the rock. 

The back side looks like a duck’s head or perhaps ET (from the movie)

The view through Balanced Rock

After my hike we drove the paved Ross Maxwell Scenic Highway to Castolon and Cottonwood CG at the eastern side of BBNP, near Santa Elena Canyon. 

We stopped for lunch at Sotol Vista Overlook.

This is the view from Sotol Vista Overlook.  The crack in the cliff in the distance is Santa Elena Canyon.

From Sotol Vista there is a 2 mile 6% grade with a couple of switchback.  The road is good, just no guard rails.  Sorry about the grainy pictures.  I forgot I had my camera on ISO-1600

Here is a photo of Cottonwood CG.  Nice cottonwood trees and grass between sites.    

Drinking water is available near the entrance, but the spigot is not threaded.  No dump and no generator operation is allowed.  

We only spent one night here.  It was going to be in the mid 80's tomorrow and in the low 90's the next day.  Time to get back up in the mountains where it will be cooler.  Very nice weather for mid February though.