Weekend Trip to Big Bend - Need off road routes recommendations

Hello, we (3 - 4 of us) are heading to BB for Veteran's day weekend to ride off road in our Dual Sports (KTMs 500exc and 690 Enduro r).
We will spend two full days (Fri and Sat) and was hoping to get recommendations to plan our day's rides.

We would like to explore more Trails than Primitive Roads. Any suggestions/pointers will be appreciated.

For trails and only two days riding you would want to be at Big Bend Ranch SP near Presidio. But they are partially closed that week for hunting so some riding is lost, From their website.

Site Closure Alerts . . .

On the following dates the interior areas of the park will be closed:
*From 10 p.m. on Oct. 29 until 8 a.m. on Nov. 3, 2017.
*From 10 p.m. on Nov. 12 until 8 a.m. on Nov. 17, 2017.
*From 10 p.m. on Dec. 3 until 8 a.m. on Dec. 11, 2017.
Only drawn, permitted hunters will be allowed in during this time. Contact the park for more information.
During these times backcountry camping will be available South of Crawford-Smith and along the Rancherias Loop. The Contrabando Trail System and all sites along FM 170 (River Road) will remain open and accessible from Barton Warnock Visitors Center. Fresno Canyon trails south of the Chimney Rock Cut-Across, Closed Canyon and Hoodoos trails, river access, and Cienega Area North of Casa Piedra Road are open; including all roads in this area and the Alamito and Casa Ramon campsites (extremely difficult, 4x4 vehicle required to access).

This is Texas. Not a lot of off road trails in this state. Nothing like further west. Everything in the NP is passable even on big bikes and the SP isn't much better. With the hunting going on you might want to just go the NP and ride all the non paved roads there.

Go look up some of the "Around The Bend" posts there may be some routes or Tracks posted in them.

PM me - I have GPS a' plenty

Downs said:

Everything in the NP is passable even on big bikes and the SP isn't much better.

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We just finished a three-day trip through the SP - I'd say it's pretty darn different than the National Park. In the NP, there's only one 'unmaintained road' - black gap - and it's really only challenging for about .5 miles, if that (the "gap itself"). In the SP, there are many miles of 'unmaintained roads' - and all the ones we saw were a lot more challenging than anything in the NP. These are all dual track, no actual ridable trails there, but the Big Bend Ranch is easily the toughest riding in Texas I'm aware of (that's not an MX course).

For single track, I'd guess you'd need to head to Dell City, go north until the cold stops you.

Jeff S said:

We just finished a three-day trip through the SP - I'd say it's pretty darn different than the National Park. In the NP, there's only one 'unmaintained road' - black gap - and it's really only challenging for about .5 miles, if that (the "gap itself"). In the SP, there are many miles of 'unmaintained roads' - and all the ones we saw were a lot more challenging than anything in the NP. These are all dual track, no actual ridable trails there, but the Big Bend Ranch is easily the toughest riding in Texas I'm aware of (that's not an MX course).

For single track, I'd guess you'd need to head to Dell City, go north until the cold stops you.

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I love riding Big Bend SP!

Many Thanks for the input. It really helps. We will report how it went as soon as we make it back. Cheers!!

There are no 'trails' here in Big Bend. The land here is either privately owned, or in the two parks. A great deal of controversy has been raised by riders venturing onto private lands without permission. We have the primitive roads maintained to various degrees of pass-ability. Black Gap Road in the national park is the gnarliest one with the Old Ore Road northern portion being challenging enough to be fun. The state park raises the fun factor with its less maintained Jeep roads and its sheer remoteness.

Say hello if you see this middle-aged desert dude sitting on the porch this weekend, and check out the music at the Starlight Theater Friday and/or Saturday night. The ladies of Terlingua are putting on a gals only music performance there. It also happens to be our best restaurant and a fine full service bar.

PM trailboss and get his Big Bend Booklet. Gives you a LOT of info on the area and rides.

Hello All,

Well, we made it back in one piece. Here's a summary of our adventure:

It was 3 of us. 2 KTM 500 Exc and 1 KTM 690 Enduro r

Thursday:
-Left by the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) as planned by 7:am.
-Had a trailer tire blow-out (without major damage, except for a broker tail light which was temporarily repaired with red tape).
-Took some nice photos/videos at the Pecos River Rest Stop outside Del Rio.
-Got to the Vista de las Montanas Cabin by 7:pm (Extremely nice set up on this Double Wide Mobile home) http://www.bigbendvacations.com/montanas

Friday:
-We decided to ride the Big Bend State Ranch after all the input received about being a bit more primitive than the National Park.
-Late Start, grabbed lunch at El Patio Restaurant (513 O Reilly St, Presidio, TX). Real good Beef Fajita Burritos.
-Parked at Fort Leaton Visitor Center just outside on the East side of Presidio. Unloaded bikes and took Hwy 170 East towards Casa Piedra Road.
-Took Casa Piedra Road to Black Hill Loop. A bit tricky to find it, but eventually found the East loop and rode south.
-Once we hit the first major creek, we could not find the road south of it. Rode back and forth for about an hour (it turned out to be the most challenging part of our ride).
-Eventually found the road and headed South. We made it to the Botella Private Residence where the Police Officer overseeing the park gave us very useful recommendations for the the next day's ride.
-Ended up riding a total of 70 miles after riding into Presidio to fuel up for the next day.
-We were back in our cabin by 7:00 pm.

Saturday:
-We got an early start.
-This time we decided to park at the entrance of Bofecillos Road, of Hwy 170.
-One of our buddy's bike (KTM 500 EXC) would not since the key was left on over night. After trouble shooting it and a push start being pulled by the pick up truck, we got it going.
-We went up on Bofecillos Road to the main road and headed East towards Agua Dentro Pens.
-We took the Oso Loop and broke to La Burra (1,2,and 3) Road. Nice unmaintained roads.
-Doubled back from La Burra Road got back on Oso Loop and headed towards Wale 2 did some sight seeing at the end and doubled back into Wale 1.
-At Wale 1, we saw 3-4 tents. Took some nice video/photos and headed out.
-Rode out of Oso Loop East and headed towards Sauceda Ranger Station (SRT) where we had a bit of food we had packed and bought sodas at the visitor center. We met some nice riders from Houston who where staying at the dorms there at the SRT.
-Ended up riding 70 miles again.
-Got back to the cabin at around 7:pm

Sunday:
-Headed out by 8:30am
-Nice uneventful drive back home
-Was home by 7pm

Below a link to a Youtube Video I put together. 'bout 30 minutes long.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EFESsQHsyc&t=830s[/ame]

Again, thanks to all for your input. It helped a bunch in planning our trip.

Keep it on two...

Wicho,

Looking on the map I dont see the Wale 1 and 2 trail locations listed. Can you clarify? We are heading there in March and your video and information was really helpful in figuring out where to ride in the park. Thanks

FWdualsportrider said:

Wicho,

Looking on the map I dont see the Wale 1 and 2 trail locations listed. Can you clarify? We are heading there in March and your video and information was really helpful in figuring out where to ride in the park. Thanks

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It's actually Guale 1 and 2. Well worth the trip as the views are amazing.

Awesome thanks. I guess we should pick up a park map at the Visitor Center. We dont have a gps so we will be testing our map reading skills. Any advise on what to bring that is essential? Extra fuel?

Wicho2k said:

Eventually found the road and headed South. We made it to the Botella Private Residence where the Police Officer overseeing the park gave us very useful recommendations for the the next day's ride.

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So this police officer, he was nice? Did you catch his name by chance? Doesn't sound anything like the guy several folks here have had "run in's" with in the past. There used to be a great guy there named Barrett. Would be awesome if he was back.

Nice video and Info.Thanks