Full Details. Trail Ratings 4.0 from 2 votes #10 in Big Bend National Park #11022 Overall. That's due in part to the hidden grotto being easily accessible by car, but mostly because it's overwhelmingly considered the most beautiful piece of scenery in Big Bend. Santa Elena Canyon Trail Intermediate. The Santa Elena Canyon Trail is only about 1.5 miles long. Park your vehicle and gather your drinking water. Santa Elena Canyon is one of the most breathtaking sights in Big Bend National Park. Almost an hour drive from our campsite in the Rio Grand Vally. 2. Rio Grande river flows through the canyon and gives the whole scene a picturesque avatar. DIFFICULT 31.0 mi. The parking area is 8.5 miles west of the Castolon Visitor Center, and just under 31 miles from the intersection of the Ross-Maxwell Drive … Santa Elena Canyon, downstream, is the most popular overnight or three day trip, not only because the put-in and take-out are easily accessed by car, but because it is often considered the most dramatically beautiful. EASY 1.7 mi. ... Santa Elena Canyon Overlook via Santa Elena Canyon Trail. Santa Elena Canyon Parking Area, courtesy of the National Park Service The Santa Elena Canyon Trailhead starts from the Santa Elena Canyon parking area, located at the end of the Ross-Maxwell Drive. The trail starts off from the parking lot with the canyon clearly ahead. However, you can’t leave a vehicle parked overnight at that put in so our only option was the Santa Elena River Access. A short nature trail enters its shady depths, 8 miles west of Castolon, accessible by either Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive or the Old Maverick Road. Santa Elena Canyon Trip Options At most levels a 2-3 day trip, 21 miles of river start to finish, launching in Lajitas and finishing in the National Park just downstream from the canyon hiking trail. It’s also mostly shaded, making it a nice choice on a hot Texas day, but the area still gets hot in the summer, so make sure you bring plenty of water. This is followed by a short, but steep climb up which isn’t too bad because they’ve built … There is paved parking, picnic tables and restrooms for you when you arrive. Cottonwood Campground via Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. On clear nights you can see forever, a perfect place to watch the stars set as they slowly rotate behind the massive, mystical, monolith. Santa Elena Canyon: Santa Elena Canyon Trail - See 640 traveler reviews, 703 candid photos, and great deals for Big Bend National Park, TX, at Tripadvisor. Santa Elena is by far the park's most popular canyon. The canyon walls are formed of sheer cliffs that rise 1,500′ straight up from the river below. That’s relatively short by hiking standards. By the way, Big Bend National Park opened up in 1944. After you park your vehicle in the parking area, you’ll start the trail on the boardwalk. Note: The trail is impassable when the Terlingua Creek floods. With canyon walls up to 1500 feet tall it has the tallest cliffs of all the canyons in Big Bend. The Santa Elena Canyon Trail is 1.5 miles and an easy hike. As … There were already 8-10 cars there, but there were still plenty of parking spots. Once at the put in, with two people per canoe (or three if you have a small child), you’ll be paddling upstream into Santa Elena Canyon where the walls reach skyward 1500 feet. Terlingua Abajo via Gaging Station. It always seems to make it onto our “to-do” hike list, even though the trail is fairly short (about 1.5 miles (2.5 km) RT) and it’s a long way from the main part of the park … Turn south on the Ross Maxwell Scenic drive and follow the road until it dead ends at the mouth of Santa Elena Canyon. Santa Elena Canyon Wildflowers There's nothing like standing at the Santa Elena Canyon overlook at 4:00 in the morning. The Rio Grande is the boarder between the United States and Mexico throughout the park, and Mexico is just a few steps away from the trailhead on the other side of the river. There is no running water or electricity available. From there, you’re going to drive the entire length of Ross … You can hike to the river and take in the awe-inspiring view of the canyon, but you can also cross Terlingua creek and hike deep into the canyon … Santa Elena Canyon. 4.0 (2) ... Land Manager: NPS - Big Bend National Park. Santa Elena River Access If you plan to only do a day trip you can put in closer to the canyon and save yourself about a mile of upstream (and very difficult) paddling. In rare instances during high water events, during the rainy summer season, the entire 21 miles can be floated in a single day. Window View Trail Hiking Stats. Its giant scale is not yet apparent. It runs 13 miles from Maverick Junction and the Park’s Western Entrance Station to the Santa Elena Canyon Overlook. Santa Elena Canyon Trail. This canyon is a 1500-foot gash that runs for eight miles in the uplift that forms the Sierra Ponce Mountains in the southwestern corner of the park. The magnificent canyon keeps its trail occupying a huge area. Given the close proximity to the river there is lush vegetation in the area, including some trees and plants that you will not find elsewhere in the park. The trail meanders down to the river from the parking … And it only gets better as the trail … The Santa Elena Canyon trail starts with a short segment that takes you to the Rio Grande. Santa Elena Canyon, Big Bend National Park: See 638 reviews, articles, and 700 photos of Santa Elena Canyon, ranked No.3 on Tripadvisor among 51 attractions in Big Bend National Park. The majestic Santa Elena Canyon is the most impressive in Big Bend National Park - it is visible for over 10 miles away, as the Rio Grande changes direction abruptly after following beneath the straight Sierra Ponce cliffs for several miles and heads due west, cutting through the mountains via a deep, narrow gorge. This sounded pretty awesome, and I for one, couldn’t wait to “enter the mouth” of Santa Elena … Distance: 0.3 miles. Spectacular Santa Elena. Santa Elena has the tallest cliffs forming the canyon wall—up to 1,500 … I think it's safe to say Mr. Webb's work paid off. Santa Elena Canyon is one of the best-known features of Big Bend National Park. Santa Elena Canyon Trail. Santa Elena Canyon Trail; 1.7 miles round trip. DIFFICULT 12.6 mi. It is an out and back road that begins near the park’s Maverick Entrance … Peña Mountain. Overview Big Bend National Park, TX has three remarkable slot canyons: Boquillas, Mariscal and Santa Elena.Of these, the trail into Santa Elena is considered by many to be the most scenic in the park. Know Before You Go. Talk about dramatic. One wall is the US and the other is Mexico. The impressive canyon is visible for miles across the desert while driving to the entrance. 8:00 AM: You’ll load up in our van for the hour long ride on Ross Maxwell Scenic drive to the end of Santa Elena Canyon which is the put in for this trip. About: Majestic canyon walls raise 1500 feet in the air with a running river splitting apart two countries. Santa Elena Canyon is one of the best-known natural features in Big Bend National Park. But the return hike offers a strikingly different view of the river as it bends through the desert … We arrived at the parking area a little after 9am. This path leads down to the Rio Grande River where you can get a distant view down into the canyon. Whatever the reason, Santa Elena Canyon has been a favorite hike in Big Bend National Park, in part because it’s a prime place to throw rocks into Mexico. Entering Santa Elena Canyon Trail requires hiking in toward the river at first. This easy 1.7-mile round-trip hike in Big Bend National Park lets one get up close with the Rio Grande River and the Santa Elena Canyon. You can walk right up to the Rio Grande. Paddle Trip into Santa Elena Canyon Getting There Follow Texas hwy 385 south to Big Bend National Park. Santa Elena Canyon is one of the major tourist attractions that most of the people never miss visiting while holidaying in Texas. Santa Elena Canyon Trail Is A 1.5-Mile Hike In Texas That Leads You To 1,500-Foot Vertical Cliffs. Head past the facilities and toward the beautiful sheer walls of Santa Elena Canyon and the Rio Grande River. Most hikers come to admire the sheer limestone walls, which rise 1,000 feet from the Rio Grande. 5. The difficulty level of this trail is moderate. Santa Elena Canyon Trail is a 1.5 mile out and back hike that takes you by a river located near Terlingua, TX. Difficulty: Easy. A t Big Bend National Park, the Santa Elena Canyon Trail climbs a series of switchbacks into the mouth of the famed gorge. Atop the trail's crest, stop at the walled viewpoint to take in spectacular views of the canyon stretching out before you, before descending gently on dirt-treaded singletrack to the trail's end where the canyon walls … This is a easy out and back trail in Big Bend National Park. Santa Elena Canyon is at the end of the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive: The Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive is a 30 mile adventure through the Chihuahuan Desert landscape of Big Bend National Park to the banks of the Rio Grande. A classic 1.7 mile out and back hiking trail into the canyon that descends to the water’s edge. EASY 2.0 mi. 3. Shared By: Hiking Project Staff. You can see the massive walls of Santa Elena Canyon from miles away, but the effect of witnessing these sheer cliffs—more than 1,500 feet high on each side of the surprisingly narrow gap forged by the Rio Grande—is utterly mesmerizing up close. Don’t let this boardwalk lead you to believe this trail will be a breeze because IT IS NOT. The nature trail crosses Terlingua Creek, climbs several flights of ramps and stairs and then … Length of … WHAT IT'S LIKE HIKING SANTA ELENA CANYON TRAIL. 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