Burro Mesa Pouroff -- Big Bend National Park, Brewster County TX
N 29° 14.141 W 103° 24.060
13R E 655398 N 3235156
The waterfall (pouroff) at Lower Burro Mesa is a dry wash that fills with flash floods, resulting in a dramatic waterfall that has carved unusual features this box canyon
Waymark Code: WMTZB1
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/27/2017
Views: 3
The Burro Mesa Pouroff (an intermittent waterfall) can be reached by either the Upper or Lower Burro Mesa Pouroff trails in Big Bend National Park. The Upper trail tracks across the top of the mesa to the top of the pouroff, and looks down into the box canyon carved by the waterfall. There is no access to the bottom of the box canyon from the Upper trail.
The Lower Burro Mesa Pouroff Trail tracks through Javelina Wash to the site of the pouroff. This trail passes through through eons of flood-debris and the dramatic water-carved box canyon to the site of the pouroff.
A sign at the trailhead reads as follows:
"BURRO MESA POUROFF TRAIL
Flash flood waters from Javelina Wash drainage come funneling down the pouroff, a dry fall hidden from view in the narrow box canyon. As you hike to the site, think water power. The last few hundred yards of trail follow a dry wash full of flood debris. The gully's steep banks, and the sand and cobbles shifting beneath your feet are evidence of the torrents that carve the high pouroff."
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visit link)
"The Burro Mesa Pouroff Trail is a short, easy hike to an unusual canyon feature, in desert terrain half way along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, the access road to the southwest section of Big Bend National Park. Shortly after the road descends from the foothills of the Chisos Mountains after Sotol Vista Overlook into the flatter land below, a short side road forks north for 1.5 miles to the trailhead. From here, a well-used 0.5 mile path winds through a sandy area with cacti and bushes then follows the course of a dry streambed to the base of a high, vertical cliff, where the occasional flood waters pour down from a narrow slit in the rock, about 100 feet above. The stream has carved a smooth channel in the cliff face, exposing pretty colors and strata, and the location is quite photogenic."
IMPORTANT: Be cautious when hiking in washes in the desert. Flash floods can occur without warning, and with no sign of rain at your location.