Day Trip to Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico from Big Bend National Park
A Day in the Border Town of Boquillas del Carmen
We’ve already established that Big Bend National Park in Texas is one of the most diverse, beautiful, and all-around kick-ass awesome parks we’ve been to yet. As I mentioned in my last post, a highlight of our time in Big Bend was taking a day trip across the border to the town of Boquillas del Carmen (often referred to as just Boquillas) in Mexico. The trip included a rowboat ride, a short hike into town, an impromptu tour of a dune field and hot springs, making new friends, and of course some tasty food.
When I posted photos and videos of our visit on Instagram, I quickly received messages asking about the trip across the border and whether we felt safe. Today I’m sharing our story of a day trip to Boquillas, Mexico from Big Bend National Park to shed some light on the experience for anyone who might be thinking of doing it, or simply curious about how it works and what it’s like.
First, Some History
Boquillas del Carmen is a little border town on the Mexico side of the Rio Grande. It was established in the late 1800s as a mining town to support the operations in the nearby mountains—the Sierra del Carmen. In the 1930s—after mining operations ceased—the idea was hatched to create an international park to preserve the stunning landscape on both sides of the Rio Grande, encourage international travel in the area, and provide economic stability to the region. These were some of the motivations for establishing Big Bend National Park.
On the Mexican side of the Rio Grande’s big bend, much of the land is also designated as national and state parks. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line the goal of a full international park didn’t come to fruition. Don’t get me wrong, all the systems and processes are there for an easy and very enjoyable trip (as you’ll see from our experience below), however there isn’t the promotion of an international park that there is in other similar places like Waterton-Glacier—an international peace park on the US and Canada border. We were surprised by how few people were making the trip to Mexico during the peak visitation season for Big Bend.
Our Day Trip to Mexico from Big Bend National Park
Here’s a short video of our trip to Boquillas del Carmen.
Crossing the Border at Boquillas Crossing
We started our journey by chatting with the friendly station guard manning Boquillas Crossing that morning. He answered our questions about getting to the town. The whole process is pretty simple: You pay 5 USD per person for a rowboat ride across the river. Then you can pay 2-5 USD additional for a vehicle, horse, or donkey ride into the town. Alternately, you can just walk the .25-miles from the river bank to the town following the sandy road. Once you arrive in Boquillas, if the Mexican immigration office is open, go register with them. If it’s not open, the guard told us to go about our business and not worry about it.
Crossing the Real Border at the Rio Grande
After saying, “See ya later” to the station guard, we headed down the short path through the woods. It ends on the bank of the Rio Grande. There we found a man waiting in a rowboat. As we were told, he charged 5 USD each for the trip across the river and gave us a ticket to use for our return later in the day. So far smooth sailing…or should I say, “rowing”?
Now that we were officially in Mexico, we had a decision to make: exactly how to travel the .25-miles from the river bank into Boquillas del Carmen? There were donkeys, horses, and vehicles standing at the ready. We opted for a walk there to take in the scenery and planned to get a ride back with Esteban, who offered us a 2 USD ride and said he’d be in town later in the day.
Town of Boquillas del Carmen
As you come into town you’ll see vendor stands with hand-made goods for sale. Many reading “I love Boquillas”, “Boquillas makes the border great”, and “no muro” or “no wall”. The Mexican immigration office was closed so we did as instructed and went about our business—finding lunch.
There were two restaurants directly across the street from one another near the immigration office. We ate at the one on the right when you’re entering town from the river—named simply Boquillas Restaurant. I had the cheese enchiladas. Tom had the cabra (aka goat) tacos. Both were delicious. The proprietor claimed that his wife makes the best margaritas so of course we had to try them. I’m happy to report that we have no argument with the claim—it was one of the tastiest margaritas I’ve had.
Esteban showed up at the restaurant after bringing a truck load of people into the village. We asked him about the ride back and he told us to take our time—that’d he’d be here whenever we were ready. After finishing up at the restaurant and buying an entire bag of homemade cornmeal muffins from the proprietor’s wife, we walked around the town and checked out the vendor stands. I scored my very own “Boquillas” bracelet and a new produce storage bag (aka an oversized tote) for Stan the Tan Van.
Our Unofficial Tour
Dunes of Boquillas del Carmen
We found Esteban waiting outside the restaurant with his truck which we quickly loaded ourselves into. Before we’d gone 10 feet, Esteban asked if we wanted to see the dunes at the edge of town. We figured, “why not?” So up the sandy road we went—arriving at the top of a large dune covered hill overlooking the town, nearby mountains, and river far below.
Along the way Esteban told us about his home and himself. He’s originally from a small town nearby and has spent most of his life in the area. About 160 people live in the town of Boquillas del Carmen. We asked what it was like during the 11 years that the border was closed here (2002-2013). He said it was terrible. There wasn’t work and many people (including himself) had to leave to make a living. The town almost completely died as it relies on tourism from the park for its economy.
He also shared with us information about his family, his church, pointed out which house was his as we drove by, and showed us photo albums of his tours. While we were on an unofficial tour, Esteban is a licensed tour guide. He offers multi-day tours of the surrounding mountains, old mines, canyons, and caves.
Hot Springs of Boquillas del Carmen
After the dunes, Esteban suggested we stop at the hot springs. I’d seen the sign for them on our walk into town and was already curious, so again we enthusiastically agreed. On the way, we encountered a couple we’d met briefly at the restaurant about an hour before. They hopped in the back of the pick-up and we were off up another dusty bumpy road.
The hot springs on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande are more elaborate than those on the US side. There’s a much larger pool that had a handful of people in it. Then there’s a smaller area, that could fit just a few people right at the river’s edge. Esteban told us that folks come here in the morning for a shower. As if to corroborate his story, someone had left a tube of toothpaste sitting on the rock.
Once we’d had our fill of wandering around the hot springs, Esteban delivered us safely (albeit bumpily) back to the riverbank. Our tour ended in hugs and well wishes. We hope to return someday and book one of Eseban’s multi-day tours so that we can really get into the heart of this gorgeous place.
Back to the US
Just like the trip over, the way back was fast and easy. We found ourselves once again in the rowboat, this time with the nice couple from the back of the pick-up truck. Inside the border station, our bags were briefly searched, we were asked a few questions about what we brought from Mexico, Tom’s muffins were inspected, (and no, that’s not a dirty joke) and then we scanned our passports in a kiosk with a phone from which a remote border agent told us we were good to go. The whole thing took less than 5 minutes (by far the quickest US border crossing I’ve ever encountered).
The entire daytrip to Boquillas del Carmen was a unique and fun experience. It’s not every day you get to cross a country border by rowboat. Or get an impromptu informal tour. Or meet such warm and welcoming folks.
To address the question of whether we felt safe, it’s also not everyday (or any day usually) that we jump in a vehicle with a perfect stranger. Yet, that’s exactly what we did without hesitation. In other words we felt perfectly safe the entire time. As with anywhere, you should always be aware of your surroundings, but our experience was that Boquillas is a peaceful, friendly place that welcomes visitors.
I hope that if you find yourself in Big Bend National Park, you’ll take the short trip across the Rio Grande to experience Boquillas del Carmen. Better yet, spend some extended time in the beautiful parks on the southern side of the Rio Grande.
Have you ever crossed a country border by foot? What was your experience like?
