The drive through Big Bend is interesting because there are so many different geological features to see. In 1937 Walter Prescott Webb (historian from Texas) described it as “Perhaps order once prevailed there, but some mighty force wrecked the place, shook it down, turned it over, blew it up, and set it afire.” We saw lots of sandstone, limestone and shale and these really striking piles of volcanic ash called tuff between Castelon Visitors Center and Tuff Canyon. We also walked across dark red volcanic rock (rhyolite?) on the Mule Ears Trail. Tony thought these rocks looked like the aftermath of a brick factory explosion.

We stopped at the Castolon Visitors center. There is fencing around burned buildings and a small store, bathroom and ranger headquarters. There used to be a nice visitor’s center and store in historic buildings dating from the US Calvary camp set up during the Mexican Revolution more than 100 years ago. In May of 2019 on a 110-degree day, a fire started in Mexico and jumped the Rio Grande and burned here. Firefighters from both sides of the border battled the blaze into submission. The land on the Mexican side is a protected area along this river, too, so there is cooperation between authorities from both sides to keep it all preserved.

There were displays of machinery used in cotton farming from the 1920s-40s when cotton was first tried as a crop here. Falling cotton prices ruined that operation.

Santa Elena Canyon is at the end of the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive on the west side of the park, about eight miles further from the Castolon visitor’s center. We could see the Y-shaped break in the rock wall from many miles back. When I first pointed it out to Tony, we didn’t even know that’s what we were headed to. The canyon walls are an impressive 1500 feet tall and were cut by the Rio Grande along the Terlingua Fault.

This being a busy time in the park, there were rangers on hand in the parking lot to direct traffic but we found a spot along the side for RVs with some other vans.

A dusty plain (muddy when wet) lead us down to the beach of the low-flowing Rio Grande where we found a spot to cross the now dry Terlingua Creek near its confluence with the Rio Grande. We climbed some concrete (I got the right word, Roxann!) steps to get up to the trail that follows the canyon wall. Once up the steps, we were mostly in shade. This is limestone, so the plants have to be very hardy to survive this shallow, dry, alkaline soil that gets really hot. The hike ends when the canyon wall is right up against the Rio Grande.

I quickly changed into shorts and sandals to tromp in the Rio Grande for a bit before leaving this beautiful place. This rocky spot let me avoid the mud. The border is in the middle of the deepest channel of the river.

Today crowds were here, as this is a popular hike. We had to pause at times on the trail to let people pass. Many people do not hike all the way to the end, so that part of the hike was peaceful. And we did beat a majority of hikers by going in the morning. Absolutely gorgeous scenery!