When we, Jimmy Mac and Lance Sallis, left Texas’ Big Bend National Park in December of 2023, we figured we were done with the place. In our three visits in and around The Big Bend National Park, we covered all the fun riding. And it was fun riding. But then, The Backcountry Discovery Routes’ mad mappers dropped their BDR-X of Big Bend. Opening the map revealed a route from Presidio to Van Horn that sure looked intriguing. All it took was a phone call to Lance, and we were set to rendezvous in Marfa, Texas, to try out the new section and revisit rides of our past trips.
If you have never ventured down to Big Bend, you are missing out. And since BDR now offers a map and free GPS route downloads, you can plan the best experience for you and your bike. Here are some tips, tricks and hacks that worked for us and that might just make your visit more fun.
BASECAMP MARFA
We planned our first two days of riding to be based out of Marfa, Texas. Marfa has plenty of hotel rooms and the trendy El Cosmico safari tents or trailers. We picked a third option and booked reservations at The Tumble In R.V. Park. They have self check-in, nice warm showers (a big plus in December) and a location just outside of town. The place offers tent sites but we turned Big Red into a two-room hotel for our stay.
TAKE THE BDRX4 ALTERNATE BYPASS
You need your BDR Map for this to make sense (so get it by clicking here). Leave The Tumble and pick up RM 2810 right in town. The road starts out as a paved yet desolate stretch of highway. You’ll pass a few beautiful ranches and then start to wonder if the pavement is ever going to end. When it does, you are in for a treat. The dirt road offers epic vistas as you drop into deep canyons, past the Chianti Hot Springs (don’t ride in unless you have reservations) and past very old burial grounds that overlook the Rio Grande. Once you hit pavement, head south a bit to see Ruidosa, get chased by dogs and then turn around to head north on FM 170 where the pavement will shortly end.
FUN AND DIVERSE TERRAIN AHEAD
Riding FM 170 is a blast. You need to be ready for a little bit of everything. It is dessert riding so you’ll encounter hard-packed dirt, deep sand, stream crossings, pumice dust and, believe it or not, grass! Yes, the Rio Grande overflows and grass is growing over sections of the road. Flat sections are followed by elevation changes and views are epic the entire stretch. We did run into riders on Adventure Bikes who turned around because of the sand sections. I always feel that if you are not comfortable, don’t press on. This is a very desolate section and it may be a long time before somebody comes along to help you lift your bike.
FORCED TO RIDE TO VAN HORN
You Adventure Bike riders can take FM 170 until it intersects with Highway 90, make a right and ride back to Marfa. Our dual-sports required us to ride to Van Horn to refuel. This adds enough miles to our loop to make it a 200 mile day. And once we fueled up, there was no time to eat if we wanted to be back to Marfa by dark. The ride back to Marfa is boring but the first half made it all worth it.
OUR DAY TWO WAS THE TOURIST DAY
Our second-day plan was to ride out of Marfa, up to the McDonald Observatory, over to Fort Davis and back to Marfa. Since that is all pavement and the mornings were cold, we slept in, got breakfast burritos at Marfa Burrito (our names are on the wall) and then drove to Fort Davis in Lance’s truck. Adventure Bike riders will love the twisty roads up to McDonald Observatory but it wouldn’t have been much fun on our smaller bikes. We then broke down our Marfa basecamp and headed to Lajitas.
BASECAMP LAJITAS
Between Terlingua and Lajitas there are a ton of places to stay or camp. We chose the Lajitas Golf Resort RV Park. When checking in, we joked about the office restroom being the cleanest pubic bathroom we had ever crossed. The attendant said, “wait until you see the clubhouse.” She wasn’t kidding. The clubhouse, with heated pool, cable TV and showers, was pristine. This place is highly recommended. Breakfast at the Lajitas Golf Resort was nothing special. We cooked the rest of our meals or went to Terlingua where there are plenty of options.
RIDING ON THE RANCH
Big Bend Ranch State Park (not to be confused with Big Bend National Park) requires a $5 entry fee that turned out to be the best value of the trip. We rode from our campsite in Lajitas to Presidio (all pavement) to check out the border crossing (it is a trip to see a mile of pickup trucks loaded with car parts and motorcycles waiting to get into Mexico), fuel up and grab a bite at The Bean Cafe. After lunch we backtracked to the suggested BDR loop off FM 170 including the BDRX3 extension. The off-pavement sections are all super fun although it is easy to be tempted to ride too fast. The loop around Sauceda Ranch Bunkhouse serves up some tricky, soft sections so stay on your toes. While this route doesn’t look that long on the map, we rode over 200 miles for the day. Plan your daylight accordingly.
DAY 4 ENDS A LITTLE EARLY
We decided to truck the bikes from Lajitas to Panther Junction inside Big Bend National Park. That’s almost smack dab in the center of the vast National Park. Heading north on 385 we turned right onto the BDRX1 Alternate harder route. This takes you to Old Ore Road that is a challenging desert two track that throws a little bit of everything at you. I either pegged one of the many ledges encountered or caught a rock wrong, but something poked a hole in my case, draining the engine oil without my knowledge (until the engine locked up). Lance rode back to his truck and drove it in from Old Ore’s southern end for a quick bike rescue. That ended our riding but we had logged 465 miles in 2.5 days so it wasn’t too much of a letdown.
SOME PARTING TIPS
There is a good chance we will not go back to Big Bend for a number of years. We got it covered. If you haven’t been there, do it now with the help of BDR. They make it so simple. Time wise, don’t even think of a summer visit. October through January sees cold mornings but pleasant afternoons. There is a chance for storms in the winter and even rain that will make some roads impassable. Finally, make sure your bike has a beefy skid plate. That’s cheap insurance.
SCHOOL’S OPEN
I ran photos years ago of an abandoned school in Globe, Arizona, that I figured would be torn down or eventually burnt to the ground. To my surprise and delight, somebody took the old school’s bones and turned the property into The Hill Street School Apartments. The developer did an amazing job and I wish them good luck filling the units. It is so cool to see history saved instead of bulldozed.
