5 Best Sights in Outside the Park, Big Bend National Park

The largest state park in Texas serves as an enormous western buffer to Big Bend National Park. This rugged desert wilderness extends along the Rio Grande across more than 300,000 acres from east of Lajitas to Presidio. It's far less developed than the national park (if that seems possible) and nearly one-third as large, and it's filled with amazing opportunities to hike, mountain bike, backpack, raft, and ride horseback. A collection of hiking trailheads spoke off from FM 170 across from the Barton Warnock Visitor Center at Lajitas, which serves as the park's eastern information post and contains excellent exhibits on the region as well as a covered picnic area. The western visitor center is at 23-acre Fort Leaton State Historical Site near Presidio and contains a thick-walled adobe fort and trading post that dates back to pioneer days, plus exhibits, a ½-mile nature trail, and picnic sites.

This expansive history-lover's haven has exhibits representing the life and cultures of the region and sponsors an annual show on ranching handiwork (such as saddles, reins, and spurs) held in conjunction with the Cowboy Poetry Gathering each February. The map collection is renowned.

Affiliated with Big Bend Ranch State Park of Texas, this visitor center offers a self-guided walking tour through a 2½-acre landscaped desert garden. It's a good way to get acquainted with the Trans-Pecos region before adventuring to either the national or state park. Also on the grounds are an interpretive center, a covered picnic area, a bookstore, and a gift shop.

If you have a valid passport, you can use this crossing, about 2 miles east of Rio Grande Village, to visit the village of Boquillas del Carmen. Check the park website for current hours, but generally the crossing is open May–October from 9 am to 6 pm, Friday through Monday, and the rest of the year from 8 am to 5 pm, Wednesday through Sunday. Once a mining boomtown that fed off rich minerals and silver, Boquillas has shrunk to a small village, but there is a restaurant and bar along with a few shops. U.S. citizens can bring back up to $200 in merchandise duty-free. To get across, you can access a $5 round-trip row boat across the river and a $3 entrance fee to enter the Mexican Protected Area that the village is located in. The remaining ¾-mile to the village can be made on foot, by donkey ($5 round-trip), pickup truck ($5), or horseback ($8).

If you do not return to the border in time, you may be stuck in Mexico for two or three days.

The 23-acre site in Presidio County contains a thick-walled adobe fort and trading post that dates back to pioneer days. There are exhibits, a ½-mile nature trail, picnic sites, guided tours, and a store. The park is day-use only—no camping is available. The fort also doubles as a visitor center for Big Bend Ranch State Park.