4 Days, 6 Hikes, 30+ Miles, 2 Kids
WHERE WE STAYED
Let me start by saying, I had a TON of anxiety going into this trip to Big Bend National Park. We've never traveled to a national park, so I really wasn't sure what to expect. My anxiety gets the best of me sometimes, so some of my thoughts going in were things like, "It's in the middle of nowhere, what if we have a medical emergency? What if the truck breaks down and we don't have a phone signal? What if someone gets hurt and we're a couple of miles into a hike?" These thoughts didn't go completely away while we were there, but looking back, I would definitely do it again!
We traveled to Big Bend in our RV. We stayed at RoadRunner Travelers RV Park and I honestly can't say enough about the park. It was genuinely perfect! Our rig is huge (almost 44 feet), but we had no trouble fitting into our spot. We had full hook ups, a beautiful view, and they even had live music for us to enjoy on a couple of nights! The picture above is the view from our RV window and one of the nights they offered live music right at the park. Even though the town of Terlingua, TX is pretty far from the closest "city", we had everything we needed during our entire visit. We did come with our pantry and fridge fully stocked though. There's a gas station right across the street, plus fuel is available in the park. The west entrance to Big Bend is literally minutes from RoadRunner Travelers. Our boys had a blast playing in the RV park when we weren't at Big Bend. They also have a dog walking area and even a dog park if you're bringing your furry family members with you.
Here's a video if you'd like to see a little walk through of the park: Check out the video here.
Here's a rooftop view of the park: Check out the video here.
And night, oh, let me tell you about this park and area at night! If you enjoy star gazing like I do, you won't be able to get enought of it! This area is a International Dark Sky Area and I've never seen so many stars in my life. It was breathtaking!! I have more star pictures on my phone than I'd like to admit! The top picture (below) is earlier in the night, but the bottom picture is later. It only looks like there's a lot of lights on because I used a long exposure. If you find the right spot, you can barely see your hand in front of your face.
And yes, I even captured a few shooting stars while using my long exposure settings on my iPhone 12 Pro Max! (If you need tips on capturing images like this on an iPhone, feel free to send me an email.
Big Bend is a HUGE park! It's over 1,200 square miles. It's literally bigger than Rhode Island. The drive from our RV park to the far East side to Boquillas canyon was about 48 miles and took over an hour and there's not a whole lot in between. You will be doing a LOT of driving through Big Bend. Top off on fuel every chance you get. But, I will be completely honest. Not a single one of the drives seemed like it took a long time. There's so much ooohing and aaahing at the beautiful scenery, you don't really think about how long it's taking. Just to give you an idea, check out this short clip of our drive through the Chisos Basin. Click here for that video. We honestly felt, at times, that we were in a different country. It sure didn't seem like the Texas I've always known! Below is a collage of some of our best views from the road. You won't be disappointed!
HIKING BIG BEND WITH KIDS
Before we traveled to Big Bend, we knew we'd be doing some hiking. Thinking ahead, we also knew our four year old may not be able to physically keep up with the rest of us. So, we got a My FreeLoader kid carrier and it saved the day on literally every single hike! It turned out that our four year old absolutely LOVES to hike. But at some point on each hike, those little legs got tired. This carrier allowed us to hike probably twice as far as we would have been able to if we didn't have it. It was worth its weight in gold! It carries up to 80 pounds, which we couldn't find with any other carriers. Here's an affiliate link if you need one for your little "freeloader" too: Click Here for a My Freeloader Affiliate Link
If you'd like to see a quick video of the My Freeloader Kid Carrier in action, Click Here. This video also shows an amazing view of the Lost Mine Trail. (More on this hike later!)
Here's a great shot of our four year old riding in the My Freeloader at the top of the Balanced Rock hike. (More on this hike later too!)
CHECK OUT THE BLOGS TO ALL OF OUR SPECIFIC HIKES! THE LINKS ARE HERE:
BIG BEND HIKES - LOWER BURRO MESA TRAIL - Coming Soon!
BIG BEND HIKES - SANTA ELENA CANYON - Coming Soon!
BIG BEND HIKES - LOST MINE TRAIL - Coming Soon!
BIG BEND HIKES - BOQUILLAS CANYON TRAIL - Coming Soon!
BIG BEND HIKES - UPPER BURRO MESA TRAIL - Coming Soon!
Documenting an entire week takes time, so I'll be adding the rest of our hikes as soon as I can. As always, if you have questions, you can email us by CLICKING HERE.
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