After a couple weeks in Big Bend Ranch State Park, we moved on to explore Big Bend National Park for a few weeks. We’re camped in Study Butte for a week to explore the west side of the park and then we’ll move to the east side for a couple more weeks. Big Bend NP is too big to see in a single day, luckily we have three weeks! The park is over 800,000 acres and goes from the Rio Grande at 1800’ to Emory Peak at 7825’. Big Bend National Park lies in the northern part of the Chihuahuan Desert, one of North America’s four major deserts. The topography is a jumble of mountains, the Chisos Mountains and we can’t wait to explore more.
Upper Burro Mesa Pour-off Hike
We combined two hikes our first day and hiked Upper Burro Mesa Pouroff and then Ward Springs Trail for a total of around 7 miles. Upper Burro Mesa Pouroff trail starts with a hike down into the wash that has a few rocky spots but is easy to follow. Once in the canyon the dramatic rock walls give you plenty to explore. We kept going and passed an interesting jagged arch then scrambled down a few steep rocky falls to an enclosed chamber where the pouroff would be if there was water. It’s at least 100’ down to the bottom and awesome to stand there in the chamber and look down.
Ward Spring Trail Hike
Upper Burro was pretty short and we still had plenty of time so we added on a hike out to Ward Spring. This hike was pretty easy and scenic. We hiked all the way out to the spring and then kept going up the side of the mountain to check out the volcanic dike. This magma intrusion forms a barrier that forces groundwater to the surface, creating Ward Spring. An old metal pipe runs along the trail in some places and was once used to transport water to nearby Homer Wilson Ranch. Day 1 was a success!
some very interesting formations – you’d think your on the moon