Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [36]
Another worthwhile drive, recommended for all vehicles, begins at Panther Junction Visitor Center and goes to Rio Grande Village, a distance of 20 miles. From the visitor center, head southeast through the desert toward the high mountains that form the skyline in the distance. The first half of the drive passes through desert grasses, which are finally making a comeback after severe overgrazing in the decades before the establishment of the park in 1944. Recovery is slow in this harsh climate, but the land is beginning to revegetate.
As you progress farther into the desert, the elevation gradually decreases, and the grasses give way to lechugilla and ocotillo stalks, cacti, and other arid-climate survivors. To the south is long, rather flat Chilicotal Mountain, named for the chilicote, or mescal-bean bushes, growing near its base. The chilicote's poisonous red bean is used in Mexico to kill rats. Several miles farther, the River Road turns off and heads southwest toward Castolon, more than 50 miles away. This primitive road is for high-clearance vehicles only.
If you feel adventurous, take the Hot Springs turnoff about a mile beyond the Tornillo Creek Bridge. It follows a rough wash to a point overlooking the confluence of Tornillo Creek and the Rio Grande. A trail along the riverbank leads to several springs. The foundation of a bathhouse is a remnant of the town of Hot Springs, which thrived here about 20 years before the park was established and continued as a concession for another 10 years.
Back on the paved road, you'll soon pass through a short tunnel in the limestone cliff, after which is a parking area for a short trail to a viewpoint overlooking Rio Grande Village. It's just a short drive from here to Rio Grande Village, your destination, where you can take a .75-mile nature trail ending at a high point above the Rio Grande that offers terrific views up and down the river, as well as some great bird-watching opportunities.
Organized Tours & Ranger Programs
Park ranger naturalists offer a variety of programs year-round. Illustrated evening programs take place at the Chisos Basin amphitheater in summer. From November through April, evening programs are offered regularly in the amphitheater at Rio Grande Village and occasionally at Cottonwood Campground. Subjects include the park's geology, plants, animals, and human history. Rangers also offer guided nature walks and occasionally lead driving tours. Workshops are also planned on subjects such as adobe construction or photography. Look for weekly schedules on the bulletin boards scattered about the park.
The Big Bend Natural History Association (see "Information," earlier in this chapter) offers a variety of seminars, ranging from 1-day workshops starting at $75, to multiday programs starting at $150. Subjects range from desert survival ecology to history to photography; students enrolled in popular "Lodge and Learn" courses spend days in the field and the classroom and nights at the Chisos Mountains Lodge.
Historic & Man-Made Attractions
There is evidence that both prehistoric American Indians and later Apaches, Kiowas, and Comanches occupied this area. Throughout the park you can find petroglyphs, pictographs, and other signs of early human presence, including ruins of stone shelters. Pictographs are along the Hot Spring Trail (see "Day Hikes," below) and along the river. Watch for mortar holes scattered throughout the park, sometimes a foot deep, where American Indians would grind seeds or mesquite beans.
Also within the park boundaries are the remains of several early-20th-century communities, a mercury mine, and projects by the Civilian Conservation Corps (see below).
The Castolon Historic District, in the southwest section of the park just off the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, includes the remains of homes and other