February 13th (part 1)

I started the day very early, heading into Big Bend then taking the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to Castolon on the Rio Grande River, a long, winding road over 45 miles ending at the Santa Elena Canyon. I stopped at Sam Neil’s Ranch – he discovered a spring which was created by a geologic fault and built a windmill and house and ran a ranch. He and his wife had 3 children, raised horses, chickens a milk cow, fruit trees, wheat, vegetables. There was plenty of water to have a full blown ranch.

I stopped at a number of other places along the way: saw Homer Wilson’s Ranch, took a side trip and hiked in Lower Burro Mesa Pouroff, got a number of views of the Santa Elena Canyon, saw Mule Ears rock formation, and Goat Mountain.

When I got to Castolon there was a Visitor Center, but it was pretty small. There was a ranger inside, he was friendly but not very active. Castolon had significant population from the 20s to the 60s and had a lot of history, they were close to the Mexican border and had plenty of water to raise cattle, grow cotton, etc. Today there is a nice campground on the river, Cottonwood, but very few rigs. I stopped at a Riverside pullout and had lunch there. There was a boat launch, so I waded in the river. There was a good close up view of the Santa Elena Canyon, but the pictures from there will be in the next travelogue.