Santa Elena Canyon
Santa Elena Canyon is somewhere between a hike and a viewpoint. It is a short walk along the Rio Grande River bank into a canyon. Despite being short and easily accessible, this is one of the most scenic spots in Big Bend National Park and is definitely worth a visit.
To get to Santa Elena Canyon, you drive the full length of the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. This drive passes some of the most beautiful parts of the desert landscape and has views of the Chisos Mountains from the West. We did this drive at sunrise on New Year’s Day, which was one of the more striking sunrises I’ve ever witnessed. In retrospect, I wish we had found a good spot to pull over and photograph the scene, but instead it has to live on in our memory.
We arrived at Santa Elena shortly after sunrise. The color of the river, the canyon walls, the sky and foliage on the river bed were all incredible. The trail proceeds along the North (US) side of the river and dead ends about a mile into the canyon. There are several great places to photograph on the way in and out of the canyon. This hike gets crowded in the afternoon, so doing it first thing in the morning and then stopping at the hikes off of Ross Maxwell on the way back is a good idea. We didn’t see anyone while in the canyon, but the parking lot was starting to fill up when we got back to our car. Fantastic way to start the New Year!
