No, I didn't take this photo! All my pictures are snapshots. I just thought this was cool.

A click on most pictures, and the map, for larger image. Use your browser's BACK arrow to return.

This is the best detailed map of the State Park that I have come across. FM 170 is the road along the south of the park. The east most town, which is just out of view is Presidio. You can see Fort Leaton State Historical Park just below the brown line. That's where you check in to the park. The main entrance to the ranch is on the west to east road, north of FM 170. You can make out the headquarters, Sauceda, just right and above the center of the map. I've circled that as well. The brown circle in the lower third center locates the Rancherias Loop and Canyon trails as well as the Closed Canyon Trail. The circle in the bottom right locates the Contrabando movie set location. We spent the bulk of our time in the interior of the park. On the next page you will see some of the sights along FM170 and the National Park after leaving the interior of the ranch. The larger version of this map is pretty good. Click on it for more detail.

This is a fairly long page, so I have added the following tags to the topics that follow.

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They will be repeated to give you some flexability in browsing.
Left Carolyne is unlocking the main gate to Big Bend Ranch State Park. Some had more trouble with that than others.

Sauceda - Ranch Headquarters

View from just inside the main gate entrance.

The "Big House" was our place for three nights at the ranch. It was originally occupied by the owners.

View from the back of the courtyard toward the main gate entrance.

The Bass' & Smiths in the kitchen.

 

Relaxing in the den.

Each couple had the opportunity to prepare dinner one of the three nights we spent there.

If you didn't notice, all rooms except the kitchen have a functional fireplace.

Randall served one of his specialties, quail.

Bob grilled steaks.
Somehow I failed to get any photos of the bedrooms, sorry.

This painting hung in the dining room on the wall opposite the fireplace.

We took some really nice hikes, both high and low.

None of them were printed on a map. The Ranger at Fort Leaton marked them in pencil for us.

This first hike to Cinco Tinajas Trail has two accesses to the "five standing pools". The view above is well below the pools. We went around the block to get next door on this one. The pools lie in the crevace you see in the background. It was imposssible to get through that way back to the trail head.
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Here you see Bob & Randall climbing up to the pools. They got a good look at this lower end, but could not go beyond the first pool. I wouldn't go that far, slippery shoes......

 
This is the view of the cinco tinajas from the top side.

 

The one variety of cactus that was blooming at the ranch was the Claret Cup, a most beautiful treat. This one was at the trail head.

The Ojito Adentro Trail

(Little Spring Within)

took us up a cottonwood filled draw to a ledge where spring water was seeping into a small pool.

It was quite a refreshing rest stop.
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Carolyne is looking back down at me from where the trail became an obstacle course of large boulders

 
The gang is accumulating here at the ledge and pool to select a comfortable place to park for a while.

 

Our most challenging hike was to the top of Oso Peak, the highest point in the park. It's off the Oso Loop in the Bofecillos Highlands. Basically it's an area formed by the uplift of volcanos. The loop is a 6 mile narrow clearance "jeep trail" that requires a high clearance vehicle. I scraped bottom more than once (in the truck).
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Here's Martha sitting right smack on top of Oso Peak, congratulations Martha!

Carolyne is pointing to the top of Oso Peak. To the left is the park marker describing the site.

 

This is the point at which we started the ascent. It really wasn't far, but it seemed straight up.

This is a view from the top looking east, as best I can figure. When I learn how to assemble panaramas, I'll add one taken from here.

 

Once at the bottom we hiked to the edge of the canyons you saw in the preceeding photo. Bob & Cathy are resting at our stopping point at the top of a waterfall, water unpredictable, which limited our access.

The Oso Peak conquering hiking team.

 

Another hike we took together was up a draw we called Boy Scout Draw. I don't know it's real name, and I'm sure there must be one, but upon entering the park, we encountered a boy/girl scout troup taking lunch here under the cottonwood trees. The draw was the tuff uplifts which housed many caves of all sizes, perfect for an infinite variety of inhabitants. The cliffs were "closed" as were all of the unadvertised really good places.
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This was also a pleasant hike among the tuff cliffs. We encountered the king of claret cup cactus on this journey.

A number of yucca were blooming too.

 

So ended my journal of hikes at the ranch, I hope you enjoyed the images.

There was life after the hikes. It consisted of relaxing and reflecting on the adventures.
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Bob Bass crashed in a rocker by the fire.

I stared at the ceiling, contemplating the chandelier.

 

I'm sure we all enjoyed a warm tub, but I'm the only one I got a picture of doing so.

Carolyne took solace on the veranda doing what I don't know.

A cigar after dinner was optional. But doc and doc usually embibed.

There were other residents sharing our space at Sauceda.
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Could it be the Texas mascot?

 

Could this be a descendent of Laurance of Arabia's mount?

Impressive in any case!

In search of the perfect sunset I encountered wildlife along the way. And though all sunsets are perfect in their own way, I captured only a couple that are respectable representations.
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This is my favorite.

Others include...

and

Wildlife encountered included
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