Upper & Lower Madera Campground — Big Bend Ranch State Park

Pretty close to the highway but mostly quiet . Many coyotes and javelina . Lajitas is just down the road with a good store . The state park is less traveled than Big Bend National Park . The view from this campsite was quite nice . Overlooks the Rio Grande and Lower Madera campsites . Pit toilets were new down low and the upper one was under construction , no water .

My brother and I layed our sleeping bags under the big sky stars after an evening dip in the Rio Grande at the Lower Madera campground in March 2022. There are about 17 sites that you must reserve at one of the 3 visitor centers in the park. You cannot reserve a specific site in the campground—just a space generally and then you go select your site. We stayed at site 17–closest to the “boat ramp” but shielded by a sandy berm. The campground is on the US-Mexico border but it feels safe because there are cliffs on the Mexico side with no sign of people. The river was about waist high at the boat ramp when we visited but if you walk about 100 yards upstream, there is a grassy bank along gentle rapids with boulders. There is a bathroom at the entrance. Good times.

If you wanna place where you’re not gonna have phone service, or you’ll hear coyotes in the middle of the night, wake up to the most beautiful views, and a well set up site. This is a place to go.

There's a little confusion when you drive in to this campground. As another reviewer states, the entrance into Lower Madera is not clear although Upper is well marked.

The lower campground has a loop of sites #1 to 15 and then 2 separate, much larger sites #16 and #17. You make a reservation on line for a site, but you are not assigned one; you simply show up and pick one. We felt like surely #16 and #17 must be specially reserved as why would anyone want to be in the loop of 15 if one of these others were available!! We ended up taking #16 as it was empty and  the people in #17 later told us the previous campers had just left when we pulled in thus its availability.

The drawback to 16 and 17 is there is a constant parade of canoe outfitters coming in and out to drop off and pickup canoes which is why I took one star off for this review and why the loop may be preferred. However the sites are so much bigger with more privacy and close to the toilets'. Not sure why there are two toilets' down here and none on Upper Madera.  Be sure to bring plenty of water.  We came here after leaving Tascate in the Interior of the BBRSP so after leaving there we went to Fort Leaton and checked in for Lower Madera instead of going all the way over to Barton Warnock.

We were here 2/26/21 until 3/5/21 Daytime highs anywhere from 60 to 90 and lows mid 30 to mid 50 at night. Always Windy.

Our Rig is a Truck camper on a one ton truck

Big Bend National Park had no open campsites, like none, but Big Bend Ranch State Park (right next door) had multiple options, all with good road access. We were surprised and delighted!

The information on the State Park website is confusing at best. Much of the park lies along poor dirt roads leading into the interior of the park. Backcountry campsites there are numerous and offer those willing to bounce along the 27 miles of dirt road exactly what they want, seclusion and beauty. This park is stunning. 

What the website doesn’t make clear, at least we couldn’t find it, is that several camping areas lie right off the perfectly paved road that follows the Rio Grande from Lajitas to Presidio, TX.  Just a note about HWY 170, there is one major incline and decline, just west of Madera Canyon at a 15% grade that is not for the faint of heart or an underpowered towing vehicle. 

We camped in site 6 of Lower Madera Canyon, and simply loved it. Each site has a picnic table, with sun shade, and a campfire ring. The composting pit toilets were well maintained, and didn’t smell at all. 

Hiking and biking options are close by, and Big Bend Ranch is a famous location for Mt. Biking and float trips down the Rio Grand. The campground has access to the river so be sure to plan a float trip. Permits are available at the park’s visitor’s center, or you could also go with an outfitter located in Terlingua. 

Potable water was only available at the Park’s Visitor Center, so plan accordingly.  No electrical hook-ups, so bring your solar panel!

The towns of Terlingua and Study Butte offer options for groceries, gas and restaurants. Just outside the park there are a few options in Lajitas, or TX as well. To the west lies the larger town of Presidio which has the normal selection of services of any good-sized town, USA.

This pin is actually across the road from where the Upper & Lower Madera campgrounds are. As the name suggests, one is on a plateau and one is on the ground/ river level. There is a clearly marked sign for Upper Madera, but the sign to turn for Lower Madera is simply a “river access” sign. The Lower Madera sign is visible only once you turn onto the road.

I stayed for a few nights at Lower Madera because it’s the closest thing I could find to Big Bend National Park, which is still about an hour drive away. Luckily the drive up and down River Road is absolutely stunning!

I stayed in site 10, which was a bit set back from the road and could have easily fit another tent or two. I also prepaid/ reserved my stay through the Texas SP website for $12 a night.

Lower Madera is fairly desolate, there were only three other campers that I spotted throughout my two nights there. The highway was not heavily trafficked to begin with, but the plateau of Upper Madera blocks any sound that might come through. The river gurgling in the short distance is nice. This is a GREAT place for stargazing as this and the surrounding area is a designated dark sky.

Speaking of the Rio Grande, most of the shoreline is covered in brush, with an opening for boat access. From what I could tell, this boat access ramp is really the only place you can truly get to the river’s edge at the campground.

Wildlife spotting: skunks and javelinas. You can hear the coyotes yipping and howling in the middle of the night or early in the morning, but I didn’t actually see any. The skunk and javelina both went on their way when I shined my flashlight on them.

There is absolutely ZERO cell service. You may be able to pick up some phone calling service or even 3G data around Lajitas, but LTE is nonexistent out there. There is WiFi at the visitor centers within the national park.

The picnic table is metal, easy for cleaning! The fire ring was in great shape too, but there was a burn ban in effect when I came through a few days ago. There is a lot of brush to separate the campsites, but not really much for shade trees.

I would stay here again, but no longer than two nights, with a tight activity plan in place.

A group of 7 friends stayed at Lower Madera. Each site has a canopy, picnic table and a metal pole to hang a trash bag. 2 of us kayaked the river down to the next camp site and had a good time. We saw horses drinking from the river as well as ducks swimming. We hiked Closed Canyon and off roaded at Las Burras Canyon. We all had a great time and are planning on going back next year.

There are various places to camp along the highway. Some may be accessible to RVs but I understand the road becomes very steep in spots. (We went about halfway.) Campgrounds are all primitive but there are some nice locations. Some have primitive toilets. We did not go into the “center” of the park since we wanted to stay on better roads. Overall, the area is beautiful in the winter.

Big Bend Ranch State Ranch is quite different than Big Bend National Park. While much of the national park has sky islands (mountains), much of the state park is classic desert. The park stretches from the desert to the Rio Grande River. There is a scenic road that runs along the river with a number of campsites. The campsite are drive up campsites, but somewhat primitive in nature in that there are not restrooms with toilets, sinks and showers. There are picnic tables and fire rings, but that is about it. There is not much shade cover at these campsites so it is helpful if you have a tent or canopy shade. The attraction of this park is the expansive views of the desert that one is able to view. The heat and lack of cover can be tough on the body, so bring lots of water and hydrate. Outside the park are some interesting towns like Terlingua and the old silver mining town of Safter.