Saturday, April 16, 2022

Hiking the Closed Canyon Trail–Big Bend Ranch SP

Closed Canyon Trailhead sign
Closed Canyon Trailhead

Beginning of Closed Canyon

This is a short (just under two miles) out and back hike that starts at TX-170 and goes almost to the Rio Grande river through a box canyon.  I could  see the entrance to the canyon from the trailhead, but its not obvious when seeing it for the first time.

The trail is well marked, except for a small section that goes through a dried riverbed, but following along that in the general direction quickly revealed the entrance to the canyon. 

Hiking through-2

Along the hike through the canyon, there are several small drops to be navigated by climbing down the rocks that would form small waterfalls if the river was flowing, while the majority of the trail is made up of sand and small gravel.

End of trail

Along the way, there are areas of the canyon floor that have eroded to form small pools that were dry when I visited, but I can imagine them being used by the local wildlife as watering holes after rains pass through.

There is a sign at the end of the trail to let hikers know when they’ve gone far enough.  I suppose one could continue hiking past the sign, but it looks like the return trip might be difficult as the drop that I could see was a lot steeper and longer than the rest of them.

Overall I would classify this trail as “moderate” in difficulty.  Not because of distance or elevation change, but because of the small scrambles over boulders and large rocks on the way out and back.  It’s an excellent hike, that I easily finished in under an hour.

Trailhead MapTrailhead Map Bench facing Closed Canyon
Bench Facing Closed Canyon
Big round rock
Big Round Boulder
Hiking through-1
Trail View
Hiking through-3
Trail View
Hiking through-2
Trail View

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