Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park is best known for its vast, super-rugged landscapes, encompassing the diverse ecosystems of the Chihuahuan Desert, the Chisos Mountains, and the meandering Rio Grande river. Located in southwestern Texas, the park offers a dramatic contrast of soaring cliffs, deep canyons, and expansive desert vistas.

The park is renowned for its remote and untouched wilderness, providing a sanctuary for a wide array of plant and animal species. Visitors can explore the park’s extensive network of hiking trails, leading to stunning viewpoints, hidden waterfalls, and ancient rock formations. The Rio Grande, which forms the park’s southern boundary, offers opportunities for scenic river trips and leisurely floats, with glimpses into the cultural heritage and shared history of the United States and Mexico. Big Bend National Park is also a stargazer’s paradise, as it is an International Dark Sky Park, a designation reserved for only the darkest of places on the planet.

VISIT Big Bend National Park:

Park Details

Big Bend National Park was established on June 20, 1935, and has a total area of 801,163 acres (1,252 square miles, or 3,244 square kilometers).

Address	1 Panther Junction, Big Bend National Park, TX, 79834
Phone	432-477-2251
Hours	Park entrances are open 24 hours daily, all year.
Entrance Fee	$30 per vehicle, valid for 7 days
Learn More	Official Website

When to Visit: Weather vs. Peak Visitation

Big Bend National Park is the 115th most visited park in the country.

We crunched 30 years of historical weather and/or park service data to find the best months to visit Big Bend National Park. We looked for the optimal temperatures, the least amount of snow and rain, and stayed away from peak visitation months if we could help it. All this data then helped us paint a picture as to what the absolute best time to visit Big Bend National Park is.

Our data shows the best months to visit Big Bend National Park are April, June, February & May.

Temperature values in °F; Precipitation in Inches

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Park Visits	50,298	43,889	89,915	67,628	53,067	33,533	27,321	20,207	28,985	49,816	59,467	57,095
Precipitation	6	6	5	3	4	5	10	10	12	7	8	5
Avg Temp	59	64	70	78	85	89	87	87	82	76	66	59
Max Temp	70	76	80	87	94	96	94	92	89	85	77	71
Avg Temp	30	33	38	45	54	61	63	63	58	48	38	31
Min Temp	18	20	23	33	43	55	58	58	47	35	24	17

Big Bend National Park Road Trips

Many family vacations consist of stringing one or more national parks together during a week-long trip. Creating these types of trips is our specialty! Here are the road trips we've created where Big Bend National Park is visited.

Trip Name	Trip Miles	Trip Days
Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad Caverns, Big Bend & The Alamo	898	7

Other Nearby National Park Sites

From national monuments, to historic sites to seashores and more, here are the other parks closest to Big Bend National Park.

Name	Distance
Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River	18 mi
Fort Davis National Historic Site	101 mi
Amistad National Recreation Area	133 mi
Guadalupe Mountains National Park	208 mi
Carlsbad Caverns National Park	214 mi

Nearby Campsites & RV Parks

If you are looking to pitch a tent or park an RV at a campsite near Big Bend National Park, here is a list of the closest campsites in the surrounding area. They all have slightly different amenitites, so its best to check them all out instead of just chosing the first on the list.

Name	Details	Miles Away
Chisos Basin - Big Bend National Park	TX more RV Hookups: none Reservations: accepted Spots: 60 Open: All Year Phone: 432-477-1121	4 miles
Cottonwood - Big Bend National Park	TX more RV Hookups: none Reservations: accepted Spots: 30 Open: All Year Phone: 432-477-1121	18 miles
Rio Grande Village - Big Bend National Park	TX more RV Hookups: none Reservations: accepted Spots: 100 Open: All Year Phone: 432-477-1121	18 miles
River Road - Big Bend Ranch State Park	Redford, TX more RV Hookups: none Reservations: accepted Spots: Unknown Open: All Year Phone: 432-358-4444	40 miles

Nearest Ski Resorts

For those of you who are the diehard outdoors type, visiting a national park on a ski trip can be quite the adventure. Here are the ski resorts within 100 miles of Big Bend National Park:

None Found.

Nearest Airports

When visiting a National park, many people are faced with either a very long drive across country, or a much shorter flight. For those of you looking to fly into Big Bend National Park, we've listed the closest airports in the area.

Large Airports

A large airport has scheduled major airline service with millions of passengers per year. This type of airport always accepts international flights. Here are the closest large airports to Big Bend National Park.

Name	Code	City	Distance
San Antonio International Airport	SAT	San Antonio, TX	288 mi
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport	AUS	Austin, TX	341 mi
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport	DFW	Dallas-Fort Worth, TX	445 mi
George Bush Intercontinental Airport	IAH	Houston, TX	477 mi

Medium Airports

A medium-sized airport has scheduled regional airline service. This type of airport may or may not accept international flights. Here are the closest medium-sized airports to Big Bend National Park.

Name	Code	City	Distance
Midland International Airport	MAF	Midland, TX	196 mi
San Angelo Regional Mathis Field	SJT	San Angelo, TX	219 mi
Cavern City Air Terminal	CNM	Carlsbad, NM	221 mi
El Paso International Airport	ELP	El Paso, TX	256 mi
Laredo International Airport	LRD	Laredo, TX	258 mi
Roswell Air Center Airport	ROW	Roswell, NM	290 mi
Abilene Regional Airport	ABI	Abilene, TX	304 mi

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Credits: Campground data provided by USCampgrounds.info. Map shapes from CartographyVectors. Weather data from NOAA. Airport data from OurAirports.com. Images from Unsplash, Flickr and Parks&Trips. All data has also been updated and augmented by Parks&Trips.