17 Apr 2013 01.41.17 PM
There are many options to choose from when deciding on a location for spring break with warm, sunny beach areas being the most popular. A different option that fulfills the warm and sunny as well as having a bit of sand, forest and mountains, and one which is becoming increasingly popular for spring break is Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas. With sunshine abundant for most of the year, a majority of people travel to Big Bend between November and April with Thanksgiving, Christmas and spring breaks being the busiest times for the park. The park is a great location for those seeking adventure with over 200 miles of dirt and primitive roads as well as over 200 miles of hiking through desert, forests and mountains along with camping, mountain biking, rafting or kayaking on the Rio Grande and amazing stargazing opportunities.
Since these are becoming very busy times for the park, the lodging in and around the park sells out quickly. There are 3 campgrounds located inside the park with one having RV hook-ups and only one lodge inside the park that sells it's rooms fast. Chisos Mountain Lodge is the only lodging facility inside Big Bend National Park sitting at 5,400 feet elevation in the Chisos Mountains and is open year round. The lodge has 72 motel rooms, lodge rooms and cottages available for couples or larger parties. The lodge also has a dining room open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and offers a hikers lunch that you can request for your day out. There is a convenience store that has groceries along with a shop that sells authentic jewelry and crafts from local artists from the southwest and Mexico.
The Chisos Mountain Lodge can put you in the park and next to the trails but if you're looking for a few more amenities then look just outside of the park. The options for lodging outside the park offer plenty of amenities that more than making up for being outside of the park. Located in Lajitas, Texas between Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park is the Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa. Spread over 27,000 acres, this resort gives all of its guests a rugged luxury experience with guest rooms to accommodate everyone, from standard rooms to suites, condos, cottages and villas available all year round. Along with the championship 18-hole golf course and luxurious on-site spa, Lajitas also has boardwalk shops, an equestrian center, restaurant, cafe and saloon along with a few other surprises that make this resort a western classic where desert and mountain views abound.
Located just outside the west entrance of the park in Terlingua, Texas is Big Bend Resort Adventures which not only has motel-styled guest rooms and lodge rooms but also boasts a large campground and RV park with full hook-ups for over 100 sites. Big Bend Resort Adventures has an on-site cafe that is opened for breakfast and lunch and offers fresh pizza for dinner along with boxed lunches and has a convenience store for snacks and supplies along with gas, diesel and propane available. The resort also offers guided tours with experienced guides that can take you around the area as well as in the park to see the geological features and views of the area. The resort offers its guest 86 rooms with great prices and located right outside of Big Bend National Park, is a perfect location for exploring in and around the secluded area.
A different lodging option also located in Terlingua is the Ten Bits Ranch, a smaller, secluded option that puts its guests off the grid. The Ten Bits Ranch offers 4 guest rooms with plenty of space, a private bathroom and a gas log fireplace. The entire facility runs off of solar energy so guests must be able to handle the Texas heat as there are no air conditioners as well as no refrigerators, coffee makers, phones or TVs in the rooms, giving guests the true secluded and old fashioned western feel. Ten Bits also offers exclusive guided tours for its guests, including back-road 4x4 tours, ATV, canoe or rafting trips, horseback riding along with mountain bike rentals to ensure that everyone has a fantastic adventure while visiting Big Bend.
Located 40 miles north of Big Bend National Park is the Gage Hotel, offering authentic adobe styled guestrooms and historic hotel rooms with a quiet courtyard and fountain and romantic kiva-style fireplaces in some rooms. The Gage Hotel is great for larger parties and families offering spacious rooms and rental houses with a restaurant and bar on site with seasonal changes in the dining menu along with fresh vegetable, fruits and herbs that are grown on site while also flying in fresh fish daily from the west coast. There is also a fitness center, spa and outdoor heated pool for relaxing after a long day of adventures. The Gage is also home to beautiful gardens that are full of native plants and trees that welcome many birds and butterflies making the gardens the perfect location for special events including picnics, retreats, receptions and weddings.
Once you decide on your Big Bend lodging you can starting thinking about all of the activities that you will want to do and discover all of the secrets that the park is holding. One of the more popular activities in Big Bend is bird watching, since the park sits in the perfect spot for bird migration with some birds coming from the north and others from the south to migrate for the winter or breeding. Big Bend is home to more bird species than any other national park, hosting more than 450 species. The park is also one of the best places for stargazing with the darkest skies in the lower 48 due to the cleanest air quality during the winter along with infrequent cloud cover and low humidity allowing around 2,000 stars visible to the naked eye. Scenic driving is a great way to see lots of the park with over 100 miles of paved roads plus miles of improved dirt roads and primitive dirt roads that take visitors to scenic and secluded areas of the park where old settlements and cemeteries remain from past times. Some roads may require 4WD or high-clearance vehicles only and can give access to hiking trails and campgrounds.
Other activities that are enjoyed during spring break in Big Bend National Park are mountain biking, which is allowed on paved and dirt roads but off road biking is not permitted. There is also lots of hiking trails traveling through the desert, up through forests of oaks, pines and Arizona cypress and can take you up to Emory Peak high in the Chisos Mountains, almost 8,000 feet above sea level. Along with hiking, visitors can backpack and camp in the back-country with 42 campsites, some surrounded by trees or opened in a meadow and some having spectacular views of the mountains and areas below. The Rio Grande offers visitors the opportunity to raft, canoe or kayak along the river that borders Mexico for 118 miles. Half-day floats and multi-day excursions are available from local outfitters outside of the park.
March and April is the perfect time to go to Big Bend not only for spring break but also because the weather is usually warm and pleasant with an average maximum temperature of 77° and a minimum of 45°. Temperatures can be higher along the Rio Grande and lower in the Chisos Mountains although weather can change quickly so you should be prepared for anything nature may throw at you. Big Bend National Park is becoming more popular for spring break vacations due to its warm weather and tons of activities for those seeking adventure inside the park as well as around the park. Lodging facilities and camp sites get booked very quickly so make sure you plan ahead so that you can enjoy the enchantments that Big Bend National Park and southwest Texas have to offer.