This story originally appeared in The Big Bend Sentinel.
BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK — Last Wednesday, Big Bend National Park announced that the Chisos Basin will be completely closed off to visitors in May 2025, when work is set to begin on the defunct Chisos Mountain Lodge and adjoining water system. Both projects are set to take about two years to complete.
In the spring of 2022, former Superintendent Bob Krumenaker announced that the lodge would be demolished and rebuilt. Originally, the park had hoped to rehabilitate the building, which features a restaurant with stunning views and 72 rooms that generate serious cash for the county’s tourism budget via hotel occupancy taxes.
Further investigation revealed that the Lodge was built on unstable soils — a major liability. Over six decades of heavy visitation, the iconic gathering place had been loved to death.
The park’s latest announcement was in stark contrast to a series of plans presented to locals and outfitters back in the spring. At a community meeting held in Terlingua in March, park leadership discussed the possibility of issuing day passes and setting up a booth at the top of the road to let folks with passes and commercial permits through — and even a series of shuttles with satellite parking lots.
While representatives for the park did not provide a specific reason for the change of heart, there’s been a major shift in leadership at Panther Junction since March. In May, Anjna O’Connor was tapped as the new superintendent, after a string of interim and acting superintendents guided operations through a year-long transitional phase.
Chief of Interpretation Tom VandenBerg said that it was possible that the basin would not be completely closed for the full two years. Higher-ups would monitor the situation and perhaps reopen the campground or select trails when it was safe to do so. “Introducing visitors into the active work zone of the tiny Basin area is a big safety concern, that includes the road which will be heavily traveled by construction equipment and trucks,” he said. “Top priority here is for the contractor to finish the work in a timely manner so that we can reopen.”
While folks on social media expressed feeling blindsided by the news, outfitter Erin Little of Big Bend Boating and Hiking Company said that she and other guide services had received a heads up that plans had changed. “I think the idea is, ‘Let’s close it down and get it done faster,’” she said.
Around 60-70% of park visitors — up to a thousand a day during peak season — visit the Chisos Basin. With the winding road into the heart of the park closed, VandenBerg anticipated that visitation patterns would shift. He said plans were in the works to improve parking in other heavily congested areas.
While the Basin is closed, other parts of the trail system in the Chisos Mountains will remain open — though the majority of those routes are challenging. VandenBerg said that the park will continue to require overnight permits for backpackers, which provide an opportunity to rangers to share valuable information and gauge hikers’ preparedness for their trip.
Both the lodge project and the water system project are being funded through the Great American Outdoors Act which supports infrastructure projects in the national parks. Big Bend netted $77 million.
“It is a great time for Big Bend to see these much-needed infrastructure and facility improvements,” Superintendent O’Connor wrote in a press release. “We’re excited to finally begin work on a well-engineered facility that fits the landscape and meets high standards for energy, water, and operational efficiency to better serve the visitors of today and tomorrow.”