South Rim

— It is believed that on a clear day, one can see forever. You can see how that works if you do the hike to the South Rim of Chisos Mountains at Big Bend NP. I think I’ve done this hike 3 times (maybe 4). It is a day hike, and you need to start early if you’re not planning on spending the night on the South Rim. The National Park Service website lists this hike as difficulty and strenuous. With the trailhead starting at the Basin, you will go 12-14.5 miles (19-23 km) round trip with an elevation gain of 2,000 feet (609 meters). There are two ways to make it to the South Rim: via Pinnacles (steeper and with lots of switchbacks) or via Laguna Meadows (more gradual). I’ve done both and prefer the latter. Pinnacles can be very hard on your knees. My last trip to the South Rim was to celebrate our 25th anniversary in 2018. It was amazing, and the view above is what waited for us. Doing this hike in the winter months is preferable, but this last time we hiked in September. Still, there were not many people on the trail. You do need to look out for mountain lions and bears. On this particular day, we saw a couple of black bears on the trail, but they did not bother us or were bothered by us. We began our hike around 8:15 AM and had a leisure lunch at the South Rim before getting back to the Basin at 4:30 PM. Once at the South Rim, you have expansive views of the Chihuahuan Desert and mountains including Elephant Tusk and Sierra Quemada. Also, some 20 miles (32 km) away in the horizon you should be able to see the V-opening of Santa Elena Canyon (it’s there on the photo above, a little to the left of the photo center). To the east, about 30 miles (48 km) away, is Mexico’s Sierra del Carmen.