Big Bend National Park (Texas)
The crazy thing about Texas is that you can drive for hours and hours and still be in Texas. For Spring Break 2013 we left North Texas and drove 8 hours southwest to Fort Davis, TX. With three young kids an 8 hour drive is usually more like 10 but what an awesome thing it it to drive across Texas. From the big city to flat farm land to fields of pump jacks and giant windmills to the Davis Mountain range that seems to appear out of nowhere… The geological changes are amazing.
Upon arriving in Fort Davis we got checked in to a cute hotel right off the main street called The Hotel Limpia. We grabbed some pizza in town and then headed to The McDonald Observatory. The McDonald Observatory is one of the nations leading astronomical research centers operated by The University of Texas. It is the home to many of the largest, most powerful telescopes. We arrived just in time for The Star Party, a guided tour through the night sky (reservations should be made in advance and remember to dress warmly!). The 2 hour program includes park astronomers pointing out constellations and celestial objects that can be viewed with the naked eye and the chance to look through a few of their amazing telescopes. It’s pretty awesome so see stars and planets through these powerful telescopes.
The next day we spent exploring Fort Davis National Historic Site. Note that there is a fee to enter the Site (check the website for the most up to date info). The kids really enjoyed exploring the Fort and completing the Jr. Ranger program and hiking along some of the trails. Our littlest explorer has always been our trailblazer and although he was only 3 he lead us most of the day!
We left Fort Davis and traveled 30 minutes to Marfa, TX. Marfa is a small, artsy town in the middle of nowhere. We walked around and explored a few of the galleries and the Hotel Paisano where the movie Giant was filmed in the 1960s. We ate dinner and enjoyed a local beer while we waited for dusk. Marfa is known for a few things other than the Hotel Paisano and the random, fake Prada storefront. It is home of the Famous Marfa Mystery Lights and we had to see if we could get a glimpse of them. We drove out to the Marfa Lights Viewing Area and waited with anticipation. There are many theories about what makes the lights ‘appear’ but unfortunately they didn’t show themselves to us on that crisp March night.
The next morning we started the 2 hour trek towards Big Bend (remember how I said you could drive for hours and hours and still be in Texas!). Our original plan was to camp but since we were new to Texas and didn’t realize how quickly the camp spots fill up we ended up in a Motor Inn (this was not ideal but since we were literally only sleeping there we decided it would work for this trip). We got checked in and headed into the park. There was a wonderful grocery store between our hotel and the park entrance so we stopped for some apples, cheese, summer sausage and crackers. We stopped by the Ranger Station to get our Jr Ranger books, did some hiking within the park and had our picnic lunch. The desert landscape, views of the Rio Grande and the Davis mountains are so cool and because it is so far south the bluebonnets and wildflowers in early March were amazing! Big Bend’s wildlife is not as prevalent as some other parks but we did see some different lizards and a few javelinas (and boy are they nasty looking)!
We ended the day with dinner at the Chisos Mountain Lodge and an awesome view of the sun setting behind Chisos Mountain.
The next morning we were up bright and early to meet at the Far Flung Outdoor Center in the nearby ‘ghost town’ of Terlingua for a float down the Rio Grande. This was a wonderful experience and the guides were great at accommodating our family with 3 fairly small children. We chose the 4 hour tour which included lunch along the banks of the river. The views were awesome! We would highly recommend this tour!
We did some more exploring of the park, hiking and worked on our Jr Ranger books. We ended the day back in Terlingua at the General Store where we all enjoyed a cold beverage, listened to the locals pick their guitars and watched the sunset.
Big Bend National Park and the surrounding areas are a wonderful experience for families of all ages. Another awesome glimpse into the wonderful park system and the diversity of landscape in the United States!
