Big Bend National Park Camping Guide

• Nine Point Draw - South of North Entrance or Persimmon Gap

• McKinney Spring - South of Dagger Flat Auto Trail - all the following camps are on the same primitive dirt road:

• Roys Peak Vista - South of McKinney Spring campsite

• Telephone Canyon - South of Roys Peak Vista

• Willow Tank - South of Telephone Canyon

• Ernst Basin - South of Willow Tank

• La Noria - South of Ernst Basin

• Ernst Tinaja - South of La Noria

• Candelilla - South of Ernst Tinaja, just north of Rio Grande Overlook and Village

Southern Area - Campsites along the Rio Grande River and the Park, US and Mexico Border

• Gravel Pitt - Southwest of Rio Grande Village

• La Clocha - close to Gravel Pitt campsite

• Solis - Southeast of Mariscal Mine and Fresno Camp
• Fresno - Northwest of Solis or Southeast of Elephant Tusk at Mariscal Mine - not on border or river

• Elephant Tusk - Northwest of Fresno Camp / Mariscal Mine on Black Gap Road - not on border or river

• Talley - South of Mariscal Mine

• Domingues Trailhead - North of Woodsons and Jewels Campsites - not on border or river

• Woodsons - South of Dominguez Trailhead

• Jewels Camp - Just west of Woodsons Camp

• Loop Camp - Just west of Jewels Camp

• Johnson Ranch - Just west of Loop Camp

• Gaging Station - Just west of Johnson Ranch

• Black Dike - Northwest of Gaging Station

• Buenos Aires - Northwest of Black Dike

Western Area - Campsites along the West Border of the Park - starting South to North

• Terlingua Abaja - North of Santa Elena Canyon Overlook

• Chimneys West - Northeast of Terlingua Abaja at Luna's Jacal, Pena Mountain and Chimneys Trail

Central Area - Campsites in the Central area of the Park - Clockwise

• Paint Gap - north of Chisos Mountains Basin Junction - four sites

• Government Spring - just off of Chisos Mountains Basin Junction

• Grapevine Spring - Northeast of Chisos Mountains Basin Junction - two sites

• Hannold Draw - Northeast of Panther Junction - just off of main road

• K-Bar - Southeast of Panther Junction

• Pine Canyon - Southwest of K-Bar - four sites

• Rice Tank - South of Pine Canyon

• Glenn Spring - South of Rice Tank on Black Gap Road

• Juniper Canyon - Southwest of Pine Canyon - two sites

• Croton Spring - Northeast of Santa Elena Junction

River Information

The Rio Grande forms the southern boundary of Big Bend National Park as well as the international boundary between the U.S. and Mexico. The river borders the park for 118 miles. In this distance it has carved three major canyons which vary in depth from 1200 feet to 1500 feet. Pursuant to a 1978 act designating the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River, an additional 127 miles of river downstream from the park are managed for recreation and preservation by the National Park Service. Like the three canyons of Big Bend, the "Lower Canyons" are steep and sheer walled. In certain locations there is considerable white water which can be very dangerous to a novice. Between the canyons, the Rio Grande is generally slow and quiet. For river trips in Big Bend National Park or on the Wild and Scenic River, a free permit, obtainable at any visitor center, is required.

Three options are available:

• You can bring your own equipment.

• You can rent equipment at Lajits or Study Butte.

• You can hire a guide service.

The name Big Bend refers to the great U-turn the Rio Grande makes here in Southwest Texas. The river is an arching linear oasis, a ribbon of green strung across the dry desert and cutting through its mountains. As do all rivers that survive desert passages, the Rio Grande has its headwaters outside this desert. Today, much of the water flowing through the park is supplied by the Rio Conchos, flowing out of Mexico, and not by the Rio Grande. Much of the flow of the Rio Grande is diverted for irrigation or lost to evaporation before reaching the park's western boundary. The Rio Grande defines the park's southern boundary for 118 miles. The garfish and some turtles in the river are living fossils that help describe its former life as a lush savannah and swamp 50 million years ago. Their ancestors swam in company with crocodiles and hippopotamus-like creatures.

If you wonder about the river's carving power, did it really cut such colossal canyons?--paddle an aluminum canoe down the Rio Grande. The canoe will seem to hiss as thousands of abrasive particles bounce off its hull. The river is like a relentless, gravity-powered belt sander that has been running for millions of years.

Among the most startling sights in this desert country may be the tooth marks of beaver on cottonwood or willow trees along the river. But don't look for beaver lodges. The beaver in the Big Bend live in bank burrows. The river is an oasis for species not adapted to the aridity of desert life, and so it adds to the park's biological diversity.

The river floodplain provides good areas for birdwatchers. Some birders maintain that the birds in the floodplain are more colorful than elsewhere. Here you find summer tanagers, painted buntings, vermilion flycatchers and cardinals serving as accent colors to the background greens of floodplain foliage. This ribbon-like floodplain verdancy, seen from a distance, appears as a green belt in the desert. It is a phenomenon seen elsewhere in the park along arroyos, or washes. Undoubtedly you will find birds and other animals making ample use of this interruption of more arid desert vegetation.

On the river's gravel and sandbars and on its cliffbanks are other creatures you would not expect to find in the Chihuahuan Desert. The sandpiper and killdeer bob and sprint on the sandbars, and the cliff swallow flies up to its adobe nest fashioned of river mud.

Boating Information

Part 3, Title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard and State law establish the regulations for boating in Big Bend National Park and the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River. These pertain to the United States side of the Rio Grande and certain other park waters. Here is a condensed version of those regulations. Full regulations may be examined at Park Headquarters. It is your obligation to be aware of the full regulations.

Boating Permit: A boat permit is required for day and overnight boating in the Big Bend National Park. A permit is also required on the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River below the park but is not required for day use. The permit is available free of charge from any Park Ranger or at the park visitor centers.

Personal Floation Devices (PFDs): Boats of less than 16 feet in length (including canoes and kayaks) must be equipped with one wearable Coast Guard approved PFD for each person aboard.

Boats 16 feet and longer must be equipped with one wearable Coast Guard approved PFD for each person aboard plus one Type IV (throwable device).

All non-motorized and motorized crafts are required to use Type I, III, or V PFDs in Santa Elena, Mariscal, and the Lower Canyons. PFDs must be worn in Class II or greater whitewater.

Boat Numbers and Registration: All motorboats must be numbered and have a certificate of number in full force and effect. Numbers shall be three inches in height or greater and be placed on each side of the bow along with a validation decal.

Water Skiing: Water skiing, or the towing of persons by a motorized vessels, is prohibited.

Accidents: All accidents involving an injury or with property damage of $ 100.00 or more shall be reported to the superintendent within 24 hours.

Fishing Information

Section 2.3 and Section 7.41, Title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, as well as State law establish the regulations for fishing in Big Bend National Park and the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River as applicable to the United States side of the Rio Grande and certain other park waters. Here is a condensed version of those regulations. Full regulations may be examined at any Visitor Center. It is your obligation to be aware of the full regulations.

• The season is open all year.

• The Rio Grande is the only open waters.

• Special ponds and springs are reserved for the preservation of rare fish and the taking or release of any form of fish life is prohibited.

• No license is required in Big Bend. State license is required on the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River outside the park.

• 25 fish per person per day or in possession is the limit in Big Bend National Park. State limits apply on the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River. Minnows may be taken in reasonable numbers from the Rio Grande only and are not counted in the creel limit.

• Sale of fish for profit or commercial use is prohibited.

• Digging for bait on park land is prohibited. Live or dead bait fish or amphibians are prohibited other than live bait minnows obtained from the Rio Grande.

• Leaving any personal property, including trot and throw lines, unattended for longer than 24 hours, without prior permission of the Superintendent, is prohibited, and any property so left may be impounded.

• A permit is required for boating or backcountry camping in Big Bend National Park and overnight boating in the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River outside the park. The permit is free of charge from any Park Ranger or at the park visitor center.

• Dispose of all trash properly. Toilet paper should be placed in plastic bags rather than buried. Fish parts can be left downstream of the river away from areas of use of carried out.

• Generators and other portable motors or engines (excluding boat motors) cannot be operated in nondeveloped areas. Backcountry campsites are considered nondeveloped areas.

• All motorboats are required to be numbered in accordance with state regulations.

• Pole and line

• Rod, reel, and line

• Throw (hand) line

• Trot line

• Trot lines (attached at both ends) and throw lines (attached at one end only) must have gear tags attached marked with name, address, and date

• Flagging fro relocation of lines shall be tied to the line, not vegetation

• Flagging and lines are to be removed when fishing is completed

• Jug lines (a line tied to a free floating device) are legal on the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River outside the park, but must have gear tags attached

• Jug lines are illegal in the park

• Fishing with traps, spears, drugs, poisons, explosives, electricity, or any other method not identified legal is illegal

• Chumming is illegal

• Seines and nets are prohibited except that minnow seines no greater in length than 20 feet may be used fro taking bait minnows from the Rio Grande

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