Big Bend and Beyond - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 750

of some of the park's most striking scenery. Burro Mesa lies to the west, while the mighty
Chisos Mountains loom in the east. After a few miles, a view opens up back down and into
the basin, with Casa Grande beautifully framed by the so-called Window, a V-shaped cleft
in the peaks that is particularly photogenic at sunset.
A few miles beyond Sotol Vista (the last stop for those with trailers and recreational
vehicles, both of which are too large to negotiate the sharp curves and steep grades that lie
ahead), a spur road leads to a view of Mule Ears Peaks, a pair of pointed hills. As you near
the next landmark, 1,000-foot-tall Cerro Castellan, stop at Tuff Canyon, carved millions
of years ago by Blue Creek. After visiting Castolon, an old army post that once protected
residents from Mexican bandits, follow the paved road to Santa Elena Canyon, about eight
miles farther to the west.
8. Santa Elena Canyon
OfallthesublimesceneryatBigBend,thesightthatawaitsyouheremaywellbethemost
awesome. Over untold millennia, the gritty, silt-laden Rio Grande has—like a neverending
stripofsandpaper—wornitswaythroughthelimestoneMesadeAnguila,carvinganarrow
chasm with sheer sides of astonishing height. As you make your way along the trail into
SantaElenaCanyon,thewallsoftheabyssrisehundredsoffeetaboveyoulikeskyscrapers
on a city street, until the sky seems like just a thin ribbon high overhead.
AsyouexploreSantaElena,yourcompanionsarelikelytoincludenotonlyravens,but
river rafters. Whitewater float and canoe trips through this and the park's other canyons,
Mariscal and Boquillas, can be arranged through outfitters in nearby towns. Check current
waterconditionsbycallingparkservicestaffbeforedepartingfortheriver.Sometripstake
a few hours; others, several days. But all provide memories that will endure for a lifetime.