Big Bend: Hiking, Paddling, and Stargazing

Arrive El Paso, Texas 

Arrive in El Paso, Texas (ELP) at any time today and make your way to the Hampton Inn & Suites El Paso Airport Hotel on your own. You will have the day and night to get some rest or explore El Paso on your own.

Overnight: Hampton Inn & Suites El Paso Airport

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Following breakfast buffet at the hotel, meet your guide at 7:30AM Mountain Time in the hotel lobby and set off on a 2-hour drive to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, which is just over the time zone into Central Time.

Following lunch, you’ll head out on a scenic 2-hour drive with expansive views of West Texas en route to the historic town of Fort Davis. Established in 1854, Fort Davis is the highest elevation town in the state of Texas at 5,050 feet above sea level.

After making sure your watch is set one hour ahead for Central Time, you will set off from the visitor center at Guadaupe Mountains National Park for a hike around the trails before enjoying a picnic lunch.

After arriving at the hotel, check in and relax a little before enjoying dinner with the group.

Later this evening, you will take a quick drive to the McDonald Observatory at the University of Texas, Austin where you will participate in one of their famed star parties along with the general public. Take a tour of the constellations and observe an assortment of planets and stars through various telescopes before heading back to the hotel.

Today’s total hiking will be 4 miles with 600 feet of elevation gain.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 

Overnight: Hotel Limpia

Guadalupe Mountains National Park to Fort Davis

Get a glimpse of life in the frontier of West Texas and learn more about the native plants of the area as you explore the Fort Davis Historical Site.

Drive south as you make your way toward Big Bend. About 2 hours into your journey, you will stop at the Fossil Discovery Exhibit where you will see the astonishing Quetzalcoatlus northropi, the world’s largest known flying creature which had a 36-foot wingspan and weighed over 500 pounds!

After a picnic lunch, drive another hour to Terlingua, a former mercury mining town that became a ghost town when the price of mercury collapsed in 1947 and the mines closed. In the 1960s, it experienced a renaissance when artists, musicians, naturalists, and river guides moved there and tourism reshaped the local economy.

Check into your hotel and then head to the nearby Starlight Theater Restaurant, and adobe structure built in the 1930s as the Chisos Movie Theater. When the mines went bust, the roof materials were sold for scrap, leaving only the adobe walls intact. The roofless adobe building became a gathering place for open-air parties, concerts, and plays, thus the Starlight Theater was named. In 1990, the building was restored – including a new roof – but the adobe walls still remain.

Today’s total hiking will be 2 miles with 500 feet of elevation gain.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 

Overnight: Big Bend Holiday Hotel

Fort Davis to Big Bend National Park

After breakfast this morning, drive an hour to Santa Elena Canyon, one of the most dramatically beautiful locations within Big Bend National Park with cliffs of up to 1,500 feet forming the canyon walls. Enjoy a short hike here before driving an hour to the Panther Junction Visitor Center to get oriented within the park that stretches from the shores of the Rio Grande to the top of the Chisos Mountains.

Spend the afternoon relaxing at the hotel which will be home for the next two nights or setting off on a hike along the Basin Loop Trail before enjoying dinner with the group at the lodge.

Today’s total hiking will be 4 total miles with 200-500 feet of elevation gain.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 

Overnight: Chisos Mountains Lodge

Big Bend National Park

Today is all about the Chisos Mountains, as you’ll start the day with a hike to the Lost Mine which offers sweeping views of the surrounding mountains stretching as far as the Sierra Maderas del Carmen mountains in Mexico. After your morning hike, head back to the lodge for lunch. Then head back to the trail for an optional hike on the Laguna Meadow Trail before sitting down with the group for dinner back at the lodge.

After a full day of hiking and a wonderful dinner, try to save some energy to do some informal stargazing in some of the darkest night skies in the country. See if you can find the constellations that you learned about a few nights earlier at the McDonald Observatory.

Today’s total hiking will be 5 miles with 1,100 feet of elevation gain and an optional hike of another 8 miles with 1,800 feet of elevation gain.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 

Overnight: Chisos Mountains Lodge

Big Bend National Park to Marfa

Take in another gorgeous sunrise in the Chisos Mountains before driving 45-minutes to meet your local river guide. After an orientation about the gear and safe paddling, you will launch your canoe (or raft if the water is higher) and paddle down the Rio Grande. It’s a gentle paddle with some faster sections and some stunning scenery. You will stop at the ruins of the Hot Springs Motel to explore the area on foot, eat a simple pack lunch, and enjoy a soak in the hot spring at the riverside pool. Then hop back in your boat and head down the river through the most dramatic part of the canyon. After your paddle, you can change clothes before driving 2 and a half hours to the quirky, art-centric community of Marfa.

After settling into your historic hotel in Marfa, enjoy an animated farewell dinner as you share stories about the highlights of your time in Big Bend.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 

Overnight: Hotel Paisano

Depart

After breakfast, begin the 3-hour drive back to El Paso. You’ll stop at the famed Prada Marfa art installation along the way.

Depart from El Paso, Texas (ELP) after 2:30PM or plan to extend your trip a day or two to continue exploring on your own.

Breakfast