Big Bend went from ancient seas to swampy lands filled with dinosaurs and pre-historic alligators three times the size of current day. And after the dinos went away the nomadic Indian tribes of hunters gatherers wandered the lands. This gave way to farmers, cattle rancheros, and trappers. And man being made up of both good and bad, gave birth to those who would take instead of earn…the banditos. And crime eventually brought the Texas Rangers. In 1891, a young local kid lied about his age to become a Texas Ranger. His name was Everett Ewing Townsend and he is remembered today as the “Father” of Big Bend National Park. The Park was established in 1944 just a few years before Townsend died- seeing his life long dream realized.
Even today in Big Bend, you can have small tastes of the old frontier ways. You can sneak across the border to Mexico via a small boat, albeit after going through passport control. (closed on Mondays & Tuesdays) Or cross mountains on foot trails to reach watering holes, and springs.
We arrived at Rio Grande Village knowing that the 25 “full hookup” RV spots were going to be a concrete parking lot. The Village also has primitive and dry camping (“no hookups”) along the Rio Grande but we were interested in cooking, having RV hookups…plus showers and WiFi 🙂 Showers were $2 for 5 minutes of wet ‘sand blasting’ of your body, according to Douglas. Lisa took her first two showers inside our camper van and they passed the test. Laundry is also available here and it seemed to be pretty busy.
At the Village Store we met a nice couple, probably in their late 70’s who have been traveling in an RV for the past 22 years! They do not own a home ( have some land in Asheville, NC) and only travel to cooler climates. Their rig costs over 600k and we even saw what looked liked a real Christmas tree in their camper. Douglas thinks they probably have a fireplace, two bedrooms and a full bar…
In the more primitive camping area of the Village, across from site 18, there is a nature walk that takes you thru a swampy area along the Rio Grande and then up to an observation hill. A short hike that was just what we needed after a long day. From the hill, you can see the visit-able Mexican town of Boquillas. https://www.nps.gov/bibe/planyourvisit/visiting-boquillas.htm
The best thing about the Rio Grande Village campground were the amazing sunrises…something Douglas captured while walking to the showers one morning- the first image is while walking thru a puddle on the concrete…finding beauty in the mundane.
The Village has a trail that leads to Big Bend’s natural jacuzzi, known as Langford Hot Springs which is supposed to be 105 degrees. Sounds like my kind of hike. What we didn’t know was that this is a 6 mile hike (medium difficulty) that takes you up/over/between mountains and finally down to the Rio Grande which somehow meets this natural hot springs.
About half way to the springs there was a makeshift store with someone selling walking sticks and copper wires animals…we bought a scorpion as a good luck token for the Traveler Blues van.
When we finally reached the Hot Springs we changed into our bathing suites ‘North Shore’ style and enjoyed the luxury of a natural jacuzzi in west, Texas.
The long trek back was made much sweeter by the amazing views as we walked back to the village campsite. We are loving our time at this beautiful park in our home state.
An amazing sunset at our last night at Rio Grande Village…
Although this National Park is massive, there are only 3 designated camp grounds in the park and we are now off to experience our 3rd campsite which is further west, small, and remote. We hope to see a javelina (not a pig) and find a spot for Traveler Blues for a night or two.
