Big Bend Vacation

Big Bend Ranch State Park, is just outside Presidio, TX, and west of Big Bend National Park. This uncrowded park is being improved by adding new roads (some availble to 4-wheel drive vehicles only), new and well-maintained trails, and picnic tables and fire rings are being placed at the campsites. The campsites are few and far between and very primitive, but there is water available at the ranger station.

The Saucedo Ranch Complex is a working ranch that sits in the middle of over 330,000 acres of desert, mountains, and wildlife. The 27-mile drive from the main (paved) road takes about an hour because of the speed limits, but the unpaved ranch road is very good. The views of the park from the road are breathtaking. The staff at the ranch, paid and volunteer, are all wonderful. They are really friendly and go out of their way to make sure you have a good time.

The ranch complex is home to a Texas Parks and Wildlife ranger station, complete with an information and display area, gift shop and book store, and flush toilets and hot showers.

There's also an up-scale bunkhouse with restrooms and showers, a great room with fireplace and comfy furniture, a dining hall, and a commercial kitchen and wonderful cooks. A bed in the bunkhouse is only $25/night and meals are provided at a reasonable cost, too. There's also a three-bedroom ranch hacienda, where bedroom or the whole house can be rented by the night or by the week.

The small airstrip on the ranch is nearby for shuttling in guests and supplies, and there are stables at the complex where guests can bring their own horses or rent a ranch horse and enjoy a trail ride along the desert trails.