I've never been to Big Bend and am thinking about a trip in mid-November.

Any advice? I'd like a hotel for a couple of nights.

Good time of the year. Mid December would be even better.
Try The Chisos Mountains Lodge in the park for lodging.

How much advice would you like? Where would you be coming from?

November is a great time of year to go.

I could go on for a while about Big Bend and West Texas in general. I grew up in the area.

I don't want to hijack the thread but will be watching it intently

We're going at the end of Nov (Thanksgiving) and have reservations to camp at Chisos Basin.

The basin is a great place to camp. Be sure to prepare for some wild temperature swings. It is typically a lot cooler in the basin than down around the border. I've been out there in November where the basin is in the 50's while the areas around the border are in the upper 80's.

I typically head to Alpine (or Marathon on a couple of occasions) the first day. See what's going on in town/get whatever last minute items I may need and get a good night sleep. Head to the park the next morning (about 1.5 hours away).

First day goes like this: set up camp, pack lunch, do the Lost Mine trail, head to St Elena Canyon, eat lunch, head back to camp (stop along the way if I see something interesting), do the Window Trail (be sure to bring flashlights if the sun is setting).

That's about as good as it gets for a first day in Big Bend if you ask me. You can squeeze in more if that's your way, but really soak in everything around you.

Why is November/December a great time to go?

I don't like to use the word better. But I'll say the weather is more agreeable in the fall because of the heat factor mostly. Summers can be pretty rough although not unbearable at higher elevations (like the chisos basin). The wildlife seems to be more active during the cooler months. Thanksgiving is a busier time from what I can remember and I think the lodge gets booked up quickly. Winter is going to be cold at night mostly. Not a bad thing in my opinion, but some don't like really cold weather.

I went during the first week of may if I recall correctly. I was freezing at night in my 55F bag.

Basin in November you will wake up to ice on your tent. Great weather. We did a 16 person gourmet camping trip there in November. $20 price limit on wine, mass quantities of home brew and took turns with the meals and did maybe 30 miles of our favorite hikes. Man that was fun.

How tough is it to get a campsite? Do you need to reserve one or are there a lot of areas that are just open for first come first serve?

I would reserve a spot just to secure it, but I've never seen the basin campground area at 100% capacity.



My preference is the top loop (I think it's called loop 3). Anywhere on that top area is great with awesome views.

Hubs and 3 other guys camped at Guale 2 in the State Park. That was not for the faint of heart.

It's strange to me now, but living out in the Big Bend region for over 10 years and travelling extensively all over far west Texas, I never once went to Big Bend Ranch State Park. I've been to the national park probably 40 times.

HECUBUS said:

---

Basin in November you will wake up to ice on your tent. Great weather. We did a 16 person gourmet camping trip there in November. $20 price limit on wine, mass quantities of home brew and took turns with the meals and did maybe 30 miles of our favorite hikes. Man that was fun.

---

Was this a guided thing or on your own?

Just a bunch of good friends before kids.

Have stayed at the Lodge several times, Spartan, but A OK. Restaurant was pretty good.
Favorite for the area is Indian Lodge in the Davis Man State Park. Excellent Camping/RV sites.
The Lodge(old part)was built by the CCC. The restaurant is very good.
Old Ft Davis for history.
McDonald Observatory for star gazing(you can actually use the big telescopes on certain scheduled events, does cost a membership which is about $100 for two). Well worth the $$ and the briefing you get.
The visitors center has star parties every evening.

chris1515 said:

---

Why is November/December a great time to go?

---

This is my favorite time because you can hike anywhere in the park without having to worry about heat issues.

You can hike comfortably in the mountains anytime of the year. But there are a number of spectacular desert hikes which are simply too dangerous to tackle when it's very hot. Temperatures can spike in the high 90s or even 100 from March through October there. From May through September 100 degree days (in the shade) are common and there is no shade on desert hikes so you really looking at 15 to 20 degree hotter.

They ended up there on their last night to save time on the way back home.

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/2818431/2
https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/2886108/0

Took my family out last Thanksgiving & the Basin was full, as was Cottonwood. The ranger let us and a few others camp in the Group Camping area.... otherwise we would have been stuck.

If you can make a reservation, do... but it is probably too late. Best advice would be to get there early on a weekday, the weekend will probably be full.

Great weather at that time, 30's-50's at night & into the 70's-80's during the day.

HECUBUS said:

---

Basin in November you will wake up to ice on your tent. Great weather. We did a 16 person gourmet camping trip there in November. $20 price limit on wine, mass quantities of home brew and took turns with the meals and did maybe 30 miles of our favorite hikes. Man that was fun.

---

A large group of us camp in the Basin group campground every year, second week of November. I've never seen ice. Coldest it's ever been at night is upper 30's but usually in lower to mid 40s. Daytime, upper 60s. Perfect camping and hiking weather.

We went Thanksgiving, had ice 2/3 nights. Great temperature for sleeping and great hiking and hot springs weather. It was never too cold.