Big Bend and Beyond - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 749

6. Basin Drive
Shaped like a gigantic bowl, the Chisos Basin offers such amenities as a lodge, a camp-
ground,andarestaurant. Butit'sthegreensurroundingpeaksoftheChisosMountainsthat
make this spot a highlight of the drive. Among the pinnacles towering over the basin is
Casa Grande, a monumental stone castle that is truly breathtaking in scale. Like its fellow
spires, Casa Grande was formed when molten rock forced its way up through limestone
bedrock; much of the limestone was later eroded away, leaving these dramatic summits
standing free.
Trails here range from Window View, an easy stroll affording vistas through a break
in the basin wall, to strenuous hikes into the highlands. White-tailed deer, mountain lions,
and many black bears range through these mountains, but the park's most famous critter is
the tiny gray-and-yellow Colima warbler. Naturalists from all over the world trek to Boot
Canyon to see this bird, which nests nowhere else in the United States.
Volcanic ash formed layers of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park between 38 and 32 million years ago.
Today rain, plants, and animal life help continue to sculpt them.
7. Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive
Back on Rte. 118, the drive heads west toward Santa Elena Junction, where a turnoff leads
south onto the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive—a 31-mile tour (requiring at least half a day)