Big Bend Ranch State Park 2025
As is our tradition, we spent a week of Christmas at our favorite location – Big Bend Ranch State Park. The interior main road was worse than usual due to the summer storms of 2025, but we made it to our spot, roughly 12 miles from turning off FM170 just outside Presidio, in an hour and 45 minutes. Those were a slow, grueling 12 miles.
Whenever we are in the interior of the park we have to visit our favorite trail there, Ojito Adentro Trail. It starts as your typical rocky desert trail but then takes you down into a riparian canyon that ends in a fantastic world of vibrant green where there is a spring and waterdrip. Definitely not a waterfall. The part of the trail that transitions from the desert to the lucious greenscape was also hit hard by them storms with large trees uprooted and strewn across the trail.
Our water pump went out on our first night. Fortunately, I had a spare and was an easy swap. Last time it went out was also on a Big Bend Ranch State Park annual trip, 2018 or 19. Once we returned I ordered an other one to have on hand. Just like last time, there were no signs it was about to go out. It just quit while I was brushing my teeth for the night.
This year’s commemorative Zippo I had made from our vacation turned out really well. A picture from one of our quiet evenings next to a campfire, showcasing the Van Winkle Lot B bottle I got from Mary, windmill in the background, and classic kerosene lantern. Every evening was spent just like that.
This was our 250th place (Presidio on December 20) and 251st place at Rancho Viejo in this 2015.5 Lance 1995. No generators allowed, but our 200 LiFe battery and 4 roof-mounted panels keep us up to power. Even enough to run our inverter for the crock pot roast Christmas dinner. Until next year, Big Bend Ranch. Gonna miss you.
