Camping in Chisos Between Christmas & New Year's

[cinesnail]

Hi there,

I am planning on camping in Chisos Basin the week between Christmas and New Year's with a few friends. I didn't realize sites were reservable there (it's been a few years) and so I just went on the NPS site and realize that hey, they are, and hey, they're full.

My question is, how early do I need to arrive on 12/26 to get a first come first serve campsite there for the week? It's a 9 hour drive there for me, but if I need to leave and drive overnight I will. I really want to camp at Chisos (lots of good memories).

Any guesses? I'm guessing if we leave at 8a and don't get in until 6p they will all be gone - I think there are only around 30 of them for first come first serve?

Thanks!

[Sotol Vista]

you probably want to get there about 7 to 8 AM. that way if something is open you can snag it right away, if not you might have to circle around a bit to wait for someone to start packing up.

you can also look at the site marker, the camp host notes the day that site will become vacant, so if you see all sites are full just look for one that has that days date on it, then hand out by the site, or offer to help them pack up  so you can take over that site... 

James

[steelfrog]

Or, walk less than a mile to a backcountry site.

[RichardM]

You can call either the Visitor Center at Panther Junction (432-477-1158) or Chisos Basin (432-477-2264) before you get there and they can give you the latest status. If they say it's full, you may want to skip driving up there and initiate your backup plan. If you do drive up, try to find the campground host as soon as possible. On a busy day he will be out walking among the campsites and will hopefully have a list of what is open or opening up soon. You might want to print out a campground map to make searching for any open sites go faster. See http://www.bigbendchat.com/portal/forum/campgrounds/basin-campground-info/