Travels with Homer: 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.