Terlingua Ranch

We camped at Terlingua Ranch with a 37' TT. Will NEVER do it again. There are very limited sites that will accommodate a large trailer. The road to get to those sites "up on the hill" is quite steep, sharp turns, narrow and rough gravel. You need a 4WD vehicle and nerves of steel... (We have a Dodge RAM 2500 and have towed from GA to TX and UT without issue before.)

We made reservations quite a bit in advance - at the lower rates of $24/$28 - specifically site #17 because it had room to set up a tent. On arrival, we were told we had been moved to #15, but could NOT get our camper up that hill (the one we booked had "sewer problems") and there's very little space to park a big camper - your steps will hang over the road or over the cliff... It is steep and very rocky.

After driving out to the ranch on first 13 miles of paved road and then 3 miles of dirt road at 20mph, we were pretty much stuck. High season in Big Bend, not a lot of options for a place to camp on cold nights. We were wedged into the lower camping area, across three sites, had to drive up into the parking area over some seriously rough and tight road to turn around in order to leave.

For set up, we had to drop the tongue all the way to the ground and were still 1.75 inches high in the front. (Dug into the gravel a bit in order to get the tongue down 9 inches.) W/E only. The person at the desk was peeved that we wanted to pay the lower rate for the lesser site. She wasn't interested in giving us the senior rate advertised and told me we were lucky that we were being charged the old rates because they were going to raise their rates.

Dump station is unlevel... we had to do multiple trips with a blue buddy to dump.

We were under the impression that there was room to roam at the Ranch - we went there because we thought we'd be able to have a fire, hike, get a meal and have fabulous views. Instead, it took forever to get set up, there is one trail and the front desk implied that wandering off of it might incur the wrath of the locals who were "armed" (yes, she told us this!) Everyone we met at the ranch was very nice, but it appears that there are some differing local opinions on whether they should be renting out campsites... There was trash to pickup, we had to trim tree branches in order to get backed up into the site. The bathhouse is old with a plastic curtain to pull across the shower. There are no "activities" unless you want to drive out of the Ranch to Big Bend - about 50 minutes to the BBNP entrance in Terlingua (Panther Junction).

The pros - it's very remote and most of the time quiet. (Had some motorcycle camping thing going on so it was noisy as they came and went.) The Bad Rabbit Cafe has excellent food and the folks working there were very nice. Prices were surprisingly reasonable. The other amenities were closed in March. There is a disk golf course, but if you aren't into serious uphill hiking to play disk golf, you may want to skip that one. All the people we met were very friendly. The WiFi in the lower campground was very good and the highlight of our stay. Not sure if you'd have WiFi in the upper sites. The view from the upper sites is gorgeous, but I wouldn't recommend staying in #14-16 if you're a big rig.

We will never camp there with our huge camper again. And don't believe the lady in the office when she says you will fit... She means well, but says whatever is needed to make the sale... I honestly don't think she has much of an idea of the issues involved with camping.

If you don’t mind getting your rig dusty and 16 miles off main road(last 3 washboard and dirt) this is a one of a kind! The cafe is amazing and well priced. Grounds are well kept. There free WiFi worked well. Sunrises and sunsets are priceless. There are only a few sites that will fit a 40+ft rv or 5th wheel. This place is not for everyone but if you are looking for peace and quiet away from it all this is it.