Upon arriving at the first parking lot for the hike to the hot springs in Big Bend National Park, it was clear that Usain and the cats would need to stay here. The road becomes two one-way narrow passages that we walked while smaller vehicles could drive down. The dragonfly pictured above was on the van next to us and does a great migration into Texas and Mexico. Ruins and Palm trees are left from the spa started in 1909 by a man seeking the “restorative” powers of the mineral-laden, 105 degree water. It’s a short walk down to the foundation remains of the bathhouse from the spa ruins. It’s pretty small and there were other people arriving and leaving while we were there. We then took a hike up and around the springs back to the van.

I took this image from the National Park Service website about planning a trip to Big Bend Hot Springs. There were other people there when we got in, so we didn’t take a picture of the whole thing. It is not very big and less than knee deep with soft sand on the bottom. The well is on the west side (right hand in the picture) and water pours over into the Rio Grande along the south side.