Big Bend to Terlingua - you took a trailer where?

This won't be an exactly traditional report. This was our attempt at dragging a trailer behind our 2WD Sport through West Texas, From Fort Davis, to Big Bend Ranch State Park, to Big Bend National Park, then capped it off at the Terlingua Chili Fest. It might be less than hardcore on the off road trails, but this was the ultimate test of my 5 year old pop-up. Both in how it could tackle the trails and how long it can survive on 9 days with zero hookups. I'm happy to report that it was a good trip.


Friday-Sunday: Ft Davis SP. The last outpost of civilization.



I had planned a stay of 2 nights at each campsite, so that we had half a day to move and a day-and-a-half to explore. I had scheduled our first two nights at Fort Davis for a reason: namely that one does not want to enter the Big Bend region directly off of a full day's drive. Fort Davis was a mere 7 hours of road time to reach from home, and only 3 hours (on paper, lol) from the next stop on the itinerary. It made sense to use this park as a "last outpost" to fill the water tanks, turn on the fridge, and perform a final check of the camper before venturing to the more isolated areas further down south. But that's Sunday's problem. Fort Davis had more than enough charm to warrant the stop:



CCC Bulding, skyline drive.

Saturday morning was spent hiking the myriad of ridge trails around the park. It was a refreshing stretch from the hellacious drive the day before, through constant rain and wind fronts.


Indian lodge trail

After a moderate 5 mile hike, a quick lunch at Indian Lodge, and a friendly visit from our friend at the campsite:



We went and toured the McDonald Observatory. I am so last minute, I asked about the star viewing event that they hold every weekend at the front desk. I got told "lol no, those book months ahead of time." No worries, the day tour was fun enough.







^^ There is a big ass mirror that takes up more than half the picture. Mirrors don't exactly photograph well for some reason.

I made an unpleasant discovery at the McDonald gift shop. And that was that the gift shop had some pretty cool things that were very detrimental to the wallet. Leave it to an observatory gift shop to be a dealer in Orion brand telescopes, and their sub - $1000 prices for some actually decent refractors have never been so tempting. I actually walked away from those, but those sneaks talked me into a nice pair of 10x50 binoculars.

What the hell, its only money. $140, gone just like that.




Those binoculars wound up being the best purchase of the trip. They almost immediately paid off, there's nothing like sipping on cocktails and watching a whole herd of bighorn sheep grazing the hills opposite. Too far to photo, but they were fun to study. Oh, and stargazing was fun too.


Sunday morning -



We meandered on the southbound road, stopping for a coffee in Ft Davis and a fuel stop in Marfa. We enjoyed the quiet drive to Presidio. As instructed, we stopped to check in for Big Bend Ranch there, at the historic Fort Leaton.



I asked about trail conditions at various points in the park, and the ranger replied in an almost too non-chalant fashion "oh they are all passable, but you'll probably need to air down and shovel rocks at these sections here and here, oh and use 4L on this section here..." That's when the penny dropped, these people don't fuck around. This isn't the hand-holding "do not cross the velvet rope" that you see at a typical park, this next park that we are about to enter expects you to already be experienced at what you are doing. And I'm about to drag a trailer in there, with a 2WD.



Now that's a trailer.


On to the meat and potatoes of the trip...

 

Sunday-Tuesday: Big Bend Ranch. The other side of nowhere.

The road from Ft Leaton to BBRSP starts innocently enough:






But those roads are deceptive.



They trick you. Its a mile or two of nice smooth washboard that begs you to roll across at a cruising (speed limit of 25mph) interrupted by a 100 foot section of violently spine-rattling rough terrain. Repeat ad nauseum for 40 miles.



At a sightseeing viewpoint early into the park, I notice this:



The camper has already lost a hatch. Shit. That isnt vital, but I am disappointed. Fortunately we backtracked only 3 miles to find it again:



And it was a great opportunity to stop and see the petroglyphs.




Back on track, we beeline straight to the heart of the park and set up at Fresno Vista.







Not a bad view to have to yourself.

Some friends are there to greet us as we set up.





Monday -

I wake up to immediately notice my shackles are missing. Well color me mildly disappointed again. That's my punishment for being a poser and storing my shackles on the bumper, I guess. Oh well, on to explore the park.



Our campsite is in there, somewhere.






We decide to head further in and explore the Solitario. I would have regerts if I didn't at least see it.

The trails wind up being a cakewalk for the most part:












We make our turnaround at McGuirk's Tanks and head back to the ranger station at Sauceleda and the Llano loop trail. Hey wait a minute, whats that?



Shackle found!


We cooked dinner while watching the storm roll in.



While snapping pictures a pack of five coyotes went scrambling for cover in the rocks just 50 feet away. Missed photo of the trip.

The next morning was a little wet for the desert.


That made pulling the trailer out fun... Actually things dried quickly and it was still a cakewalk.






One last look at the road out, before we say adios to BBRSP

 

Tuesday - Thursday : BBNP

Our first taste of pavement in days wound up being highway 170, considered to be one of the most scenic drives in the US. For good reason:










A quick lunch in Terlingua



And set up in Paint Gap.



(And yes, I did clean and properly remove all the mud that fell off the trailer during setup)


Followed by a quick evening hike in Grapevine Hills








A few more friends spotted on the ride back to camp:





And we decide to find the end of Paint Gap trail.

A few ruins, but overall, this would have been a better hike than drive. The rock garden was more of a spine rattler and didnt have much challenge.


The next morning was foggy, perfect for a relaxed morning and a bacon and egg breakfast.






Eventually we rolled out and toured Boquillas:




And I did a short loop of the river road to glenn springs. It wound up being mostly gravel with the occasional mud hole.

I had to stop and wash my PCS sensor as it was erroring like crazy today. A park ranger stopped to assist, and I thanked her while waving her off. First world problems.


A quick walk around the Basin






I did spot this at Santa Elena.






Dinner and our fully automated dishwasher.

 

Thursday-Saturday: Chili festival. Viva Terlingua!


Another foggy morning, and the last peaceful moment of the trip:



Because just a short drive away and we were already set up in the middle of it all


Let the chili fueled shinannigans commence:




We met some very interesting characters here. People from all walks of life. And they are all in a mood to party.




Eventually the sun went down,


And the bands took the stage. And here we are, with prime seats in the nosebleeds.



Of course, no visit to Terlingua is complete without a visit to the ghost town on Dia de Los Muertos:














And sadly the week has to come to a close. Two coffees to go while I air up the tires:



And one last detour through the dinosaur exhibit






And it's time to roll home.

 

Great trip, great pics. Thanks for sharing.

 

And now for the real fun: pressure wash, two car washes, interior wipe down, and a solid buffing out of the accumulated pinstripes.

 

great report, wish id seen a bit sooner! our trip over the new year was much shorter, will have to make it back there to explore more

 

Nice. I enjoyed this and have a few similar pics from our trip. We did three days in BBNP, and managed about 13 miles on River Road West from Castolon. I have plans for a trip report, but so far just plans...