Big Bend National Park is in a remote pocket of southwest Texas right on the Mexico border, seven hours from San Antonio and about six hours from El Paso. If you want to go, you’ve got to drive.
But getting there takes you through road-tripping country of the epic sort. Long, lonely highways through expansive desert landscapes. Decrepit old towns withering away into dust. The views are unforgettable, and the food is damn fine.
We started in San Antonio, drove out to Big Bend for two nights, and then ended in El Paso after making a quick detour up to White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. In all, we drove about 1,000 miles and saw two tarantulas. We ate as much Mexican food as possible, except for the one time we ate Rudy’s Texas Bar-B-Q.
Tip: It’s hot in Texas. Do this during the cooler season (October – March)
Our Texas Road Trip Itinerary
| Day | Overnight | Itinerary |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | San Antonio | Fly and arrive late. |
| Wednesday | San Antonio | The Alamo, Rent bikes and visit the San Antonio Missions, River Walk, Dinner at Boudro's Texas Bistro |
| Thursday | Terlingua | Breakfast at Taco Cabana, Drive west on I90, lunch at Rudy's BBQ in Del Rio, Sunset at the Windows in Big Bend, dinner at the Starlight Theater in Terlingua |
| Friday | Terlingua | Big Bend exploration, Santa Elena Canyon hike, dinner at La Kiva |
| Saturday | El Paso | Big Bend Ranch State Park, lunch at El Patio in Presidio, Marfa, sunset at White Sands National Monument, El Paso |
| Sunday | Fly home |
Days 1-2: San Antonio
First things first: The Alamo. The only thing I knew about the Alamo before visiting was that it doesn’t have a basement. Thank you, Pee Wee Herman.
I learned that the Alamo is most famous for the 1836 Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution, but before it became known as the Alamo, it was originally the Mission San Antonio de Valero. Today the Alamo is one of several historic Spanish Catholic missions in San Antonio that make up the UNESCO San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site.
You’ll be surprised by the large and verdant courtyard here, a great spot to escape the sun.
The San Antonio Missions & The Mission Trail
After the Alamo (we will always remember), we rented bicycles from Swell Cycle to bike out to the other missions on the Mission Trails.
This hike and bike trail along the San Antonio River connects all five missions in the San Antonio area. The trail is paved and has minor ups and downs, and is a 15 mile loop if you want to do it all.
Let me explain: The UNESCO site consists of all five missions, including the Alamo. UNESCO does not manage the sites themselves – it is simply a recognition of their historical significance. The Alamo is managed independently, and the other four missions are managed by the National Park Service as the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. The city of San Antonio manages the Mission Trail that connects all five missions.
As visitors, the best way to get on this trail and see the missions is by renting a bicycle with Swell Cycle for $13 a day. Your full day pass allows you to pick up and drop off bikes at any of the San Antonio B-Station bike docks around town. There are several B-Station docks along the Mission Trail. We started in downtown San Antonio and rode out as far as Mission San Juan where we dropped off our bikes and took a Lyft back to downtown.
Tip: To rent a bike, you’ll need to download their app. Save yourself some time by downloading it and signing up before you get to San Antonio.
Also! San Antonio has a ton of electric scooter rental options. There are so many strewn about you’ll need to be careful not to trip over them. We considered renting scooters to take on the Mission Trail but it turned out they’re not permitted on the trail since they’re motorized vehicles.
The Missions themselves were churches built by the Spanish to introduce Catholicism and Western values and culture to indigenous peoples. The old “let’s teach these heathens our superior ways” thing. Today, these buildings are some of the oldest in America and well worth your time.
Back in San Antonio, we had lunch at Mi Tierra, right on the Market Square. It’s a classic San Antonio standard for Mexican food in a colorful and festive atmosphere, and they’re open 24 hours.
Tip: Mariachis wander through the restaurant playing guitar and singing for tips. When we were there, they asked $10 for a private song. This is $10 well spent.
After lunch we walked the Market Square and saw a neat Frida Kahlo shrine amidst the Mexican craft stalls.
The San Antonio River Walk
The River Walk is a big part of what makes San Antonio such a cool city, and something you cannot miss if you visit.
Descend from street level down to the pedestrian walkways lining the San Antonio River, where shops, resaurants and gorgeous trees line the water. You could spend hours here wandering around, watching the tour boats go by, and drinking margaritas al fresco.
We had dinner at Boudro’s on the River Walk, which is famous for their tableside guacamole and prickly pear margaritas.
Day 3: Drive to Big Bend via Del Rio, Terlingua
If you do this drive, you’ll want to choose the slightly slower but far more interesting Highway 90 route to Big Bend. Instead of the monotonous Interstate 10, you’ll drive through a few small towns and get to stop in Del Rio for lunch at Rudy’s. This is where you can indulge in some Texas barbecue with the locals.
You’ll get to Big Bend National Park in the afternoon, just in time for the best light of the day. The scenery is truly spectacular here – towering mountains and canyons, and fascinating desert flora and fauna.
Just after passing through the entrance gate, we came across our first surprise fauna, a giant brown tarantula moseying across the road. I had no idea I could expect to see tarantulas here so this was an awesome surprise. We stopped to inspect more closely and take some photos.
We drove up to Chisos Basin Lodge where we walked the short Window View trail to catch the sunset.
Then we continued on to Terlingua where we’d be staying at Big Bend Holiday Hotel for the next two nights. Located in Terlingua Ghost Town, this hotel (more of a motel or inn) is in the same complex as the Terlingua Trading Post and the Starlight Theatre Restaurant & Saloon, so it was an easy walk over to dinner.
The Starlight is where it’s at on a Thursday night in Terlingua. We had to wait for a table outside where they had some interesting seating, and once inside the atmosphere was fun and buzzy. This seems to be a popular place with locals as well as out-of-towners. Food was good, albeit a little overpriced, but you won’t want to miss this place while you’re in town.
Day 4: Exploring Big Bend
We had plans to hike the Lost Mine Trail today, but the weather did not cooperate at all. The trail, which is in the mountains, was completely fogged out and it was raining, so we decided to just take our time exploring the rest of the park.
We drove the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive as well as some other paved and unpaved roads in the park, stopping wherever we wanted to take photos or explore a little more.
We found another tarantula!
We stumbled upon a curious sight – a bee colony huddling together in a cluster. Turns out they do this to keep themselves warm.
At Santa Elena Canyon, the weather was not bad so we decided to hike the trail here. It’s a short 1.7 miles round trip, but you have to ford Terlingua Creek to get to the trail.
Lucky for us the weather was keeping a lot of folks out of the park so we had the trail mostly to ourselves.
This evening, instead of going back to the Starlight, we decided to try something different, so we ended up a La Kiva, which turned out to be a great choice. This is a restaurant and bar that has a cavernous feel to it. We ordered pizza and watched the scene – seemed like most people knew each other. Lots of old folks and young people alike. A guy played a bunch of Tom Petty covers and we enjoyed the cheap beer.
Day 5: Big Bend Ranch State Park, Marfa, Valentine, and White Sands National Monument
On Saturday morning we woke up early and hit the road. I wanted to drive FM170 which follows the Rio Grande 114 miles through Big Bend Ranch State Park to Presideo. It was fascinating to be on this road during the height of the border wall debate. This is a fiercely beautiful, remote and mountainous landscape. Looking at it with my own eyes made me understand how unrealistic building a wall here would be.
In Presideo we had lunch at an unassuming little cafe called The Oasis, where we had delicious and cheap homemade Mexican fare.
Then we got on route 67 heading north until we reached Marfa where we stopped at the famous Marfa Prada, an art installation on route 90.
Then, about halfway to Valentine we came across what looked like a blimp. It turned out to be the Marfa Tethered Aerostat Radar System, which is used for surveillance on the US-Mexico border.
Once we roll into Valentine, we slow down to take a closer look. It’s an absolute postcard for a west Texas town in decline. Faded and boarded up storefronts line the highway, and down residential streets we see rusting cars overtaken by the brush, dogs tied up in dusty yards, empty homes next to ones still occupied by steadfast residents still hanging on.
In Van Horn we get on Interstate 10 and push northwest into El Paso, then continue north over the New Mexico border. It may seem like a stretch but it’s just an hour and a half from El Paso and I knew that this would be the closest we’d likely be for a long time.
White Sands National Monument is a surreal landscape. Bright white gypsum dunefields stretch for miles. When the sun is low, it casts shadows that bring out undulating patterns in the sand made by the wind.
We arrived at White Sands at 4 pm. The monument closes around sunset, so we had about two hours to experience the park. We drove all the way to the backcountry camping trail, which loops for two miles through the dunes. We hiked the entire trail and had enough time to stop and explore before the park closed at 6.
Back in El Paso, we had dinner at a little Mexican restaurant near our hotel, and early the next morning we boarded our flight back to Philly.
Thanks for reading! Please comment below if you have any questions or Texas road trip tips.
