THE WINDOW IN BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK

After making friends with a coyote the night before and sleeping under the Super Moon, we woke up to a beautiful day in Big Bend Nationa Park. We made our way to the Chisos Mountains to have breakfast and hike The Window Walk. I hate to start this post with negativity but if you are ever at the Chisos Mountains Lodge in Big Bend National Park the activities surrounding it are unreal, but I’d definitely pass on the breakfast buffet. 😬

HIKING THE WINDOW WALK

“You can see right into Mexico!” said every person who has ever done The Window Walk. But ya know what? I am proud to say I am one of those people now🙋. It is so cool how the Chisos Mountains decided to leave a little window just for us to peak through and wave to Mexico! The hike is 6 miles round trip and can get very warm. There isn’t much shade until the end so make sure you bring a lot of water and even a snack or two. The Chisos Mountains surrounding The Window Walk really intrigued me. These mountains were so insane because I never knew something like them existed in Texas. For about the first mile you’ll follow the dirt path.Then, you’ll start to follow the spring for the rest of the way. We heard this trail can get pretty busy, but because we were there in November, we pretty much had it to ourselves. It was so peaceful walking along the slow-moving stream.I loved the little stairs scattered along the trail.Most of the trail is pretty easy, but be prepared to cross over the spring a few times.The path will start to narrow between the canyons for the last bit of the hike and then you’ll arrive at The Window! We also heard this was a beautiful place to catch the sunset, so don’t hurry off if you have the time to stay. Either way, take a few moments to soak in the awesome view. Pictures never do it justice but you can see for forever!

SANTA ELENA CANYON

After the Window Walk we decided to head to Santa Elena Canyon before leaving Big Bend National Park. We were told to access Santa Elena Canyon via Ross Maxwell for the scenic drive, and I’m so glad we did! One final goodbye to the gorgeous Chisos Mountains.It takes about an hour to drive to Santa Elena Canyon and there’s a convenience store about halfway. We stopped to pick up ice and found out they even have a Big Bend beer! Obviously a must with our lunch before exploring the canyon.We arrived at the Santa Elena Canyon Trailhead and were surprised to actually see some bigger groups of people! The parking lot still only fit 10 cars, but it’s the biggest we saw in Big Bend National Park. The trail is a quick mile and a half round-trip. We learned this trail is best March-October because it can get a little muddy in other months…Ok so by a little muddy they meant extremely muddy and a struggle to walk through. But also pretty damn fun once you accept it and can laugh about it. Please lol at my Chacos once we got across the mud and made it to the trail…I loved the many cacti scattered throughout Big Bend National Park and there was a ton in the Santa Elena Canyon!
We learned there are many activities offered in the Santa Elena Canyon and during the muddy/wet season kayaking through the Rio Grande is probably the best choice. Notice their shoes don’t have one bit of mud on them…I loved the stillness of this canyon, although it was the busiest we saw the park the entire weekend we still only saw about 15 people in the few hours we were here.One last look at Big Bend National Park before heading to Terlingua.

Big Bend National Park had to most unexpected beauty and adventure, I definitely recommend making the drive to see it someday! If you have more time I recommend staying here for a few days or even a week. There are so many things we didn’t get around to seeing in the enormous park!

If you’re looking for more activities to do in Big Bend National Park check out my post about our first day HERE.