Thanksgiving Bus Trip to Big Bend National Park

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it’s time to sign up for the Dallas Sierra Club’s annual trip to Big Bend National Park. We’ve been going to Big Bend over the Thanksgiving Holiday every year for almost 30 years. Is Big Bend National Park that good? Well, the answer is a resounding YES. Big Bend is a place you don’t want to miss this year, or any year.

Big Bend National Park is located in the Trans-Pecos region of Southwest Texas along the Mexican border, in a bend of the Rio Grande River that gives the park its name. The Park preserves a vast section of the Chihuahuan Desert larger than the state of Rhode Island, an area of over 1,106 square miles. Elevations within the park range from a high point of 7825 feet at Emory Peak in the Chisos Mountains, to a low point of 1680 feet on the Rio Grande at the east end of the park.

The most dominant of the Park’s mountain ranges is the Chisos Mountains, which take in the highest peaks at the center of Big Bend. The Basin, which is a bowl-shaped valley ringed by mountains, is the center of activity in the Chisos. The South Rim of the Chisos offers spectacular views of the desert 2000 feet below its edge. Trails descend from the Chisos high country down several canyons, including Juniper Canyon and Blue Creek Canyon, offering a view of the succession of plant life at the lower elevations. Circling below the South Rim is the Dodson Trail, which traverses the foothills of the Chisos, passing the remains of several ranch outposts dating back to the 1800's.

The Rio Grande River has carved three deep canyons along the Park's southern boundary: Santa Elena, Mariscal and Boquillas. Santa Elena Canyon, at the western end of the park, is formed by the river’s penetration of the Mesa De Anguila.

Our sleeper bus leaves Dallas on Wednesday evening, November 22 and returns early in the morning of Monday, November 27. Our sleeper bus is about as comfortable as a bus can be. We will offer 5 different hiking trips, which you will select in advance, ranging from moderate day hiking and backpacking to strenuous backpacking.

If you’ve never been to Big Bend, you owe it to yourself to visit one of the most spectacular places in Texas. If you’ve been to Big Bend before, either once or 50 times, join us for a return visit. Check the outings page of our website at www.dallassierraclub.org/outings for sign up details, or call the bus leader, Arthur Kuehne, at 214-902-9260, if you have any questions.