Big Bend National Park is a wonderful park for hikers, with a wide variety of trails, most of which are easy or moderate. There are a number of short, easy interpretative nature walks, either with booklets available at the trail heads or signs along the trail. One example is the Panther Path, which is 50 yards round-trip, outside the Panther Junction Visitor Center, offering a walk through a garden of cacti and other desert plants. We also enjoy the Window View Trail, which is .3 miles round-trip and is accessible via the Chisos Basin Trailhead. This level, paved, and wheelchair-accessible self-guided nature trail runs along a low hill and offers beautiful sunset views through the Window, a V-shaped opening in the mountains to the west. The Rio Grande Village Nature Trail .75-mile round-trip starts at the southeast corner of Rio Grande Village Campground across from site 18 and is a good choice for sunrise and sunset views. It climbs from the surprisingly lush river floodplain about 125 feet into desert terrain to a hilltop that offers excellent panoramic vistas.
Those who want to see historic structures should try the easy 1-mile Hot Springs Trail, which is at the end of an improved dirt road to Hot Springs, off the road to Rio Grande Village. An interpretive booklet available at the trail head describes the sights, including a historic health resort and homestead, along this loop. Fairly substantial ruins remain of a general store/post office, other buildings, and a foundation that fills with natural mineral water at about 105°F (41°C), creating an inviting hot tub. Also along the trail are pictographs left by ancient Indians, and panoramic views of the Rio Grande and Mexico.
Among other easy hikes is the Tuff Canyon Trail (.75 mile round-trip), which is accessed from the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, 5 miles south of the Mule Ears Overlook access road. This walk leads into a narrow canyon, carved from soft volcanic rock called tuff and offers several canyon overlooks. The 1.6-mile Chisos Basin Loop Trail (access at the Chisos Basin trail head) is a fairly easy walk that climbs about 350 feet into a pretty meadow and leads to an overlook that offers good views of the park's mountains, including Emory Peak, the highest point in the park at 7,825 feet; more adventurous hikers can continue here to the breathtaking South Rim for a 12-mile round trip. The easy Grapevine Hills Trail, which is 2.2 miles round-trip, begins about 6 miles down the unpaved Grapevine Hills Road. It has an elevation change of about 240 feet as it follows a sandy wash through the desert, among massive granite boulders, ending at a picturesque balancing rock.
Among shorter, moderately rated trails, we heartily recommend the .8-mile one-way Santa Elena Canyon Trail, which you'll find at the end of Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. You may get your feet wet crossing a broad creek on this trail, which also takes you up a series of steep steps; it's one of the most scenic short trails in the park, leading along the canyon wall, with good views of rafters on the Rio Grande, and down among the boulders along the river. Interpretive signs describe the canyon environment. Beware of flash flooding as you cross the Terlingua Creek, and skip this trail if the creek is running swiftly. Another good moderate hike is the Boquillas Canyon Trail, which is 1.4 miles round-trip and starts at the end of Boquillas Canyon Road. This hike begins by climbing a low hill and then drops down to the Rio Grande, ending near a shallow cave and huge sand dune. There are good views of the scenic canyon and the Mexican village of Boquillas, across the Rio Grande.
Among longer trails, we suggest the moderately rated 3.8-mile round-trip Mule Ears Spring Trail, which you'll find at the Mule Ears Overlook parking area along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. This relatively flat desert trail crosses several arroyos and then follows a wash most of the way to Mule Ears Spring. It offers great views of unusual rock formations, such as the Mule Ears, and ends at a historic ranch house and rock corral. At 4 miles round-trip the moderate Pine Canyon Trail takes you from desert grasslands dotted with sotols into a pretty canyon with dense stands of pinyon, juniper, oak, and finally bigtooth maple and ponderosa pine. At the higher elevations (it climbs 1,000 ft.), you'll also see Texas madrones -- evergreen trees with smooth reddish bark that is shed each summer. At the end of the trail is a 200-foot cliff, which becomes a picturesque waterfall after heavy rains. This trail is located at the end of unpaved Pine Canyon Road (check on road conditions before going).
