Hello, 2021! 2020 was a difficult year for us all. Everything that we once considered normal, changed almost over night. This little blog has always been a place where I share travels or favorite things, all of which looked very different this past year. Like everyone else, we didn’t take a vacation in 2020. And let’s be real… if there was ever a year that we all needed a vacation it was 2020! So in December when Brian said to me “I feel like we need a little socially-distanced get-a-way” I was up for the challenge!

Texas is a massive state. I’ve lived here for most of my life and have barely scratched the surface of everything it has to offer. Since we knew we didn’t want to go anywhere that required flying, this was the perfect opportunity to go somewhere that we wouldn’t normally visit.

Big Bend National Park is located on the boarder of Texas and Mexico. It’s about an 8.5 hour drive from Dallas and not somewhere that had really been on my radar. That is, until I heard about The Local Chapter. Merritt Beck shared about her stay at The Local Chapter and I immediately saved it on my travel list.

The Local Chapter is a small property with four private yurts overlooking Big Bend. It’s completely contact-free so it was an easy decision to book. Brian’s birthday is in early January and since we usually take our big trip around my birthday in September, this year was more tailored to him! I’m sharing our highlights from the trip below…

Where to Stay – Terlingua, Texas

We stayed at The Local Chapter in Yurt 1 – which has the largest deck space. The yurts are beautiful, clean and the location is amazing. The entrance to the park is right down the road from The Local Chapter’s property. It was easy to wake up every morning and get an early start on hiking. We were also a short drive into town for anything we needed.

What to Do

Big Bend National Park is the main attraction in Terlingua. The park is beautiful and has so much to offer. We spent three days in the park and only saw a small percentage of it. Unfortunately, while we were visiting there were several parts of the park where the roads were being repaired, leaving several trail heads inaccessible.

The trails that we did hike were amazing. I’ll leave a list below with my favorites. We also drove some of the scenic drives to take in the different landscapes of the park. It takes time to get from one end to the other but it’s well worth it.

Trail Favorites

Cattail Falls Trail – 5.7 mi Est. 2h 45m Out and back trail to a secluded pool with waterfall. This was my favorite hike! I loved ending up in the trees by the water. It was refreshing after a long, sunny hike through the desert.

Santa Elena Canyon Trail – 1.7 mi round trip This hike takes you into the canyon which was so peaceful. It was by far the most heavily trafficked of all the trails we took but well worth it. Be prepared for steep stairs.

Mule Ears Spring Trail – 3.8 mi round trip Mule Ears gets its name from the rock formation that resembles a mule’s ears. But for me and Brian we were more reminded of our German Shepherd’s ears. It’s a fun trail that has great views and different terrain. We walked to the spring and back which took us about 2.5 hours. You can connect to other trails from there if you want to make it a longer hike.

Blue Creek Trail – This trail is part of a greater loop so we hiked for about 2 hours and then turned back. We accessed the trail from the Homer Willson Ranch off the Ross Maxwell drive. This was Brian’s favorite hike. It takes you through the river bed towards the mountains.

Ore Terminal Trail – 8.5 mi We didn’t go too far on this trail. It was the end of the day and getting pretty warm (especially for January) and there is no shade. Ore Terminal was my least favorite since the scenery was pretty bare in the winter. It is challenging though, so offers a great workout!

We would have loved to do the Lost Mine Trail but unfortunately with the Chisos Basin road closures, we couldn’t get to it. I would definitely add it to your list as it comes very highly recommended.

Another great resource is the All Trails app. I didn’t have service in most of the park but it made it easy each morning to plan out some of the trails we wanted to do. The park provides maps, but not all the trails are listed.

Look at the Stars

Terlingua and Big Bend are Designated National Dark Areas, so you can imagine how amazing the night sky looks. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many stars! We were lucky that our trip overlapped with a new moon, so we had one night with complete darkness. Most of these images were taken that night. There was the occasional car leaving Big Bend whose headlights would illuminate the sky, but other than that it was dark. The Local Chapter provides an amazing telescope in each yurt for stargazing.

What to Eat

Starlight Theater Restaurant – We ate here our last night and it was very good! It’s a fun atmosphere, too! Especially when there is live music. Definitely recommend stopping in!

Taqueria el Milagro – During one of the more challenging hikes Brian promised me tacos if I gave him another hour. These did not disappoint!

We brought lots of cheese, meat and other things for charcuterie boards every evening. We loved being able to relax at the end of the day with a glass of wine and enjoy the view.

The Local Chapter has a small fridge and microwave so you can bring your own food. There is also a coffee machine. We chose to bring the French Press set that I gave Brian for Christmas and used our Smeg kettle to make the hot water.

Trail mix and energy bars got us through the day. We brought several bottles of wine for the evenings. And don’t forget about the S’mores!

What to Bring

Good hiking boots are the number one recommendation I have! If you have good ankle support, you will be fine. I do not recommend skimping on your shoes if you plan on hiking. The trails are very rocky and I would have twisted my ankle many times had my boots not saved me.

Hiking in January only required a long sleeve tee and a insulated jacket. I did keep my beanie on most of the day.

Our Larq bottles were very handy. There are places within the park that you can grab water bottles but we tried to fill our Larq bottles from gallon jugs we brought from home.

The yurts do not have WiFi and there is not a television. This is meant to be an experience that disconnects you from technology. Which we loved! We made a fire a couple of nights. Used the telescope to look at the stars. Shot some long exposure. We had a puzzle, a few books and got lots of good sleep. It was an amazing trip!