After our 3 hour detour around Big Bend Ranch State Park due to flooding, we arrived at Paisano Village RV Park and Inn in Terlingua around 5pm. Dad had a hotel room on site while we set up Wanda at a full hook up site. The park manager was so helpful at making sure we were sorted and even confirmed permission for Ashlyn’s tent to be on site since they weren’t booked up. In fact, there was only one other rv there our entire stay! The national park offers limited rv sites, a motel and cabins up in the mountain range, but after our experience in Guadalupe National Park, I’m no longer keen on camping in national parks. Paisano’s was only 10 minutes to the national park entrance and was clean, quiet and had reliable amenities. I was so happy with the experience at Paisano, that it more than made up for the “inconvenience” of commuting daily into the park. We also enjoyed exploring the town of Terlingua each evening.

And we didn’t waste any time that very first evening! After dinner, we caught the cemetery at sunset then had drinks and snacks at High Sierra Bar & Grill and the Starlight Theatre. Terlingua/Study Butte were built on mercury mining in the 1880s, saw it’s heyday in the 1920s before the Great Depression reduced demand and all mining companies had vacated by 1946 leaving the area in a ghosttown like state. Today, Terlingua caters more to the tourist/desert wanderer/adventure seeking crowd while still maintaining a ghost town charm. We loved it.

Things were also looking up with the weather! The rain had cleared out for the forecast for the rest of the week and by 11pm, we got our first new moon, starry night glimpses!

The next morning, we enjoyed a slow morning and had Ashlyn driving us through Big Bend National Park by noon. We were still having to alter our plans day to day due to the Rio Grande still being out of banks, so our first attraction for the day was Balance Rock. The 7 mile gravel road to access the trailhead took an hour to reach the parking area and was some great practice in patience for Ashlyn!

The 2 mile roundtrip hike was diverse and scenic throughout, but the rock structure itself was marvelous! The area surrounding balance rock also made for a great rest stop with a breeze moving through at the top of the hill and kids had a great time scrambling the rocks.

That wrapped up day one in the park. The next day at camp, the rising sun showed off Santa Elena Canyon, another popular spot in Big Bend that was inaccessible due to flooding. Park Rangers the previous day told us they were having to rescue hikers out of waist deep mud because they didn’t heed the warnings.

Since we would be unable to access the canyon or the hot springs, we decided to drive to the far east end of the park for a safe view of the river and take in the sights before heading up into the Chisos Mountains. We really enjoyed strolling around the Rio Grande Village campground with the free roaming horses and perusing the merchandise set up as honor system “stores” that had been placed by makers across the river.

Ready for lunch, we left the river area at an elevation of 1,850ft and 95 degree sunshine to arrive an hour later in the Chisos Basin at 5,400 ft elevation and 65 degree shrouded in fog/mist. We had a fantastic lunch at the lodge taking in the view of “The Window.”

That evening the boys made us a fire for smores and the sky showed off again.

We would spend one more night in Terlingua after we explored Big Bend Ranch State Park the next day, but our time exploring the National Park had come an end. For this trip anyways. What we did get to see and experience was unique and awesome, but I am bummed that we couldn’t do my top 2 points of interest. I tried to time this trip around crowds and weather. September trends as a good month at the end of rainy season but before the fall crowds show up with cooler weather. This time, rainy season just went into some overtime. No regrets, though! The Chisos Mountain Lodge has since closed to undergo a massive renovation for an indeterminate amount of time and we were some of the last to experience it in its historic form!

-Lindsay