One Day in Big Bend National Park - Itinerary & Tips

This is a common question and the answer is a little complicated. You can't see all the highlights and all the trails in Big Bend National Park in one day, but you can have the Big Bend National Park experience in one day. I spent one day in Big Bend National Park and I came away satisfied and felt I had seen a lot of what the park has to offer. I would go back to explore more in the future, but I definitely got the Big Bend experience and can speak to what you can expect.

In one day in Big Bend National Park, you can see a lot of what the park is about and can offer, but not everything. To really see and explore everything Big Bend National Park has to offer, you will need multiple days. With one day, you can see the main highlights like Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, Santa Elena Canyon, and much more.

Any one-day itinerary will include the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. This was a breathtaking drive and an absolute highlight of the trip. I hate to do it, but it definitely outperformed River Road (FM 170), also known as the Camino del Rio. The mountains were amazing, and somehow along the road it would always be a new mountain or a new angle that would make the mountains look more impressive or impressive in a different way.

It was great driving up and down mountains with many pullouts to stop and take pictures. This is just one of those places where the pictures will never do it justice. The size and awe cannot be translated through pixels on a screen. It was the most scenic drive of the trip, with River Road in close second place. River Road was more fun to actually drive as there were more and tighter twists and turns. Ross Maxwell felt like a proper winding road through scenic landscapes, while River Road felt like driving through those landscapes.

Now, Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive is not complete without the 1.4-mile trail into Santa Elena Canyon. This is where the National Park Service and I part ways.

Now let me set this up with a few questions. Is the trail at the end of Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive short and easy? Is Santa Elena Canyon the most scenic spot? I would say both of these were greatly contested, either by me or by the people on the trail.

No, I would not tell anyone it is an easy trail. If you're in shape and are prepared for the heat and zero shade, then I would tell you it is a shorter hike. If you're an average person like the people who were on that trail that day, I would tell you that it was pretty moderate, make sure you have enough water, and know that it was challenging but definitely possible for an average person. My girlfriend did not complete this trail, a young couple didn't even make it to the uphill part, and several people asked me, "How much longer?" This has never happened to me on an "easy" trail.

There are a few different challenges that you will face from March onward. For starters, the heat will get you, and as you push forward you will inhale some very dry air. Congrats, you are now hiking in Big Bend National Park. The next biggest challenge is the uphill section of the hike, especially because you probably didn't bring much for what was supposed to be a short and easy hike. You are basically climbing up a part of the canyon, and it is fairly steep but really drags on in the harsh conditions. The uphill portion will get you breathing and your blood pumping and will wake you up if you haven't had coffee yet. I don't think this trail is hard since it is shorter, but the weather and steep incline make it moderate, especially for older folks and families. I saw dads carrying their children up to the top as well.

No. I think the drive over ranged from just as scenic to more scenic, all while being air-conditioned. There is a good viewpoint at the top of the steep incline, and then you head downhill for the most part into the canyon where there is more shade, and it's nothing but a thin shoreline or riverbank and two giant walls. This is cool and worth it in my opinion, but I was not as impressed as I was with the mountain views on the way over. It was all really impressive, but my favorite portion was what was next on the itinerary.

The Window View Trail, or should I say the view itself, was the best scenic view in my opinion. You do not even have to do the actual short and easy trail; it's more like a walk. You should, but on the drive up there you can already see it, and it is absolutely breathtaking. Part of the reason it blew me away so much is because it felt like a different place than it was a few minutes ago. It goes from dry desert brown with the biggest plants being large bushes to being inside the mountains. It became a full-fledged green-coated mountain range with scattered trees. It felt like a different place and was so unexpected for me. I was looking at desert terrain and desert mountains, and this just felt so out of that region.

The Window View Trail was actually short and easy. It was a couple-minute loop and a great photo spot. The actual "window" is two mountains creating a V shape in front of you, framing the scenery beyond it. This is a beautiful landscape that I intend to revisit someday, maybe swing by Del Rio, Texas again to do some of the things I missed and come back to Big Bend National Park to really explore all this national park has to offer.

It is $30 to enter, as the park only sells seven-day passes. You can get an annual pass to all national parks and get in for free as well. This is all we had time for in Big Bend National Park. You could definitely fit in a trail at the Window View area for even better views, but we were visiting Big Bend National Park after getting our tire patched at Diego's Tire Repair Shop and had to drive out that day to San Angelo, Texas.

One day in Big Bend National Park is intense no matter how you do it. It is an extreme environment unlike anything you'd encounter outside the desert. You need to prepare, have enough sunscreen and water as well as enough gas. There is one gas station near the Panther Junction Visitor Center, and the gas pumps are crazy slow, making for huge lines at times. I would have all your supplies and gear before heading in to make sure you can maximize your time there. Another thing to look out for is parking, especially at the end of Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. Even when we went and it wasn't crowded, parking spots were still limited.

It was a $30 entry fee but free if you have the America the Beautiful Pass. Gas was expensive, around $4 per gallon when we visited, but we filled up before entering the park. In total, budget around $70 for entry and the tank of gas you will use driving all over. We did fill up in the park after driving around, as once you head out, gas stations are few and far between.

We did not eat in the park restaurant and ended up eating out at Fort Stockton, Texas later that day when driving through on our way to San Angelo, Texas.

Overall I really enjoyed Big Bend National Park and it really is a more rugged national park with less infrastructure supporting it. It is definitely on my list to someday return and complete those trails I never got to do. This is one of just two national parks in Texas, the other being Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and I hope to do another West Texas road trip, and maybe swing back through Del Rio, Texas to hit what I missed. One day in Big Bend National Park was enough to satisfy me for now, especially after all the chaos in Big Bend Ranch State Park. I was excited to go to Big Bend National Park but was definitely drained and tired from the sun and the heat, as well as the long drive time between locations. That said, I would spend one day in Big Bend National Park anytime. It was a great West Texas adventure.