Rio Grande Village Campground

Elevation
1845 ft. above sea level

The Rio Grande Village campground has approximately 100 sites suitable for RVs, pop-ups, and tent campers for a fee of $14.00 per night.  There is a no generator zone located on the east side of the campground more suited to tent camping.  Each site has a picnic table.  Some sites have a canopy over the tables.  The campground in general has many tall trees, mainly cottonwoods and mesquites, and is greener than the other Big Bend campgrounds.  Birds are plentiful.  There are no hookups in the campground itself, but water spigots are available at various locations in the campground, as well as restrooms. 

Services and Facilities
About a quarter of a mile west of the campground is the Rio Grande Village store.  Gasoline, propane, ice, food, drinks, ice cream, beer, and some essential camping supplies are available at the store.  Showers and a laundromat are also provided at that location.

A small RV park with hookups (actually, a parking area adjacent to the west side of RGV store) is available through the RGV store.  The number of sites is quite limited (about 25).

An RV dump station is located between the campground and the Rio Grande Village store.

The RGV amphitheater is located about a hundred yards west of the campground.  Evening ranger talks and slide shows are regularly scheduled there.

A half mile west of the store is a day use picnic area.  The trail head to the Hot Springs trail is located at the end of this western road.  The trail does not follow the Rio Grande.  It loops back northwestward through the desert area, overlooks a canyon leading into the river, then leads to the Hot Spring itself.

North of the RGV store about 300 yards is the National Park Service visitor's center.  Park information as well as books, maps, and pamphlets are available here.

Nature Trail
At the southeast corner of the campground is a nature trail which quickly turns into a low wooden footbridge.  For a hundred feet or so, the bridge crosses a swampy area kept wet by drainage from a spring fed pool near the end of the bridge.  The nature trail leads on to the river bank where Indians made several holes in the rocky surface to grind grain.  The trail loops in a circle, and within the circle is a short path leading to the top of a small hill.  That vantage point gives an excellent view of Boquillas, Mexico to the northeast.  A world from a different time can be seen just across the river to the southeast where fields are still plowed by horse drawn equipment.  A plaque at the top of the hill points out various mountain peaks of the Sierra del Carmen as well as an old mine on the Mexico side of the Rio Grande.  This is also a great location for viewing the entire Chisos range to the west, where another plaque identifies the individual mountains that surround the Chisos basin.