I know there are a lot of Big Bend experts on here...looking for some suggestions.

We have a backcountry campsite booked for a few days over Spring Break in Boot Canyon.

Here is what I know:
We are hiking in (website says it is about a 5 mile hike to our particular site)
We are staying for 3 nights

Questions:
Anyone ever done this trail or camped at this location? Any advice?
Any other nearby day hikes that would fun while we are in camp?
Water? It says there is a stream that we can collect water. I've done several trips where I've had to collect and treat water before using it...that is not a big deal, just wondering if there will really be water easily available that time of year. I do not want to have to hike in with a bunch of water!

This is our first visit to Big Bend (we have never been to either park!) Any other advice is greatly appreciated.

I've never seen that stream up there without water. It's a pretty little creek but you definitely have to treat the water.

The canyon is very pretty. High altitude oaks, spruce trees, piñon pines, junipers, some maples in there.

You can day hike Emory Peak and the south rim easily from up there.

I have never camped it but the camp sites up top are generally nice and fairly isolated back off the main trails.

Are you staying at the cabin? Or in the tent campsites? There is a pit toilet in the area so that is helpful.

The *can* be water, but it is not reliable and you definitely want to check with the park rangers for current conditions before you start hiking. I would plan on packing in water and then pivot based on what the rangers say.

I would check AllTrails so you can get a feel for the elevation from the basin up to Boot Canyon. The first three miles are probably about 1,000' of gain then you drop back down a bit.

Big Bend is one of my favorite places ever - have a blast.

Staying at one of the campsites, not the cabin.

Thanks for the suggestions so far!

Would plan on packing water in. Last time I was there in November, the water looked pretty nasty. Lots of bears in that area as well.

A hike of south rim is a must from there.

I love the Chisos but honestly, three nights is too long in the backpacking sites up there. You'll run out of things to do. You'll cover all the trails, Emory Peak, and the South Rim in short order. You can see it all up there in two days, three if you really take your time. There's no stream. There's a trickle between the tinajas 30 minutes up the trail from the Boot Canyon sites. There's a spring down below the ranger cabin that may have a small flow this time of year, but don't count on it. I would bring two gallons and then filter any more that I needed. Here I am filter some water from one of the pools.

Great info...thanks!

Maybe we will just cut it to 2 days vs 3.

Any good recs for places to stay the day before or day after we camp?

Marfa?
Fort Stockton?
Marathon?

Thanks!

clinte234 said:

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Any good recs for places to stay the day before or day after we camp?

Marfa?
Fort Stockton?
Marathon?

Thanks!

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Treat yourself and stay at the Gage in Marathon after your camping trip. Get a good meal.

clinte234 said:

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Any good recs for places to stay the day before or day after we camp?

Marfa?
Fort Stockton?
Marathon?

Thanks!

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One of the tipi places in Terlingua.

We just spent last week in a casita from base camp terlingua. I would recommend them to folks. They also have tipis

Edit: we started off the big bend trip last week with a night at the Gage, drinks at the white Buffalo, and great meal at 12 gage. We stayed in the old hotel but the los portales suites are nice as well.

-Pack water in. If you're in decent shape it's not a tough hike from the Basin headquarters.

-Use the bear box. We've been lucky to see bear the last couple times in that area.

-How much do you love hiking/exploring? I'd be fine camping 3 nights there. But I like to hike 10-15 miles a day. Definitely do Emory Peak, highest peak in the park. East Rim, South Rim, Window.

-An itinerary could be something like:
Day 1: Get to Basin parking lot early, 7:30am or so. Hike to campsite, setup, chill. Explore immediate area.
Day 2: Hike Emory Peak. Take time to enjoy the view. Hike down, head back toward Boot Canyon, and hike some portion of Colima Trail.
Day 3: Some combination or East Rim, South Rim, Colima. Or some length of Juniper Canyon Trail, as it heads down, out of the Basin.
Day 4: If you hiked in via Pinnacles, then hike out via Laguna Meadow. Visa versa.

-In March the weather can vary quite a bit. Pack accordingly.

Great info...thanks!

This is probably a dumb question, but like I said I haven't done a ton of research yet. If we followed a hiking itinerary close to yours, are there any places to refill our water jugs?

Or is more like, once we leave the trailhead there is no more water?

clinte234 said:

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Great info...thanks!

This is probably a dumb question, but like I said I haven't done a ton of research yet. If we followed a hiking itinerary close to yours, are there any places to refill our water jugs?

Or is more like, once we leave the trailhead there is no more water?

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There will be water in the canyon up from boot spring. You will need to filter. Rangers will likely tell you there is no water. Even in the severe 2011 drought there was still a little water up there.

There are other potential water sources in the high chisos, but I wouldn't send you to them since you've not been to the park before. The exception would be juniper spring, but that's out of the way, unless you decide to explore down Juniper Canyon.

Have fun on the 21 switchbacks on the Pinnacle Trail.

Feels like more.

I'd hike up Laguna Meadows trail and go down Pinnacles. It's easier. Cross over to Boot Canyon via Colima Trail. I was there back in November. The recent fire did quite a bit of damage on the Boot Canyon side.

TRD-Ferguson said:

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I'd hike up Laguna Meadows trail and go down Pinnacles. It's easier. Cross over to Boot Canyon via Colima Trail. I was there back in November. The recent fire did quite a bit of damage on the Boot Canyon side.

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That makes sense. If he's camping 3 nights he's probably packing in a 50-60 lbs pack.

I'd suggest getting the pack weight down to 30 pounds or less including water. I did the Outer Mountain Loop in November and my maximum weight was 32 pounds. That was on day 1 of a 3 night and 4 day trip. Less weight is more fun! I'm 66, my hips and knees have convinced me to go light! Plus, if there is water in Boot Canyon he'd only need to carry 2 liters up and refill each day as needed.

NoahAg said:

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TRD-Ferguson said:

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I'd hike up Laguna Meadows trail and go down Pinnacles. It's easier. Cross over to Boot Canyon via Colima Trail. I was there back in November. The recent fire did quite a bit of damage on the Boot Canyon side.

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That makes sense. If he's camping 3 nights he's probably packing in a 50-60 lbs pack.

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that's a heavy pack.

my son and some of his corps buddies just did a two night backpack in the mountains.

first afternoon- hiked to boulder meadow, camped. boulder meadow sites are on the pinnacles trail but just before it gets steep. ( if you got started soon enough , you could go all the way to boot canyon. )

second day- hiked up pinnacles trail, did emory peak.
setup camp at boot canyon

third day - got up, hiked to south rim, saw that, hiked back down.


they had a great time, got to see both summit of emory and south rim. They were supposed to stay three nights but realized after south rim that they had seen everything and had time to get back down to the car.


at the trail that branches off to emory, there is a bear box. My son and his buds left their packs in the box so that they could summitt emory with no packs.


we did the outer mountain loop a few years ago. Really tough. This trip they did sounded perfect. Still some tough backpacking, especially going in, but not miserable like the OML was.

TRD-Ferguson said:

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I'd hike up Laguna Meadows trail and go down Pinnacles. It's easier. Cross over to Boot Canyon via Colima Trail. I was there back in November. The recent fire did quite a bit of damage on the Boot Canyon side.

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Anyone have an approximate mileage for this hike in:

Laguna Meadows -> Colima -> Boot Canyon

I haven't found a good map yet that shows distances very clearly. Just trying to figure out how long of a hike that will be on Day 1.

I sure hope our packs aren't 60 pounds...but dang, 30 pounds is impressive! Figuring out the water situation will really impact the amount of weight we are carrying in.

**And thanks again to everyone that has chimed in on this thread...very helpful and informative!

https://www.strava.com/activities/1316505994

take a look at this run I did a few years ago. I've run (and hiked) the exact route you are looking for, but couldn't find them. This one includes includes going down oak springs, but you can ignore that part. The section you are looking for starts around mile 9.7 Scroll down below the map you can mouse over the elevation/distance chart. That should give you the ability to get a decent estimation of distance and elevation.

That's a heck of a run!

Thank you, that is very helpful. Looks to be a little over 5 miles.

Bumping this thread…the trip is a week away.

We are pretty much all set up. One more question. I am guessing cell reception will basically be mon-existent on the trail and at the campsite. I have been considering a Garmin Inreach Mini for a while (mainly for hunting trips). Just trying to think through an emergency situation…any other options out there if we needed to get help (highly unlikely on a trip like this, but don't want to get caught unprepared!)

Thanks!

I got great reception at the top of the pinnacles trail and any place high up near a peak on aT&t. The pinnacles is up at the top end of the trail into boot canyon.

Sadly, they have a cell tower in the Basin now. I say "sadly" because Big Bend was the one place where one could get away from all the "noise" for so many years.

I know you'll have cell service on the SW Rim and on Emory. You may not have it at the Boot Canyon campsites or at various spots along any of the trails.

Have a great trip!

MouthBQ98 said:

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I got great reception at the top of the pinnacles trail and any place high up near a peak on aT&t. The pinnacles is up at the top end of the trail into boot canyon.

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Ditto....that was my experience in December

If youre sticking to the Chisos Basin/Rim area then you wont exactly be secluded with plenty of people around in case of an emergency as well

It's a great trip. We packed in all the water we needed for 3 nights and it was fine. Stayed at El Cosmico on the way back which was fun.

First morning in we hiked the Window (below) then on to Boulder Meadow for nite 1 (easy) and 2 nites in Boot Canton. Climbed Emory and took all of the side trails. Back to base via Laguna Meadow for something different.

Saw this today, woman died from overheating there this week.
To those going into the summer months. Be careful.

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/woman-dies-texas-national-park-165305660.html

TRD-Ferguson said:

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Sadly, they have a cell tower in the Basin now. I say "sadly" because Big Bend was the one place where one could get away from all the "noise" for so many years.

I know you'll have cell service on the SW Rim and on Emory. You may not have it at the Boot Canyon campsites or at various spots along any of the trails.

Have a great trip!

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I understand the sentiment, but it can also be a lifesaver. Last November, we were hiking on the back side of the Mariscal Mountains when one of our group thought he had indigestion. If not for cell service to get an ambulance to meet us at Panther Junction, he would not have made it.

Turn it off, but have it with you for cases like this.