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

If you have a valid passport, you can use this pedestrian 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 4 pm, Friday through Monday, and the rest of the year from 9 am to 4 pm, Wednesday through Sunday. Once a mining boomtown that fed off rich minerals and silver, Boquillas has shrunk to a small village, but there are a couple of restaurants and bars along with a few shops. 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 is easily managed on foot, but locals will also usually approach offering rides by donkey, pickup truck, or horseback, typically for around $10 round-trip.

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

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.

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. The fort also doubles as the western visitor center for Big Bend Ranch State Park.