Best Tent Camping near Big Bend National Park

The skies at night are big and bright....deep in the heart of Texas! This is a beautiful - completely off the beaten path - well lots of amenities campground. We were there over Memorial Weekend, expecting it to be crowded, it was not. They have 101 camping spots for RV's - plenty of room to spread out. Big spaces can accommodate any size rig. We were pleasantly surprised with the lounge and swimming area, well kept, clean, everything you could need. If you need groceries, bring them with you, there is a small local store that caters high end good products, but not a lot of them. One local restaurant, one local bar, all part of the resort - if you want to golf, horseback ride, hike, all is available. The nearest anything though is Terlingua (which isn't much.)
What is great about the park is that it is the best available camping near Big Bend National Park. Big Bend is huge and beautiful, lots of water, hot springs, 4 wheel drive trails - it's a park that has a lot of history too. Go there, and go to the Big Bend State Park too - lots of local color.

3 large sites that share one parking area.  vistas and views are incredible and almost located exactly in the "middle of nowhere".  wonderful place to watch sun rise and set over mountains.  One large bear box that is shared by all three tent sites. great base camp to explore the southern half of the park and you could spend your entire trip never seeing a paved road.  Around 20-30 mnt travel time from Panther Junction to site.  There is one considerable dip in road leading to site that may prevent all but the shortest tongued pull behinds from reaching the site. If you do get a trailer there, it will be staged in the parking area as the wooden borders that designate the tent camp areas are too narrow to get any vehicle thru. Be prepared to be isolated and tranquil and all the beauty that comes with it!!

Colima 2 is a primitive campsite in the Chisos Basin in Big Bend National Park on the Colima Trail. My boyfriend and I backpacked to the campsite from the Chisos Basin trail head down Pinnacles trail to Boot Canyon. The Northeast Rim trail was closed at the time due to respecting space for the peregrine falcons and their nests. The night before, we camped in the Rio Grande campground which wasn't secluded enough for us, so we decided to reserve this campground at the Chisos Basin Visitor Center the next morning. Camp was super easy to set up here. There was a bear box included and plenty of flat ground for easily tent setup. There was PLENTY of tree coverage which was nice because it got hot out in the afternoons under the sun. We chose this campsite because we wanted to hike the South Rim on the same day. We offloaded some weight from our backpacking packs after setting up camp in the mid afternoon, got to hike the South Rim for the remaining hours of daylight, and enjoyed dinner back at Colima 2. The next day, we hiked back to the Chisos Basin trail head on the Laguna Meadows trail. Colima 2 offered the seclusion from other campgrounds we were wanting, and it's definitely on our radar when we return to Big Bend National Park.

The Chisos Basin in Big Bend National Park is cool whether you’re in a tent or a camper. It has a ton of pros: bathrooms close by, being the coolest place in the park (serious bonus in the summertime), close proximity to hiking trails (don’t miss the Window trail!!!) and it close enough to the Chisos Basin restaurant and store you could walk if you’re feeling ambitious (it IS uphill haha!). My only complaint for this campground is how cramped it feels! If you’re trying to get away from it all and feel open space around you Chisos may not be your best bet. Sites are small and very close together.