Big Bend reopens for day use

Big Bend National Park reopens for public use today, in a limited capacity. All paved roads in the park are now open with the exception of the roads leading to Rio Grande Village, Castolon and the Santa Elena Canyon areas. Trails off the paved roads are also available for day use. The kiosks at Panther Junction and Chisos Basin Visitor Center are staffed and the Panther Junction store and gas station are open. All campgrounds and campsites within the park remain closed. Also closed are Chisos Basin Lodge & Restaurant, areas for river use, backcountry trails, the Boquillas Crossing Port of Entry, and all unpaved roads except the road to Dug Out Wells. Hotels, camping and RV sites are available in the nearby communities of Study Butte, Terlingua, Lajitas and Marathon. Brewster County, where Big Bend is located, is observing a mandatory mask order in public, along with a restriction on group size to five people or the size of your household, whichever is greater. On Aug. 6, Brewster County had less than 10 active Covid-19 cases.