Best RV Parks & Resorts near Big Bend National Park

As the saying goes, When in Rome ... staying at BJs RV park was like an immersion experience to living in Terlingua. You feel the history and past of days gone by, with the ghost town of Terlingua and the junk yard behind the RV camping area. Both the town and the junk yard take on a mysterious magical quality in the light at the end of the day. Lots to learn about the history of the place and one great way to learn is to talk with the locals, both in the town and those living in the RV park (temporarily or long term-in addition to those passing through like us). Besides the history of the place, you also learn about the hopes and dreams of the locals - such as the artist cooperative gallery, the RV park manager who hopes to open a cafe / outdoor music spot, and so forth.

The RV sites are all clean and level with electricity, water etc. There’s also a shower house. One note: the wifi doesn’t reach the tent sites (but works fine in RV sites) so we let a young woman traveling alone move her car from her tent site to park overnight on our site so she could use the wifi and check in with her loved ones. We enjoyed sharing some food and conversation with her, as well as meeting other campers and residents.

Terlingua ghost town itself is fun to explore. Many visitors flock to the Starlight Theater (which used to have no roof other than the stars in the sky above). The line to get in is hours long (apparently great menu), but we relished the Frito Pie at the cafe on the side (no wait for that). The art gallery is also worth the visit, and it’s fun to just walk around the ghost town. Of course it’s also a great location for visiting Big Bend NP. We especially loved hiking into Santa Elena Canyon - spectacular.

Terlingua and BJs RV park are hopeful places, with lots of history in a beautiful remote setting that feels like a crossroads in time and place. Really enjoyed it. Would be happy to return.

OK the campground is a parking lot and I mean a parking lot. Each spot is 2 parking spots. It is all asphalt. No Cell Phone, No Internet, no TV nothing. But was the best place we have been to. If you want full hook ups for camping it is the only one in Big Bend National Park. they only have 25 sites all back in. Pay for showers if you don't have your own. But catch the sunrise and sunsets. Hike to Boquillas Canyon, the hot springs down the river or all over Rio Grande Village. Drive to all of Big Bend and spend days hiking Mountains, Deserts, River, Canyons. The most beautiful area in the World at least to me.

Just outside the park, in Big Bend terms, lies the town of Study Butte. There you can find most of the things you might have forgotten, including some available camping in a traditional RV park.  Not usually our style, but it was late and we had just had a huge day of bikepacking and kayaking in the park, so were ready to stop for the night and sleep.

If your rig just won’t handle the backcountry roads, or size limitations of the National Park, this is a good option for full hook-ups. We parked in the “dry camping” area, which was really just an open area on their lot near the dumpsters, but it suited our needs for the night at $26 – supply and demand! 

The bathrooms were clean and the showers hot, but did require $2 in quarters for 6 minutes. I get it, water is gold out in the western deserts, and the season for making money in this part of the world is probably short. Everything here is going to cost a little bit extra because of the challenging location. 

We enjoyed a takeout pizza from Long Draw Pizza, which was huge and super delicious. After three nights in a backcountry setting we really enjoyed splashing out. The café which is connected to the RV park is a great choice for breakfast, we recommend the burritos– very delicious but definitely add the potatoes!

We stayed here for four days over thanksgiving and have nothing bad to say about this place whatsoever. Friendly staff. Views from inside the park are great as well. There’s a general store right outside if you need or forgot anything and only about a 20 min drive to Big Bend entrance. Also there are a lot of activities we didn’t try right inside the resort just because of everything going on with COViD but next time we’ll try for sure. Also if you head right out of the RV park entrance, you’ll soon enter Big Bend Ranch State park within minutes and it’s almost just as impressive as big bend with some of the views and trails you can access from it. Closed Canyon trail is a must see as well as the hoodoos trail. Also they do have full hook ups, and 30AMP and 50 AMP.

Terlingua's only 3rd generation local owner and operator buisness. Located at the base of the Terlingua Ghost Town your within walking distance of everything in the historic Terlingua ghost town including 4 restaurant's 3 bar's and live music nightly plus there also directly between the Big Bend National Park and the Big Bend Ranch State Park. It's a rustic yet authentic Terlingua experience if you want an adventure this is a good place set up camp. The owner is friendly, informative, and helpful Elena is a phone call away. To top it off Jomommas RV Park has received recognition from the McDonald's observatory and eartsky.com for there dark sky and star viewing friendly lighting so be ready to definitely enjoy some of the best night sky's in North America not to mention some pretty amazing sunset's. It's not like the larger RV Parks in the area you can really get a feel for real desert living, with fewer people and rustic landscape.

We stayed at Road Runner RV Park in February of 2021 in the middle of the snowpocalypse that hit Texas in February of 2021. Allison and Chris, the owners, are great people that went around and checked to make sure that everyone had fresh water as the temps dipped into the single digits and they had to turn off the water lines. Chris and Allison went around in their truck with a fresh water container and a pump and filled every RV up. They even made sure to catch us as we got back from dinner at dusk that evening. 

They just opened this park on Christmas Eve of 2020, and they were yet to get their wifi hookup, but you can tell they are vested in providing a great park and a great service. The RV park is ideally located in the Study Butte area with great access to Big Bend national Park, Terlingua Ghost Town, and Big Bend Ranch State Park. Entrances to each Park is within 10 minutes. They also have very convenient access to the Cottonwood Grocery, the Alon gas station, and Black Jack’s crossing. 

This is definitely a destination area, and we intend to make it back. The sites are all gravel, as it is the Chihuahuan desert. So it will be a little dusty, but that is part of the natural beauty of the area. DB’s rustic barbecue is right across the road and Starlight theatre, and Terlingua ghost town is about 5 miles to the west.

We had a wonderful stay at the RV Village. It is a paved RV parking area with full hookups including water and sewer. We felt very safe. We stayed for 5 days and still couldn't see it all. Great back country hikes and lots of off road trails that require a high clearance 4 wheel drive vehicle (We saw regular cars on the trails as well) and the roads are well graded at this time of year. There are so many places to bike as well. Kids will enjoy the fossil exhibit. The night sky was incredible.

When we first tried to book our Xmas week Big Bend trip, all campgrounds inside the park were full. We found this on The Dyrt and figured we would stay a night or two and get a spot at the Rio Grande Village inside Big Bend, which is the only full hook up place inside the national park (FYI RGV is phone reservations only and usually has spots open).

We were surprised at how much we enjoyed staying at the Stillwell Ranch RV Park and ended up staying a full week for only $150 with electric and water hookups.

There are 3 sections to this campground. The full hookup sites, which we had originally booked, are up by the store and are fairly cramped with limited views. However, the Electric & Water only hookups across the street offer much better views and even though the campground is set up as a gravel parking lot to pack people in, it was Xmas and we were one of 8 campers. Lots of space. We had the "end" spot so the views were pretty epic. 

The 3rd area is a ranch road with some pull offs for boon docking or tent camping and are even more "dispersed." 

There are two cons: First, the dust. Which I'm fairly certain you would find camping anywhere in the desert. Especially near the once volcanic Big Bend. Coming from the the Atlantic Coast, the insanely arid dusty air was a new experience. But we loved it. And it made for amazing sunrises, sunsets and star gazing. 

The second con for us was the water pressure. Maybe 10-12 PSI at best. It is well water and even with a high-end filter, even the water tasted "dusty."

We set up an outdoor shower tent next to our camper and were able to camp for an entire week without needing to dump since we did all showers outside.

The store it self is small, and has a a few things that are pricey, but much cheaper than driving an hour north to Marathon to find a grocery. So come well prepped with food and bev. Big Bend is HUGE and you want to minimize store visits.

Stillwell does have gasoline available, but only 87 Octane. No propane (bring extra tanks if you have a propane fire pit like we do).

The laundry room was clean and only $1.25 per load. Their campground showers/ bath house is a bit outdated. While you can use the bathrooms, their showers are currently closed due to COVID.

Overall, only 8 miles to Big Bend's north entrance, and then another 3 miles to the first trail head "Dog Canyon," it's a great place to stay when compared to the other options which we checked them all out:

- RV Campgrounds near West Entrance: The little town of Study Butte/ Terlingua does offer small grocery store and several RV parks. But the campgrounds here are all asphalt parking lots and you are packed in. And even though you have bigger mountains in your view, you also have the dusty less than amazing views of all this small town. Powerlines everywhere and lots of noise.

- Inside Big Bend - First, we went to Rio Grande RV Village... it's a small asphalt parking lot. You are packed in and when we went through, the entire place smelt like sewage. So happy we avoided this one. 

Chisos Basin is an epic spot, BUT, like many national parks you are stacked on top of your neighbors. While I feel confident we could have safely pulled our 23' travel trailer down the winding roads, there are only a handful of spots in the basin campground big enough for a camper. Would have loved the views and close proximity to trails, but we prefer a more secluded feeling and Stillwell gave us just that...even though we had to drive more.

Cottonwood Campground down by the St. Elena Gap is nice too, but again, you're packed in there.

Overall, very happy with our choice at Stillwell and would stay there again in the E/W only spots.

Stunning location with full hook ups and the option to Boondock for a little bit less per night if you have the ability. The owner is very friendly and the park is very well-maintained. 

They do indeed still have full hook-up rental spaces for travel trailers! We have a 27’ and we were fine (maybe call if you are one of those big fifth wheels to be sure). Terlingua’s a funny place in the best way possible so your not gonna fine incredible signal or high speed internet in these parts but my husband was still able to work full time online from here. The owners are super sweet and her art studio is worth checking out. We walked to a bar every other night and it’s easy access to hike Big Bend daily.

We stayed 4 nights April 2021 when the moon was absent. RV park has dark out rule after dark. Beautiful at night. Great hikes right there at the Maverick Ranch. RV park hookups were stable at 120V. Our shower head fell and broke on the trip in. Park manager had a spare to loan. There are no stores around to buy a fixer. Very nice folks. Bring provisions, everything is pricey around Lajitas and Terelingua.

Perfect RV park in a remote part of Texas. WONDERFUL staff and amenities. Everything you need. It's a dark camp so if you have issues turning off your camper lights before 9 or 10 depends on the season this isnt your place. Best stars and moon viewing you'll experience! Close to Big bend and terlingua and all of that area. I will be back and cant say enough good things!!

Chisos Campground is the place to camp on Big Bend National Park. It is a high elevation location and many great hiking trails from the location. As a landscape photographer, this was a fantastic place to camp. Nice sized sites, however, no hookups & only 8 sites that allow generators. There were no wood fires when I was there last October.

This is the very first time we have stayed at this RV Park...well this week was EVERYONE’S first time staying at this RV park. It just had it’s soft” opening the week of Christmas. So although it is new and still working on completion of all their facilities(only sewer and electric currently available) the owners went out of their way with ensuring they did daily water deliveries to All campers. Mind blowing since when booking we knew that the water was not yet ready to go so fully expected to have to run out occasionally to fill up. That service alone makes me give it 5 stars but there is so much more that these owners do to make sure your stay is enjoyable. They answer all your questions about the local area, advise you of any weather that is concerning, provide great restaurant recommendations and encourage all the park guests to come together every evening around the community campfire to talk about their Days adventure, or your travel journeys. This was my favorite part(safe outdoor social distancing, of course). They have plans to have a bath house, dog park, and community area with games. I can not wait to return next year just to see how they progress. My gut tells me that this will be the“Oasis” destination in the desert. Thank you Chris and Allison for the wonderful memories of our first trip to Terlingua!