Visiting at night and taking free public transportation are just two of the ways the National Park Service is encouraging visitors to go green.
25.07.2023 - 10:45 / matadornetwork.com / National Park
Big Bend National Park shares a border with Mexico in a stunning stretch of southwestern Texas, where evenings are defined by orange skies reflecting against red-rock canyons. While such stunning scenes are commonplace within Big Bend, the massive desert preserve remains overlooked among US national parks. It’s never had more than 500,000 visitors in a single year since it was made a national park in 1944, making it one of the least-visited parks in the lower 48.
That lack of tourists might be due to the park’s extreme remoteness. Big Bend National Park is 300 miles from El Paso, the nearest major metropolitan area, and is geographically isolated within a massive turn of the Rio Grande (the very big bend that gives the park its name). But those who don’t mind a little Texas roadtrippin’ will find that the park and surrounding areas are filled unique places, from natural riverfront hot springs to small Mexican villages and secluded mountain trails — not to mention shimmering night skies.
Here are nine places you’ll want to stop if you’re road tripping to Big Bend National Park.
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The nine locations below are some of the best place to stop within (and near) the park for everything from hiking to historical sites to hot springs to potential alien encounters (you never know!) But the whole park is beautiful, and if you’re visiting to see wildlife, it’s more important to stay in one place for a while than it is to go to any one specific place.
Photo: Jimack/Shutterstock
At first glance, Marfa may look like a down-on-its-luck Texas town, but there’s quite a lot going on in the artsy town.
It’s about 100 miles north of Big Bend and is a tiny, peculiarly artistic place. It’s where you’ll find the El Cosmico hotel, with “rooms” in brightly colored vintage trailers, tepees, and yurts. The town acts as a venue for the annual Trans-Pecos festival in September, celebrating art and building with songwriting workshops, artisanal markets, pop-up parties, live music of all genres, and the tense yearly sandlot baseball showdown between Austin’s Texas Playboys and the Los Yonke Gallos de Marfa.
Be sure to travel 30 minutes north on US 90 to find the famous Prada Marfa in neighboring Valentine. It’s an art installation of a fake store isolated in the surrounding landscape and complete with actual Prada shoes and handbags from the fall 2005 collection. After you grab a pimento cheese dip from Para Llevar (yum) and try heading east about 10 miles to watch for the mysterious “Marfa Lights” come nightfall off Rte. US 67. Sometimes they’re red, sometimes they’re green, and sometimes they’re white. Visible at night regardless of season or weather, nobody is quite sure what causes them, but UFO-hunters are obsessed with finding
Visiting at night and taking free public transportation are just two of the ways the National Park Service is encouraging visitors to go green.
This as-told-to story is based on a conversation with Justin Miller, a Tokyo-based DJ and English teacher. He shares what he's learned about Tokyo after living in Japan for 15 years. It's been edited for length and clarity.
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