Big Bend Ranch State Park - Exploring the West Texas Desert

Our yearly tradition of making the trip to the Big Bend of Texas, continues as my friend Joey and I head to Big Bend Ranch State Park for two nights of camping and exploring the vast desert wilderness. While there, we test out the new 4-Runner's off-road capabilities, talk to the world on ham radio, hike to a scenic backcountry overlook, and enjoy the peace and solitude of being in one of the most remote areas of the country.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
01:30 - Marfa Pitstop
02:46 - Presidio (Last Gas)
04:09 - Airing Down
04:27 - Entering the Park
05:06 - Sauceda Ranger Station
05:55 - The Road to Camp
06:49 - Javelin Pens (Setting Up Camp)
07:37 - Sunset Dinner
09:33 - Old Fashioned
11:19 - Reaching out on HF
15:50 - "Balmy" Morning
17:23 - Trail to Mexicano Falls
21:45 - Hike to Crawford Smith Overlook
23:43 - Heading Back to Camp
25:48 - Chilly Wind
27:00 - Cold Morning
27:49 - Packing up Camp
28:18 - The Road Out of the Park
31:39 - Airing Up
32:52 - Scenic View Into Mexico
33:31 - Debriefing at K-Bob's
34:08 - Lunch at Cooper's
34:31 - Extro
#jeep392 #jeeprubicon #texasoutdoors #bigbend #toyota4runner #overlanding #camping #hamradio

[@Umbrarian]

Brad/Marco was funny. An alternate route out of Marfa is 2810, which turns into Pinto Canyon Road, and takes you to Ruidosa. Then take 170 to the park. The view coming down PCR is spectacular. Been on that hill climb/descent, it is steeper in real life. Chorro Vista is also a great campsite, has great hikes from campsite, especially to Madrid Falls.

[@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy]

Glad you liked our feeble attempt at humor. 😂 We’ll definitely have to check that route you mentioned. I feel like we barely scratched the surface and we still loved every minute. Can’t wait to head out there again and maybe camp at Churro Vista and check out the Madrid Falls hike at least. We were kind of limited on the camping since my trailer was counted as a “vehicle”. So, we basically could only choose between different “group” campsites.

[@W2IRT]

Jeeping and amateur radio, my two favourite hobbies!

[@wes61471]

Nice video, I camped at Chorro Vista this past December, my 2019 4Runner made it easily but did not escape pinstriping, although it wasn't as bad as a few years back when I camped at Pila de los Muchachos. BBSP is a beautiful place for sure. It sounds like Joey is fairly close to me, I'll keep an eye out for his Runner in my day to day driving.

[@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy]

Thank you! Big Bend, the region in general, continues to amaze us each new time we go there. Sounds like you've made some memorable trips there as well! I definitely want to check out some of the other campsites that you mentioned. I used to live up in that same general area as well. Joey and I met while talking on the ham radio during our work commutes. Lol!

[@SouthTXMojave]

What an awesome adventure, man. The place definitely looks very different from the national park for sure. More secluded which is a huge plus. I remembered the last vid where he say the 4runner getting out of Black Gap. Guess he did make the change. Hoping he liked it as much as the Rubicon. Really cool and very capable rig for sure.

[@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy]

Thanks! Yeah it's a totally different feel to it, but still similar in some ways. And that's right, I totally think that helped him decide that he wanted a 4Runner. Lol! I agree, it did great and these were the perfect trails for it.

[@connectingwiththeoutdoors81]

You guys know how to camp. Sweet trailer set up too!

[@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy]

Thank you!

[@kfvernon73]

Excellent video. I have plans to get there soon. I go back and forth on find nice route from Houston which means less time in the area or getting there as fast as possible even if it means I-10.

[@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy]

Yeah, I always tell myself next time I’ll take the US 90 route, which I did do on a previous trip to Arizona. But then I end up just taking the faster I-10 route. There’s a lot you can see just on the way there. But it would make the trip a lot longer.

[@mvferguson]

Great video - I enjoyed watching your camping adventures.

[@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy]

Thank you! 🙏🏽

[@chrisoneill3622]

Excellent video! You have me seriously considering adding radio comms to my Bronco, and now I am interested in HAM Radio!

[@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy]

Thanks! I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have!

[@jimmyj5038]

This was cool. Is there a video of joeys 4Runner setup, I would be interested in seeing that as a being fairly new to overlanding! Thanks

[@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy]

We don't have one as of yet but we'll have to keep that in mind for a possible future video! If you have any specific questions about his setup, let me know and I can pass them along to him. Thanks!

[@AlienSasquatch14]

I did Black Gap Road last summer in Big Bend National Park. It was so much fun!

[@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy]

That's a great trail! Love BBNP!

[@brodgers1861]

Nice video, really enjoyed watching!

[@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you!🙏🏽

[@brodgers1861]

I see you have videos at Hidden Falls, are you in the austin area?@@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy

[@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy]

@@brodgers1861San Antonio. Used to live in Austin area though (Round Rock)

[@gregoriosalas1174]

👍

[@texlee1640]

Did I miss why he chose to move from a Jeep to the 4Runner? We love staying out at Guale 1 and 2.

[@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy]

I wanted Guale 2, but the trailer counts as a “vehicle” so we exceeded the vehicle limit of most of the campsites in the park with the exception of the group sites. And with the Jeep, I think after owning it for many years he just got his fix and was looking for something a bit more road friendly that could still do some mild off-roading.

[@toddhoffmaster6057]

Are the camp sites first come first serve or do you need to make reservations? I love me some Coopers BBQ. Some of the best in TX.

[@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy]

They are reservable on the Texas State Parks website, or the visitor center. But probably best to reserve ahead of time. We booked ours a week in advance. We were a little limited on our choice of sites because the M1102 trailer was considered a “third vehicle” and we had to choose from a choice of group sites. It actually turned out to be a really good one with a nice large flat area for us to use. Still very rustic and yet felt remote.

[@pecosriverstyle]

Did you ever see Mexicano Falls?

[@TheNotSoOrdinaryCarGuy]

No. We just headed back after the Crawford Smith Overlook. It was already mid afternoon and we wanted to get back to camp while there was still daylight.