Along the Rio Grande

If you want to know the best spots and routes, always ask a local (although they will often tell you even if you don’t ask!) This was the case as I prepared to leave Big Bend. The RV Park hosts were checking in about my stay and inquired about my next stop. When I said I was headed to Davis Mountain State Park, he asked what road I was taking, then suggested I take the scenic route. “Big Bend Ranch State Park is the prettiest drive in Texas,” he said. How could I say no to such a ringing endorsement? He did add, “there’s just this one part that around here we call ‘the big hill’ – but you’re from Minnesota, so I’m sure you’ll be fine.” (I have no idea what he thought Minnesota was like, but I just nodded). After my daring drive on the switchbacks in Big Bend, I was sure I’d be fine (famous last words).

Excited to drive along a road the garners such high praise, I pulled my rig on to Highway 170 and headed west, a road appropriately called El Camino del Rio, or The River Road, because it follows the Rio Grande along the border between the United States and Mexico. My drive was uneventful at first and when I made a quick stop to hike a short trail, appropriately named “Closed Canyon Trail” (cuz it was in a closed canyon), I was fully enjoying taking the scenic route.

Then, I reached “the big hill.” Hill probably isn’t the best word to describe what I found myself driving. “Terrifying mountain” would be a better descriptor. Every time I saw the speed limit signs declaring “20” I barked out a laugh. Going 20 would feel like I was on a wild roller-coaster – no thank you, ma’am! I survived (barely) but the road continued to duck, bob, and weave around the desert, mountains, canyons, and river. It was stunning, but unfortunately I didn’t get to enjoy the scenery without threat of vehicular harm.

On the western edge of Big Bend Ranch State Park sits a large adobe structure which many travelers could assume was just the entry site for the park. While Fort Leaton (the adobe structure) is that, I discovered so much more when I stepped inside.

The history of this fort has everything you could want in a good ol’ fashioned western: forged deeds, murder, revenge (via a murder that is said to have occurred in the dining room - pictured belwo), Apache raids, a treasure hunt, and even an “immaculate postmortem marriage!” The Texas Parks have done an amazing job restoring much of the fort to its early 19th century heyday when it was the home of a flourishing trader and his family. Having grown up in a part of the country with very different architecture and cultural influences, discovering a different part of the American frontier was engrossing.

The Big Bend area in general was an amazing experience, filled with nature, culture, and history. As I headed north to Davis Mountain, I looked forward to discovering even more about the great state of Texas!