The River Road & Scenic Drive in Big Bend National Park - A motorcycle adventure
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ก.ค. 2024
- In this video I drive the River Road, an un-paved route, in Big Bend National Park before continuing around the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, a paved route. I also discuss some other fun things to do in the park. I really enjoyed my visit to Big Bend and I hope you enjoy this video. Be sure to check out my other videos from here as well. I visited in January.
Big Bend National Park is a fee area. It's $30 for a private vehicle/truck/rv, etc. Motorcycles are $25. Pedestrians or Bicyclists are $15. This fee is valid for 7 days. An America the Beautiful parks pass will get you in for no additional fee.
Additional good to know:
Big Bend is located in a remote part of Texas and offers limited services throughout the park and the areas outside the park. There is gas located at two places within the park, only one of which is 24 hours by credit card. The closest Hospital is 100 miles, almost 2 hours, from Panther Junction in Alpine Texas. The closest Walmart is over 120 miles away in Fort Stockton. There are some small stores in the park, but the closest market with any decent selection is in nearby Study Butte, just on the west side of the park.
Camping within the park requires reservations on recreation.gov. Depending on the season this can get full in advance. I highly recommend camping within the park if you are camping as there is limited camping outside the park and you'll spend a lot of time just driving to do anything. There is one hotel/lodge located in the Chisos Mountain Basin as well.
It's possible to cross into Mexico within the park (pedestrian only) at Boquillas Crossing and this requires a valid US Passport (or Passport Card) to re-enter the US.
It can get very hot in the summer, so keep the seasonal weather in mind when planning to visit. - Regardless of weather be sure to carry an adequate amount of water for your adventures. Drinking water can typically be sourced from the visitor center locations if you need to top-up. Rio Grande Village is located at an elevation of about 1845 ft (~562 m), Chisos Mountain Basin sits at about 5400 ft (~1650 m). This can make a fair big of variation in weather and general conditions for the park.
Links:
NPS: www.nps.gov/bibe/index.htm
Park Maps: www.nps.gov/bibe/planyourvisi...
Recreation.gov camping: www.recreation.gov/camping/ga...
Lodge (operated by Aramark): www.chisosmountainslodge.com/
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:17 Riding montage
03:43 Backcountry camping areas
04:40 Quick glance at Rio Grande River
05:25 Conversation with Park Service Volunteers
06:40 Mariscal Mine tour
12:05 Return to riding
15:20 Riding montage
18:18 Return to pavement
19:00 Castolon Historic Area
21:18 Sublett Farm Ruins
22:18 Saint Elena Canyon
23:00 Start Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive
23:24 Mule Ears viewpoint
23:55 Sotol Vista
24:40 Homer Wilson Ranch
25:10 Sam Neill Ranch
25:33 Appreciating the sun's glow
26:43 Discussing Chisos Basin/Mountain area
27:31 Discussing the Langford Hot Springs
27:55 Quick gas stop
28:17 Continue drive back and discussions, wrap-up
Nice!!!! I’m so looking forward to a big Bend
It's honestly a pretty cool and diverse place you wouldn't expect from the areas you drive through to reach it.
It’s hard to believe but back when Spain owned Texas and New Mexico way before any dams being built on the the Rio Grande they use to take ocean going vessels all the way up into New Mexico from the gulf. They use to be able to do the same on the Pecos Rivers. I’m glad I clicked on your video. I’m going to Big Bend soon and wanted to see this old. mine. I’m ready to drive the river road with my newly bought 4x4 Stay safe stay healthy
It is crazy because you can walk across it now! (Take your passport). The mine is totally cool and worth spending some time at. Plenty to explore in the park.
Crazy to me that from where I live in Amarillo it's the same distance to Pagosa Springs as it is to Big Bend. I'll definitely have to make the trip down there, though. Thanks for all the extra info.
I definitely think it's isolatation keeps the attendance numbers low down there. It's quite a neat desert mountain region though.
It's cool to see a pre-KTM buyout TR650 Husqvarna. How's that bike treating you?
It's pretty decent, but I don't have much to compare it to though. It's got like 24k mi on it and I put 14k of them on it the past couple years. Bought it used. It was my first (and only bike). Just didnt want to spend a lot on a hobby I wasn't sure about. It needs the valves checked I think, but it's taken a lot of abuse and keeps on going. If I had to complain about anything, maybe the rear suspension.
@@getlosttrails Well it sounds like you're definitely getting your money out of it. Safe to say that the hobby is secure now? Haha!
@texlee1640 Pretty committed to it now, just never as much time as I want to play.
@@getlosttrails It has a way of getting down in your blood, good to hear that you're hooked. And we never have enough time to do it all, you just have to make the most of what you do have and do your best to add more whenever possible.
😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎