I have been coming to Big Bend annually since 2009, though I feel like I am missing out on a big part of the park because I have not done any backcountry or multi-day hikes yet. This guide is obviously geared for the day-hiker and Big Bend n00bs, so obviously I can’t start to tackle the multi-day hike topic yet. To be honest, Big Bend was my first hike in a National Park ever. I was missing out all my life and then I fell in love. Since then I’ve visited more National Parks and Monuments than I can count.
Now I want to do everything Big Bend has to offer. The list of hikes below, mostly multi-day or extremely primitive, is my bucket list. This guide currently serves as a good place to start for most folks but I would like to expand it into the back-country in the future.
Part of the reason I haven’t gotten to more of the Big Bend trails is that we do many trails multiple times as we continue to bring friends and family to our favorite parts of the park. All of the hikes are worthy of repeat visits.
My Bucket List
- Mule Ears Springs Trail
- Burro Spring Trail
- Dorgan House Trail
- Ward Spring Trail
- Ore Terminal / Arial Tramway
- Telephone Canyon
- Dominguez Spring Trail (Supposedly beautiful though warnings of thefts to things left in vehicles)
- Mariscal Canyon Rim
- K-Bar –Estufa Canyon and the spring nearby
- Dodson Trail
- Boot Spring
- Elephant Tusk (you can see from Lost Mine)
- Slickrock Canyon (just north of Junction at Maxwell Scenic)
- Smokey Creek