Houston
to Big Bend and Back
Hello my Huckleberry's. I'd like to start off by saying, the time I've listed below for each stop is just an approximation; not a schedule. It is
difficult to put an amount of days on this trip so if your plan is to drive across Texas, then you can do it in one day.
From Houston to Big Bend, straight shot with minimum stops will be about 9-10
hours (600 miles).
For
fellow travelers, road trippers and campers like me, here are my ideas on
how to take this trip and get the most out of your time on the road! This is a trip for camping and nature buffs. That’s about all that is
available to you West of San Antonio. Once I
finish the main trip, I will include some options or
add on trips you can make that are based on what time you have and how
much you like to drive.
One more quick note: I wouldn't recommend going to Big Bend in a summer month. Temperatures reach well into the 100's F during summer. We took this trip at the end of October. A storm blew into the mountains one night but barely dropped any rain, mostly annoyed us with clouds, high wind and a few sprinkles which blocked our view of the stars. Max temperature was in the desert during the day at about 85 deg F with night temps being the lowest in the mountains, around 60 deg F.
Essentials:
-
Comfy
shoes
-
A
pair of hiking boots
-
Layers,
because in Texas our weather is different all over. Once you make it to the
desert it will be hot during the day but cold at night!
-
Sunscreen,
sunscreen and more sunscreen
-
Adequate
cash, the further West you go the more “small” town
-
Bring
a road map; technology is not reliable in West Texas
-
Camping
gear if you like to camp
-
Ice
chest, either small or large because you should keep some food around on road
trips whether you are camping or not!
- Get in touch with tour operators before this trip. Once you're inside Big Bend, your phone is a paper weight.
-
If you want to cross into Mexico, you WILL need your passport
-
I
am a Geologist, I will not bore you with tons of geology, but I will make some notes I
think may be interesting to rock hounds or anyone who likes that sort of thing.
I’ll mark them in green so you can skip over if you like breaking my heart,
just kidding… Kind of.
Day
1: Total Miles to drive- 368 ~5.5 hours
Houston à (197 mi/3 hrs) San
AntonioÃ
(171 mi/2.5 hrs) Sonora
~8:00 am
Head towards San Antonio
I do suggest
starting your day early, as over inflated Texas’ ego is at times, it doesn’t
come from nowhere; it is quite large! The drive will take 3 hours and in my opinion the most interesting
thing on the way is Buc-ee’s Gas Station. There will be about 20 road signs
with a beaver wearing a red baseball cap directing you to stop. The signs
themselves are pretty cheeky so if anything just have fun reading them. Do not
worry, once you get to San Antonio it gets much better!
Optional
stop:
Buc-ee's
10070 West IH 10
Luling, TX 78648
Good
for a rest stop, refill and restroom break, road snacks and souvenirs
Don’t
miss: The beef jerky and the snack packets of cheese and pork cutlets!
~11:30 am
Stop
1: San Antonio, Texas (allow for 2-3 hours max)
-
Riverwalk
Cruise - $10/pp (45-60 mins)
-
Alt
Option: The Alamo- Free (45-60 mins)
-
Lunch-
$7-15 (1-1.5 hours)
There is
no shortage of things to do in San Antonio, you could spend 3 days in this
city. Here is what I recommend for a leisurely time to break up your long
drive.
Parking
- My
suggestion is to park on the corner of E Commerce St and N Presa.
This is a boat tour of the
Riverwalk. Sit back and enjoy the announcer give a humorous presentation of the
history of the Riverwalk as you glide slowly past century old cypress trees
that line the river. It is a great way to take a quick tour of what is one of
the best areas of the city.
**Alternate option: The Alamo (45-60 mins)
·
After
parking, head down the Riverwalk towards the Alamo. It is free to go inside
·
Just
north of the Alamo, on Houston Street there is a great gem of a place called, The History Shop. The owner removed the flooring and dug down into the earth
and uncovered all kinds of memorabilia from the battle of the Alamo. It’s free
to go in and look around. I will leave you with the surprise of how great this
little shop is if you enjoy this sort of thing. Here is the link to their
website.
Destination 2: Lunch (Allow 1-1.5 hours)
I am
going to give you three options here, depending on your tastes and attitude
towards how you like to spend your time.
1. Casa Rio at 430 E.
Commerce St.
Go here for a tourist experience
2. Whataburger at 412 E Commerce St
If you want a taste of a Texas fast food staple since the 1950's, try this out.
3. Titos at 955 South Alamo Street
If
you want authentic Mexican food, this is your place! Parking in
this area will be free and I-10 is just a hop skip and jump away.
Jump
back onto I-10 and head west after lunch.
As you leave San
Antonio, you will notice the change in landscape. This is the beginning of the
Texas Hill Country. As you drive west, you get closer to what was once a
mountain range the size of the Himalayas, the Ouachita Mountains. They
are not here anymore, all that is left are rolling hills covered with sediment from the great inland sea that dominated
this area millions of years ago. You can stop at some of these
road cuts and pick up fossilized marine life as a result.
TIP: If you are camping
when you make it to Sonora, I suggest stopping by our favorite store to do
grocery shopping at in Texas, H.E.B. If you do need to stop to get some groceries, just account for
about another 30 mins to your trip time! Below is my suggestion on which one to
stop at.
H-E-B
300 Main
Kerrville, TX 78028
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| Sharllyn- My travel buddy/partner in crime |
 |
| Lots of junk in our trunk |
~6:00-7:00 pm
Stop
2- Early evening: Sonora, TX (overnight here)
Sonora
is the halfway point between San Antonio and Big Bend. The best part about
stopping here for the night is that the next morning you can wake up and tour the Caverns of Sonora. It’s a small town, there are places to eat dinner so don’t
worry about that. You can get BBQ, Mexican food, or a nice steak. There are
fast food options if you’re looking to save some money, such as Subway, Dairy
Queen, Pizza Hut and Sonic Drive-In.
Day
2: Total Miles to drive- 293 mi ~4.25 hours
Sonora (143 mi/2
hours) Fort StocktonÃ
(150 mi/ 2.25 hours) Terlingua
~8:00 am
Stop
1- Breakfast (allow 30-60 mins)
~9:00 am
Stop
2- Caverns of Sonora (allow 2 hours)
These
caverns are spectacular! The cost is a bit steep at $20 per person ($18 w/ the
discount at this link). The tour is 1.5 hours and the cost is
well worth it! You can see reviews on trip advisor if you need a bit more
proof on the price vs. benefit.
Trip Advisor Reviews- Caverns of Sonora
TIPS:
-
Make sure you stop by the gift
shop and get some of their fudge, it is wonderful!
-
Wear comfy shoes
-
The cavern itself is almost 100%
humidity, dress accordingly
-
This is a cave and so if you have
issues with claustrophobia, if you have bad knees/feet, you may want to skip
this one.
Once you
are content with your time at Sonora you can begin your journey to the next
stop, Fort Stockton.
~1:00 pm
Stop
3- Fort Stockton (allow 1-1.5 hours)
I am
going to tell you the best way to make this stop to maximize your time
1. Grab lunch at Taco’s OJ. I had the
best enchilada and chile relleno of my life. I’ll remind you that is coming
from someone who grew up by right by Mexico.
 |
| Complimentary chips n salsa at Taco's OJ |
1305
N Main St
Fort Stockton, TX
2. On the corner of Main St and Dickinson
you can find a Giant Road Runner statue. It’s just an offbeat roadside attraction
that you might as well pass by since it’s either on your way to Walmart or back
to the highway.
3. Walmart stop; should you need any
last minute items, see below:
Walmart
2610 Dickson Blvd
Fort Stockton, TX
TIP:
I would use this stop to get some cash out if needed
This is
a quaint museum that is an ode to a pioneer woman; Annie Riggs.
~6-6:30 pm
 |
| The hwy outside of Fort Stockton. We had to |
Terlingua is one of the best places
for stargazing. Add to that, the ghost town! In west Texas, you can’t make a wrong choice.
Watch the sunset behind the Santa Fe de Los
Pinos mountain range over 80 miles south in Mexico. Sunset information, should
that be important to you, can be found on this wonderful website. See Sunrise & sunset information
Terlingua Rentals offers refurbished 100 year old rooms inside the ghost town itself.
Personally, I’d spend the extra money for that. They run anywhere from
$100-$240/night, depending on size and occupancy.
Retro Rents has renovated streamliners $124/night for 2 persons there is one called
“The Bachelor” that is $85/night for 1. Check them out here
For food
and nightlife you can check out The Starlight Theatre. My
suggestion is, eat some sandwiches in your hotel or campground, and then grab
a beer, sit on the porch outside and watch the sunset. Or just sit on the porch
and make friends and watch the stars light up the sky. You will appreciate that
very much!
Day
3: Total Miles to drive- 35 at most ~ 1-1.5 hours
 |
| Entrance to the National Park |
Terlinguaà (35 mi/1 hour) Big
Bend NP –Cottonwood Campground
Upon
waking up in the morning you can grab some breakfast, check out the ghost town
itself as well as meet up with any outdoor tour company you may have made plans
with before heading into the Park.
Visit the NPS website
for Big Bend National Park as there is abundant information about all the options you have
regarding camping in developed sites vs backcountry sites vs lodging. In
addition, it will provide weather alerts and give information on any closures
of hiking trails due to bear activity or said weather.
TIPS:
-
Campsites are cash only
-
Restock on food in Terlingua if
necessary as well as gas
-
Cottonwood and Chisos Basin do
not have showers, so bring tons of water for rinsing off as well as body/face
wipes.
-
Yes, we went 2 nights without a
shower. Just basically poured water over ourselves and used tons of
antibacterial wipes to clean off after our days of hiking. This is definitely camping;
not glamping
-
$12 per person for 7 days is the
fee to enter the park
Stop
1: Cottonwood Campground; Big Bend National Park (1-2 nights here)
Although only 33 miles in, the drive takes at least an hour due to the Park speed limit. It may seem like a snail’s pace after the 80 mph speed limits on I-10, but the view wouldn’t allow for any faster anyway. I promise you will find yourself pulling over many times just to enjoy the scenery.
There is
a store on the small hill just above the campground that can sell you
essentials and ice. It doesn’t have extended hours like a convenience store
would, so make sure to keep that in mind.
 |
| Small convenience store in that building |
The group campsite is a walk-in, tent-only site; no RVs or trailers are allowed. The campground has pit toilets, potable water, picnic tables and grills. Campgrounds
are first come; first serve. Depending on the time of year, it may benefit you
to show up no later than noon, in order to secure a spot. Payment is pretty
rudimentary. Just pull into the campground and follow the instructions on the information board.Rangers will come around daily and collect monies as
well as monitor the area accordingly.
 |
| They sell this beer at stores nearby, it's very good! |
We chose a spot with some trees so Sharllyn could hang her ENO hammock. Just so happened we picked a tree in which an owl
lived. In the evenings as I sat in my chair, I'd see Mr.
Bean (that’s what I named him) walk out onto the big branch as he stretched and
woke up; readying himself for a night of flight. Like clockwork, Mr. Bean would return at first light. This is when the magic of this campground showed itself. As the sun rises, the reflection off the canyon walls glow bright red orange. Pictures simply do not
do it justice.
 |
| Sunrise at our campground in Cottonwood |
These are
the hikes we did as we camped in Cottonwood
 |
| Sharllyn tried to it anyway :) |
TIP: You will need to walk across
what might be a slightly wet; muddy creek to get to the trail head. Do not try
to walk through the mud. You will get stuck. You will feel
like you’re about to sink down to your neck. You will stop before then, but you
will lose a shoe, possibly both before clawing your way out.
What
we did was walk up the creek to where reeds and sticks had fallen across the
mud and created a bit of a bridge with which to keep us from sinking in. A
quick climb up the bank and a short traipse through some brush led us to the
start of the canyon. Don’t be afraid, just go with it. You will be delighted as
you embark on the journey between the 1500 foot tall canyon walls. Once at the end, we ate a small lunch and took lots of pictures.
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| At the top of the trailhead, looking away from the canyon (Mexico to the right of the river) |
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| Me; in awe, Santa Elena in front (Mexico to my left) |
Tip:
Take tons of water, it is just 3.8 miles round trip but there is zero shade as
you are literally hiking through desert.
 |
| Mule Ears Formation that you hike along side |
**A very important note: This is the desert, it gets hot, so ALWAYS have
water on you and make sure to definitely carry enough on your hikes. A hike in
this area of Big Bend may not seem far, but there is zero shade, even if it is
80 degrees, that sun will make a round trip 4 mile hike will seem like a
weeklong tromp through hell.
Day
5: Total Miles to drive- 35 at most ~ 1-1.5 hours
Cottonwood campsite (39 mi/1 hour) Chisos
Basin Campground
~8:00am
Pack up
camp and head to Chisos Basin Campground!
~10:00 am
Stop 1:
Chisos Basin Campground (1-2 nights here)
Getting
there is easy, simply follow the
signs. There
will be a gas station at one of the junctions, before you start driving up into
the mountains. Once up in the mountains there will be lodging, camping, a
visitor’s center and a restaurant.
This
will be the highlight of the trip, so make sure if you are not visiting in the
season where you can make reservations; that you are up there no later than 10:00
am to search out a spot. This is about the time people who are leaving will be
packing up so you can call dibs and sit and wait or just find an open spot from
those who left the night before. I was dreading this as we didn’t reserve a
spot but in the end we showed up and had plenty of spots to choose from. I
highly recommend driving around the loop of campsites to find your best spot.
In all, you can’t pick a bad one.
TIP: Remember me saying there
aren’t any showers! Well, after two nights and two days of hiking and no
showers. We opted to get up to Chisos, set up camp and then head back down the
mountain for the scenic drive into Rio Grande Village Campsite where there were
showers that you can use for a very nominal fee. This lead to a discovery we
had not planned for…See below my addition for a much suggested addition to the
day.
**Additional
trip: Total Miles to drive- 65 miles (r/t)
Chisos Basin (27 mi/45 mins) Hot Springs Historic
Trail
(5.6 mi/15 mins) Rio Grande Village
Campsite (30 mi/45 min) Chisos Basin
~12:00 pm
Stop 2: Hot Springs
Historic Trail (allow 2 hours to get some soaking time and general walking;
exploring)
The
wonderful thing about going this route is that you can incorporate a short; 0.5
mile round trip hiking trail that takes you past historic homesteads of the old
west, pictographs, and a natural hot spring (~105 deg F) sitting literally
right next to the Rio Grande River.
I would
highly suggest not missing this! The road you turn off to get to the hot
springs is said to be rugged. We were in a small sedan and had zero issues
making it down this road. It is not paved but rather caliche (the white; chalky
looking rock) and it is not to be missed in my opinion. The drive off the main
road is only about 1.5 miles through amazing rock formations. You will see
where people are intended to park and just follow the signs. There is a Hot
Springs Canyon Trail that is 6 miles round trip should you want that option. We
simply took the shorter trail, right past the historic homesteads and
pictographs to the spring for some relaxation.
What we
did was hike to the spring and spend about an hour hopping back and forth
between the spring and the Rio Grande River. There were about 6-7 people from
other hiking groups and even a little garter snake who decided to wander past
the trail through the reeds. No worries. The spring itself is crystal clear.
The Rio Grande; not so much, the choice is yours whether you get in the river
or not. Be careful though, it is a flowing river.
Once we
had our share of the spring we put our clothes over our swimsuits and decided
to venture a little farther down the trail to explore. It is a nice walk and
you can see some pretty unbelievable painted sandstone formations. If that is
your thing. If not; check it out anyway, these sandstones are purple, pink,
orange and the colors all swirl together like they had been painted on with a
brush and some watercolor.
 |
I'm in the hot spring looking like I'm telling a great story. The guy to the left of me has his feet in the murky water of the Rio Grande.The grass behind the river is Mexico! The cup has beer!
|
~ 2:30-3:00
pm
Stop
3: Arrive at Rio Grande Village Campsite (allow 30 minutes at most)
I
wouldn’t spend too much time here, get yourself a nice warm shower, stock up on
supplies and just head back slowly. Making sure to stop where you want on the
way back up to Chisos Basin Campground Take all the pictures you can or just
hike out into the desert.
 |
| Overlook on the drive to Rio Grande Village |
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| Scenic drive from the hot springs to Rio Grande Village |
Stop
4: Chisos Basin Campground (Overnight)
For your first night up in the
basin, I would make sure to sit up at the lookout dock behind the visitor’s
center and watch the most magnificent sunset through what they call, “The
Window”. The paved walkway is called the “Window View Trail” and is 0.3 mi
round trip. You will see signs pointing you in the general direction of where
to go and you will know you are there as soon as you arrive!!!
 |
This is a view from our campsite of "The Window". You get a different perspective from the visitor center
|
The time
you spend up in Chisos Basin depends on you. You can easily spend 3-4 extra
days here doing all the hikes or just enjoying the night sky with its boundless
stars.
 |
| Caught the last wink of link as the sunset from our campsite |
After
our first night, we woke up early the next day to do Emory Peak Trail. Not for
the faint at heart, but we are certainly not professional hikers either. Plan
accordingly and start early. I will continue about this below!
Day 6: Total miles- None; just a short
drive to the visitor’s center. Or you can even walk from the campsite
Emory
Peak Hike via Pinnacles Trail
Difficulty:
Strenuous
Distance:
9 miles round trip
Elevation
gain: 2500ft
~ 8:00
We woke up early enough to have a
good breakfast at our campsite before starting this hike at 8 am. After
cleaning up, we went up to the visitors center, grabbed some coffee and extra
water and began the long walk up.
TIPS:
-
Good trail mix
-
PB&J sandwiches
-
Between two people; we carried 6
liters of water
- You WILL want your camera, so
bring it and suffer carrying the extra weight
 |
| Beginning of the hike selfie |
The hike will start with wide
open trail leading you up a slight grade. It is a rocky trail so I would
recommend hiking boots for this one. Eventually the grade increases and you
start with the switchbacks. It will be tough, there is a compost toilet at the
end of Pinnacles Trail, after about 3.5 miles from the start. No matter how
difficult it gets, take rests as needed, but keep going. The hardest part is
the last quarter mile and should you want to; you can climb up the rock face to
the absolute top of Emory Peak. There were two peaks at the top and one was
just a bit higher making it the “official” highest point. It looked really
difficult to climb up to even though I could see people were doing it. I
decided not to push my luck and we opted to climb the less intimidating one. In
the end, it made little difference. You get the most wonderful 360 degree view and
it is tremendous! As you sit on top of the world you can look down at the visitor’s
center to get a big picture of what you just accomplished.
 |
| View from the top; The little spot just above and to the left of my foot is where the visitor center is |
 |
| Obligatory yoga pose atop the peak; I give you my rendition of corpse pose |
After making it back to our car that was waiting patiently for us outside the visitor’s center, we rinsed off, changed out of our hiking boots and made ourselves presentable so that we could have a nice end of trip dinner at the wonderful Chisos Mountains Lodge Restaurant.
I would suggest eating sandwiches the whole way if it means you save the money to eat here after this long; grueling hike. The time you should be getting done with the hike should coincide with sunset and there is nothing more equivalent to the joy you felt at the peak than watching the sunset, yet again, through the “Window” of the mountains. Only this time you’re enjoying the view while eating a wonderful meal and possibly enjoying a cold beverage, alcoholic or otherwise.
 |
| Done with the hike; now time to eat. |
 |
| Ribeye Steak was wonderful and cooked perfectly medium!! |
After a lovely dinner, we made it back to our campsite, splayed out on the huge boulder that was so perfectly placed such that we could lay on it and gaze up at the stars. The other wonderful thing about rocks is their ability to stay warm even as the temperature drops. It never got really cold, I’d say average at night was about 60 degrees, but as you lay on top of the giant rock and look up in the sky; you feel nothing but warmth on your back. Like the earth is giving you a nice warm hug. It really was the perfect end to a perfect time in Big Bend!
 |
| Our rock by the campsite and little friend, Randy the Roadrunner |
Note: If you do not want to camp, check out the Chisos Mountains Lodge as another option.
Day 7: Total Miles to drive- 599 mi
~9-10 hours
Not going to sugar coat it. For
us, the 9 hour drive back to Houston seemed pretty daunting. After being on the
road for so long we didn’t intend on making many stops on the way back. We left
camp around 8:00 and ended up making one fun stop that wasn’t originally
planned, but it was WORTH IT!!!!
We again stopped in San Antonio
and bought some Mexican pastries at Mi Tierra in downtown area. The stars must
have aligned perfectly because there is one very tiny parking lot outside this
place it is usually packed to the seams. When we pulled in; someone was pulling
out. So we were blessed to find free parking right in front of this restaurant.
If you are not so lucky, there is parking close by for maybe $5 or so. You can
stop here for lunch or you can decide not to stop at all and just drive on
through.
If you do stop, and decide to
skimp on lunch, just grab some Mexican pastries in their bakery area, and
wander around the Mercado to stretch out your legs. It is touristy and
overpriced to buy anything, but to wander is free and this is what it is like
when walking the streets of the border towns in Mexico, which I grew up doing.
It is reminiscent for me, and may be a neat experience for you too.
Optional things to incorporate into
your road trip:
You
can include this on your drive to Big Bend. Instead of heading south from Fort
Stockton, continue on I-10 to Balmorhea.
Interesting note: The Park was
built back in the 1930’s during the great depression by the Civilian
Conservation Corps. The same goes for Big Bend National Park!
Marfa
is a good option for those who are not doing a round trip back to Houston, but
rather continuing West. I apparently visited Marfa when I was too young to remember.
I was with my parents and my mother says we drove out to the highway to see the
famous Marfa Lights. I don’t remember if we saw them or not, but they are
highly studied and certainly real. If the unexplained is your thing, then this
is a good option.
In
addition to the crazy lights, Marfa, for being such a small town out in the
middle of nowhere, actually has a lot to offer. Here you find a bustling art scene
with art installations that are world renowned, right in the middle of the
desert!
This
would be something you can include if you rather not camp/hike. You can simply
stay 2-3 nights in Terlingua or break the stay up between Terlingua and Lajitas.
-
Take
one day to drive to Santa Elena Canyon, if even just to look at it
4. Austin, Texas:
If you
do want to drive back to Houston but take your time and extend the trip, I
suggest taking an alternate route that will take you through Austin instead of
San Antonio!
Please
come see Texas, enjoy everything the Southwest has to offer and never forget to
stop exploring my Huckleberry's!
Buenos
Dias,
Sabrina
M.
