Big Bend National Park, TX - Balanced Rock Trail

State: Texas

Trailhead: https://maps.app.goo.gl/yAyhH7zJYx9UamtZ8

Park: Big Bend National Park

Length: 2 miles

Elevation: 246 feet

Fee: Standard National Park Fees

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The wind races through the wash, transecting the mesa and blowing sand into a hovering vortex and swiftly into my eyes. I secure my baseball cap down quickly. The gusts haven't stopped since 10 AM.  The creosote, low and huddled to the ground, barely waves in the wind as this cold front gradually moves into the desert. 

Vultures languidly float through the sky, hovering over some unfortunate dead desert dweller and largely unphased by the changing weather. The cold is a welcome salve. I’ll take it, even if it means bracing against the sand as I cook a simple breakfast. 

I’ve only been in Big Bend for 12 hours. But part of my heart already belongs here. It’s inhospitable yet gorgeous. Dangerous and unyielding. Despite being caked dry for most of the year, it’s pocketed by springs and a River - the Rio Grande. The Rio courses like wet, green blood between Mexico and the United States.

The land is stark. Rock and sand and canyon. Sun and wind bear down on the hiker. Exposure can be a killer.

My first hike in this landscape is to Balanced Rock - a precariously placed boulder that sits at the end of an easy jaunt down the Grapevine Hills Trail. The area that contains Balanced Rock is primarily composed of laccoliths—igneous intrusions where magma pushed upward into layers of sedimentary rock but cooled before reaching the surface. Water and wind seeped into cracks in the rock, rounding off the sharp edges of the blocks until they became the giant "marbles" and perched boulders that a hiker admires today. 

Getting there is half the fun. Grapevine Hills Road is designated as an OHV path with high clearance vehicles recommended, per signage. Now, if you ask me, any vehicle is an off-road star. However, off-road capability is inversely related to how much you deeply care about said vehicle. A sedan can make this drive. Just go slow. My 4Runner made it through breezily.

The trailhead parking lot has limited room, but there are pull-off spots preceding the trailhead that make for easy overflow parking. 

If you’re new to the Chihuahuan Desert, the flora on this trail is one of the more pronounced features of the hike. Texas persimmon, purple cacti, and yucca dot the landscape. Depending on the time of year, the desert will perform her annual miracle of evolving the beige landscape into a canvas in full, vibrant bloom. Desert senna dotted the valley floor in early April. 

The trail is primarily flat until you reach a wall of topsy turvy boulders that require an easy scramble. Follow the metal signs and you'll find the way easily.

Balanced Rock can draw a crowd with a line clamoring for a photo opportunity. Every hiker wants their photo feigning a strongman's attempt to keep the boulder afloat. If you climb higher into the boulders, you can perch and watch the show. From there you can also watch the ravens fly through the valley below.

Don't stop here if you're a bit more adventurous. You can scramble even further up the hill of boulders. Just be careful to watch your step and leave no trace.

--Happy Hiking!