Driving The Texas Mountain Trail

Highway 170 along the Rio Grande

This modern river road was completed in 1961. It begins in the town of Presidio, Texas in the west. Make sure you fill the gas tank before leaving town. There won’t be any gas available for a while. Of course, you can end in Presidio if you drive it the other way. We began in Presidio.

Highway 170 east/west is one of the most beautiful drives in the country. People come from all over the world to drive this road that follows along the Rio Grande River on the Mexico/United States border.

The first point of interest is Fort Leaton State Historic Site. I wrote about this place in further detail and you can read about it here.

Fort Leaton is an entrance point and visitor center of Big Bend Ranch State Park. Big Bend Ranch State Park is the largest state park in Texas covering over 300,000 acres of rugged, desert and mountainous terrain.

The state park is filled with backroads and hiking trails. We attempted to drive down the back roads and a ranger in a pickup truck stopped us and said we better turn around or the car would probably get stuck.

There were no signs warning of 4x4 only, but the roads were pretty rough. There really wasn’t a lot to see back here anyway. There were a lot of camping spots, places to pull in and park, and hiking trails. No cell phone signal at all. My phone said SOS. We drove back to 170 and decided to stay on it.

On down the road you’ll see several Longhorns by the road. Well, they may not always be out there, but we were lucky enough to see them. Another opportunity for Rich to hit the brakes and do a U-turn.

We drove by a statue of the famous sculpture “The End of the Trail.” There is no sign or warning. I believe this is on someone’s private property because it was inside a fence. You can read about that here.

The views along the drive are breathtaking and I couldn’t take enough photos.

Be sure to stop and see the Hoodoos. You can walk a short one mile loop trail to see them close up. Pets are permitted on this trail. Hoodoos are stacked rocks, rock baskets, and rock alignments.

There are many picnic areas and pull-offs to park and eat lunch and just take in the views. Some of the picnic areas are quite creative.

The next major stopping point is the Contrabando Movie Set Site. Be sure to pull off and check it out. There is a public restroom at this site. I wrote about visiting this place here. This movie set was used in several famous movies.

Closed Canyon is a beautiful area to stop and see. A short trail takes you to a nice bench to sit and take in the scenery. You can continue down the trail to the canyon area. This trail is moderately difficult and I did not partake in it. We sat on the bench for a bit in silence and just rested.

Before long the road takes you to the town of Terlingua. The famous Ghost Town visited by people from all over the world. Walking through the Terlingua Cemetery is quite an experience. You can read about that adventure in the following article.

At the end of Big Bend Ranch State Park is the Barton Warnock Visitors Center. Highway 170 ends at Road 118. Turning left, or north, will take you on a long drive through the desert to the town of Alpine. Turning right will take you into Big Bend National Park.

If you ever have the opportunity to drive the Texas Mountain Trail, please do. It is filled with hiking trails through desert, canyon, and mountain terrain. Explore the stops. See the sights. Shop the stores along the way in the remote small towns. It is a beautiful area filled with awesome mountain scenery.

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