2 Days in Big Bend National Park

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January 3, 2022

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4 min read

Big Bend National Park is a hidden and overlooked gem in southwest Texas. From Mountain ranges to the low desert to the Rio Grande, this National Park has stolen my heart for a quiet getaway where it’s more fun to venture down the road less travelled. As a Big Bend Veteran, here is my most recent trip and my recommendations for 2 Days in Big Bend National Park. Perfect for First Timers and Quick Trippers!

The Night Before

On the night before entering the park, we stayed the night in Fort Stockton to catch the early sunrise while coming into the park. Fort Stockton is only an hour and a half drive to the north entrance of the park.

Day 1

As we were trucking into the park (literally in a truck), the skies dropped the purest-smelling rain I’ve ever enjoyed. I’m probably a weirdo for making a big deal out of this but if you ever get to experience it for yourself, you’ll understand! The rain made sporadic appearances throughout our trip but was no major setback.

We hit the main drag of Big Bend National Park and immediately headed to the Grapevine Hills Trail a.k.a. Balanced Rock Hike. It’s moderate difficulty with the more challenging terrain at the last half-mile to get up to the peak. It was definitely challenging for my parents but they both agreed it was worth the half-mile to see the balanced rock at the peak. There were a few other hikers during this trek, with one group we continued to see throughout our trip (hey guys who saw the bears! Still cooler than the tarantula imo).

The second hike of Day 1 was in the Ernst Basin at Ernst Tinaja Trail. I highly recommend a high-clearance vehicle for this road as it was narrow and all loose gravel. If you choose to go out this way, look for the mysterious grave of Juan de Leon whose cause of death is still unknown. Here’s a good article for ya. Pay attention to the campsites as they’re the best landmarks for this road. The map’s distance between points seemed a little off at times and we were second-guessing ourselves a lot.

The hike was spectacular, we used every opportunity to snap pics of the rock formations and colors, the watering hole, and beautiful scenes created by the sloping caverns. Ernst Tinaja Trail was our favorite hike out of the whole trip and we didn’t even hike the whole trail due to oncoming rainstorms.

The rain followed us out of the park and into Terlingua where we checked into our AirBnB. We unloaded our gear and cleaned up (kinda) for dinner at Starlight Theater. The wait for Starlight was similar to wait-times I’ve experienced at popular Dallas restaurants but we passed the time by browsing the souvenir shop, enjoying a beer on the patio, petting the friendly local dogs that pass by, and listening to live musicians serenade us on the deck. The wait time was about 2 beers (or an hour-fifteen) for 3 people but we didn’t complain.

Can I be honest for a minute? The food at Starlight wasn’t as amazing as others led me to believe. I could be spoiled to a foodie for a boyfriend but my Chicken-Friend Antelope, potatoes, and vegetables were only okay. My parents said the same about their burgers. This didn’t kill our experience and our waitress was a total sweetheart but we might go just for drinks and vibes next time.

We walked back to our AirBnb along the dark-sky initiative roads. We definitely got lost and had to honk the truck’s alarm to find where the heck our place was. Always bring your flashlights, fam. We cleaned up and prepped for an early morning for Day 2 in Big Bend National Park.

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Day 2

The early hiker gets the trail, or something like that? Per the advice of our AirBnb’s Manager, we drove out to Chimneys Trail to see the Petroglyphs. We originally planned to hike Indian Head Trail which is practically a petroglyph art gallery but our “guide” guaranteed we would get the truck stuck after all the rains. Next time, maybe.

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You can watch a mid-hike review of Chimneys Trail in my YouTube video here. To sum it up, it was cool. We saw a lot of wildlife. The petroglyphs were intriguing. But the hike was also long. We only hiked until the petroglyphs then headed back to the trailhead and we were exhausted after the trek. I wouldn’t recommend this hike if it’s your first or even second time in the park. There are better hikes out there like Lost Mine Trail.

Our second hike of Day 2 was south-bound on Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive headed to Santa Elena Canyon. By the time we reached this hike (around 2pm) there were more tourists than we had seen on the entire trip. I would agree with the other Big Bend veterans that this is the most popular hike in the park. Regardless, this was a fantastic experience. Make it over the switchbacks and you enter the lush river-side foliage paired with colored boulders and the riverbank. There will likely be a handful of tourists taking pictures on the river bank at the end of the trail. While that’s a perfectly fine spot to snap a pic, I recommend following the side-trails down to the bank to snap a pic in a more private location like we did.

Heading back to Terlingua, we slow-poked north on Old Maverick Drive. If you’re able to go this way, definitely stop to check out Luna’s Jacal and pull over to take scenic pics of the mountains and desert. For reference,this road was a much easier drive than the road out to Ernst Tinaja.

Make sure to stop at Panther Junction for souvenirs, maps, and your National Park Stamps if you’re into that. We didn’t realize there was another visitor center at the Rio Grande Village (where another National Park Stamp waits for me) so if you go out to Ernst Tinaja or the Hot Springs, pop in there and tag me in a pic so I know what I’m missing.

In Terlingua that evening we ate at Taqueria el Milagro for some el pastor / street tacos, chips and guac, and elote on a stick. We could have been starving but we thought this was the best meal we ate during our trip. We cleaned up that evening and prepared to head into Marfa for the morning, and back into Central Texas in the evening.

Since this was my second trip to Big Bend National Park, I would recommend a different plan for first-timers visiting for a day or two. For a 1 Day and 2 Day Itinerary in Big Bend National Park, check out my recommended itineraries below.

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Big Bend Itineraries

1 Day in Big Bend National Park:

Lost Mine Trail (moderate – 4.8 mi)

Grapevine Hills Trail / Balanced Rock (easy for 90%, moderate for 10% – 2 mi)

Santa Elena Canyon Trail (easy – 1.5 mi)

2 Days in Big Bend National Park:

Day 1

Lost Mine Trail (moderate – 4.8 mi)
Grapevine Hills Trail / Balanced Rock (moderate for 10% – 2 mi)
Santa Elena Canyon Trail (easy – 1.5 mi)

Dinner: Starlight Theatre

Day 2

Ernst Tinaja Trail (easy – 1.9 mi)
Boquillas Canyon Trail (easy – 1.2 mi)
Hot Springs Trail (easy – 1.2 mi)

Dinner: Taqueria el Milagro

3 Days in Big Bend National Park

Day 1

Lost Mine Trail (moderate – 4.8 mi)
Grapevine Hills Trail / Balanced Rock (moderate for 10% – 2 mi)
Panther Junction Visitor Center

Dinner: Starlight Theatre

Day 2

Ernst Tinaja Trail (easy – 1.9 mi)
Rio Grande Village Visitor Center
Boquillas Canyon Trail (easy – 1.2 mi)
Hot Springs Trail (easy – 1.2 mi)

Dinner: Taqueria el Milagro

Day 3

The Window Trail (moderate – 5.2 mi)
Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive
Santa Elena Canyon Trail (easy – 1.5 mi)

Dinner: Long Draw Pizza

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Thanks for reading about my adventures in Big Bend National Park! I hope you find my experience, recommendations, and itineraries helpful for planning your trip.

Shop my favorite Travel + Outdoors gear here.

Do you have any favorites to any hikes you’re adding to your list? Leave me a comment and let me know! Thanks for hanging out!