Big Bend National Park is a large national park in the Texan Chihuahuan Desert. Here the Rio Grande runs along the southern edge of the park forming the border of the US and Mexico. When it comes into and leaves the park it goes through deep canyons. There is a lot of life in this desert especially in the Chisos Mountains.
They are in the middle of the park with the Chisos Basin in the middle. This is the only mountain range in the US that is completely inside a national park. There, at a higher elevation than most of the park is a campground, lodge and high elevation trails.
I spent two days in the park. The first day I drove out to the east side past the Rio Grande Village to the Boquillas Canyon. The second day I drove to the to out the west side, to Santa Elena Canyon. This series is planned to have seven photo essays of hikes and two driving videos. These are a few photos from the park that were not on the hikes.
Due to the cold weather, I stayed in a cabin at the Chisos Mountain Lodge. I was planning to camp, but did not have the gear for the temperatures. The lodge also has a restaurant and bar and motel style rooms. It is the only lodging in the park.
One popular short hike is through the Hots Springs District to the thermal pools along the Rio Grande. It goes through a historic town and by some cliffs to the hot springs. Even in January it was very popular and the pools were full.
On the west side of the park is Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. It goes out to Santa Elena Canyon, where the Rio Grande comes out of a canyon on the west edge of the park. There are several hiking trails, scenic overlooks and a small visitor center with historic mining equipment outside.
Videos and photo essays from Big Bend National Park are coming soon! The photos and videos are grouped, so now the editing starts.
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Amistad National Recreation Area is the US portion of the Amistad Reservoir and some land along its shores. On the south side of the reservoir is Mexico with a border crossing at the dam. While driving across Texas to Big Bend National Park, I stopped at its Diablo area. It was about halfway through a seven hour drive, so it was good to take a break and do some short hikes.
The Nature Trail takes you through the Chihuahuan Desert with signs describing local plants. The Green and Blue Loops can be done together. I hiked the Natural Trail followed by the Green & Blue Loop combo. The route I took was 3.19 km without much elevation gain and took about 50 minutes. Cacti, yucca and agave plants are common along the trails. Some of the dead looking plants in these photos are Leatherstem, which comes alive after heavy rain.
While hiking on the nature trail, you get views of the Amistad Reservoir. It is on the Rio Grande with a couple of tributaries flowing into the reservoir. There is a boat ramp ...
Mission Concepcion is the furthest north mission in San Antonio Missions National Historic Park. Unlike the others that have the courtyards and walls, this one currently has only the church building. Mission Concepcion was originally founded in 1716 as Mission Nuestra Seora de la Pursima Concepcin de Acua in eastern Texas. It was to serve as a buffer against the French in Louisiana. In 1731, like other missions it moved to the San Antonio River area. The stone church took 15 years to build and was dedicated in 1755. This church is the only one in the park that has two bell towers.
This is the fourth part of our series on San Antonio Missions NHP which also includes: Mission San Juan, Mission Espada and Mission San Jose.
Before going into the main church, you pass through some side rooms showing frescos which covered most of front of the church and the convento rooms.
https://mountainadventures.us/post/san-antonio-missions-nhp-mission-concepcion
#texas #sanantonio #nps #history ...
