Santa Elena Canyon Trail -- Big Bend NP TX
N 29° 10.034 W 103° 36.634
13R E 635119 N 3227311
A shirt flat trail leads to Terlingua Creek, the Rio Grande, and Santa Elena Canyon
Waymark Code: WMTZMC
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/28/2017
Views: 3
There are actually 2 trails sharing this trailhead: the short .25 mile long Santa Elena Canyon Trail that takes you to Terlingua Creek, and the longer 1.7 mile Santa Elena Canyon Trail that takes you across the creek, and up into the canyon.
Parking and restrooms are at the trailhead.
We took the longer trail, but either one affords spectacular views of Santa Elena Canyon.
The interpretive sign for Santa Elena Canyon is located at a roadside pullout about 1.5 car miles away. This lookout, located off of the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive near the Castolon Visitor Center, was a beautiful place for a snack on our way to hike into Santa Elena Canyon.
The interpretive sign at the overlook reads as follows:
"SANTA ELENA CANYON
The view that river level gives no clue to the extent of Canyon carving. Santa Alayna Canyon is 8 miles (13 km) long and 1500 feet (450 m) deep. In some places the canyon is only 30 feet (9 m) wide at the bottom.
Except during flood season, the quiet waters below do not seem powerful enough to have carved Santa Elena Canyon. Hike the short trail to the river and look closely at the water, cloudy with sand and silt. Like liquid sandpaper, the swift current files away Santa Elena’s hard limestone, cutting it deeper. In a raft or canoe you can actually hear the grit hissing along the hull.
For a closer look at the canyon’s depth, hike the 1. 7 mile round-trip trail to 1 of the narrowest points in the gorge.
The Rio Grande established its present course on basin filling sediments that covered the rocks and faults we see expose today. The river eroded through the surface layers and cut steep-sided canyons and the more resistant lower Cretaceous limestones. Today you can see those ancient limestone formations exposed in the canyon walls."
Trailhead/trail website: [Web Link]
Trail allowances or restrictions:
No dogs
No bikes
No camp fires
No overnight camping
Trail type: concrete in places, dirt in places, river rocks in places
Parking: Not Listed
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