BBRSP Feb 20-25

[Al]

Really enjoyed your report and photos.  Don't see a lot about BBRSP.  We're planning a short (2 day?) trip for later this year.  Not a lot of hiking, but exploring the backcountry roads.  Any recommendations on routes or comments on road conditions?

Once you drive to park headquarters, talk to the rangers, with few exceptions they will provide good advice.  Tell them you expect serious pin stripping!

Al

[sleepy]

Really enjoyed your report and photos.  Don't see a lot about BBRSP.  We're planning a short (2 day?) trip for later this year.  Not a lot of hiking, but exploring the backcountry roads.  Any recommendations on routes or comments on road conditions?

Like Al said, talk to the rangers.  There are also a couple of road guides at the ranch.  One claims that there was 700 miles of ranch roads when the Park first came into existence.   If you have 4WD, you have more options.  Al, didn't you do some vehicular rambling in the park?

[OldJeepr]

Equipment is not a problem  We'll be traveling with 2 Jeeps, 4WD, recovery gear (winch, straps, shovel, hi lift jack, air compressor,  etc.), extra water, fuel and two spare tires each.  Pin striping is expected.  Tentative plan is for at least one overnight, either at Sauceda or camp out.  We would like to be able to see as much of the park, and the "best" of the park as we can, at a leisurely pace, and without a lot of backtracking. 
I have the "Roads To Nowhere", and am reading and re-reading it.  I've downloaded a map of the park, but it's a little small for these old eyes, and not sure how accurate it is now.  I would appreciate any suggestions from those of you who have been there, done that.

[sleepy]

I don't have much experience driving the park.  I've heard from others that Guale 2 and Chorro Vista are excellent sites.  Sauceda is fine, but if you got the good vehicles (and it sounds like you do) I'd get out to a back country site away from humans. 

[txhiker]

on the BBRSP backacountry guide it says about Guale 2: Located on Guale Mesa and near the edge of a canyon, Guale #2 has dramatic vistas in every direction. This is the most remote and by far, the most spectacular campsite in the entire park. It has it all, millions of years of volcanic geology to study, views into Mexico, solitude that is deafening and sunrises and sunsets that will change the way campers think about color forever. The sheltered fire ring overlooks the canyon and is perfect for small group meetings. The tent pads are perched on the overlook and on a ledge overlooking the canyon.

I hiked the Rancherias loop and the area was very nice. I haven't had a chance to see the park interior but Guale 2 sounds like a good option. I want to see the Solitario one day, but that does require a bunch of hiking.

[Ninersboss]

Great report. A couple years ago I drove the road down Fresno Canyon as far as the Rt hand shut up. It was a 4X4 road but not particularly difficult. However, there are tunnels of scrub that will take your vehicle down to bare metal. Had a moment of clarity hiking around in that brush when a very large longhorn stood up and eyed me from very short range. Once I decided he was gong to let me live I had a moment to reflect on Frank Dobie's comment that , once upon a time, all it took to be a rancher in Texas was a horse, a rope, and the nerve to use it.

It's an old stage road and there are some interesting structures and Indian pictographs. Hard to image driving a stage through there. I walked the right hand shut up but was blocked from entering the Solitario proper by a very large rock. Some rope might make it passable. Maybe not. There are several pour offs in the shut up that require some butt sliding and scrambling. Still, not impassible even for an old guy with bad knees. It's a geologists dream to walk through all that strata. Saw lots of water in Fresno, none in the shut up. I've got some pics if anyone is interested.  BTW, got lots of good advice here and from the Rangers. Also plugged two tires and finally put on the spare. BBR eats tires.

[Al]

Really enjoyed your report and photos.  Don't see a lot about BBRSP.  We're planning a short (2 day?) trip for later this year.  Not a lot of hiking, but exploring the backcountry roads.  Any recommendations on routes or comments on road conditions?

Like Al said, talk to the rangers.  There are also a couple of road guides at the ranch.  One claims that there was 700 miles of ranch roads when the Park first came into existence.   If you have 4WD, you have more options.  Al, didn't you do some vehicular rambling in the park?

I've done a bit.  We've camped at La Mota 2, Tascate 1, and one of the Pila Montoya sites. We are limited to high clearance and I would love to check out some the sites restricted to 4-wheel drive, probably my next vehicular purchase if the ol' F150 ever dies.

[guc126]

OLd Jeepr, if you decide to dismount at least once there's one short hike you must not miss. Ojito Adentro on the main road. About 3/4 mile to a desert spring in an unforgettable setting.

[catz]

Sleepy, you beat me to it.  We just got back from three nights at the Ranch yesterday--we even stayed at one of the same sites you did (Tascate 2).  Appreciate the extra wood you left.  Did you get a picture of the West side of the Chisos?  It is quite a sight from there.

We also found the pictographs in Auras Canyon.  We didn't backpack, but instead did it as a day hike.  From where we parked, it took us about five or six hours, including an hour at the pictographs themselves.

I concur with guc126's recommendation of hiking to Ojito Adentro.  It is an amazing spring.  Not far away is plain Ojito.  It is a campsite, but hike on down the hill and turn right.  You will not believe what you find:  a lake!  There were even two ducks on it when we arrived.

This park is huge and with only one good road.  The rest are all of varying degrees of difficulty, ranging from simply high clearance to "bring two spares" rough (most of the mosy difficult are in the far north west corner of the park--WAY off the beaten path).  There is not one foot of asphalt in the park.  Because of the park's size and the road conditions, it can take a lot of time to get from your campsite to a trailhead.  Except for the two or three "tourist trails", the trails themselves, at least the ones we went on, are also rough and filled with loose rock.   I understand that portions of some trails, however, follow former jeep roads so they aren't ALL that way.

There are far more hiking possibilities than I thought going in.  It would take months to hike them all, even just the ones labeled as formal trails on the park map.

A volunteer/ranger at Sauceda told us that "the second highest waterfall in Texas" (Madrid Falls) is located near the end of the road that takes you to the Tascate campsites. When I asked her if it was flowing, she replied, "It was when I was there several months ago".  Now THAT helped a lot.  I asked her which falls were the highest in Texas, she didn't know.  It's got to be somewhere west of the Pecos--anybody know?

The back country sites have one huge advantage over the ones in the National Park--they all have tables (listen up NPS!).  The fire grates are also a bonus.  If you stay at an official site, the Park requires you to use an approved human waste disposal system (available at Suceda) and remove all solid waste.  Given how incredibly rocky the place is, it's probably just as well--digging 6" cat holes could prove a real problem.

Finally, having hiked the Rancherias Loop, I concur that the Guale backcountry site would be an excellent choice if you can get there.   I have also heard good things about the Las Burras sites, but have not actually been to them.

[madplanter]

Capote Falls is the highest.

Northwest of Presidio...West of Chinati Hot Springs
on private property.

from the Handbook of Texas....

Capote Falls, the highest falls in Texas, drops 175 feet; it is on private property. Capote Creek continues eight miles to its mouth on the Rio Grande, three miles from Candelaria (at 30°10' N, 104°41' W). The local terrain is composed primarily of rhyolite and tuff, except where Cretaceous sediments are exposed along the edge of the Sierra Vieja range.

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/CC/rbc81.html

MP

[ConchoRed]

wow ! just looked at all the campsites shown on BBRSP site (not all the sites shown on their map are detailed on their site) and just got massive spring fever (maybe terminal if I don't do something). We have camped at the park many times but not since they opened up the dozens of new sites. Might have to make the SP the main destination this time with just a short trip over to the NP for a couple of bucket list items - wish I could leave this second !

[Terlingua50337]

Y'all need to do Cinco Tinajas (look in the BBRSP gallery for a pic) as a day hike. I got up to the edge of Levya Canyon and watched the sun paint it as she rose. Incredible. Then I went over and looked down at the Tinajas and then went down and around and around and down to the Tinajas themselves. Being solo I didn't try to go past them to the pour off but I'd sure love to. Someday. It's on my list. And Ojito Adentro is really cool.