Name: Santa Elena Canyon Trail
Rating: 4.4

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Dogs No Dogs

Features River/Creek · Views

Family Friendly Gorgeous canyon views and a manageable length make this a wonderful option for families with children.

Overview

Travel along the Santa Elena Canyon Trail for an awe inspiring experience amidst the sheer walls of Santa Elena Canyon and the verdant green waters of the Rio Grande.

Description

Starting at the Santa Elena Canyon Trail Parking Area, head east across Terlingua Creek and up the paved steps to a midpoint along the canyon wall. Atop the trail's crest, stop at the walled viewpoint to take in spectacular views of the canyon stretching out before you, before descending gently on dirt-treaded singletrack to the trail's end where the canyon walls meet the river.

Be sure to bring plenty of water with you on trail, as Big Bend's arid climate can quickly dehydrate even the most seasoned hiker.

Contacts

Land Manager: NPS - Big Bend National Park

Shared By:

Hunter R

Full Details

Trail Ratings

4.4 from 77 votes

#1

in Big Bend National Park

#109

Overall

4.4 from 77 votes

5 Star		57%
4 Star		31%
3 Star		10%
2 Star		1%
1 Star		0%

Recommended Route Rankings

#1

in Big Bend National Park

#3

in Texas

#109

Overall

25 Views Last Month

5,511 Since Jul 1, 2016

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		66%
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Photos

Oct 15, 2019 near Lajitas, TX

Oct 15, 2019 near Lajitas, TX

Jan 11, 2019 near Lajitas, TX

Sep 29, 2015 near Lajitas, TX

Oct 15, 2019 near Lajitas, TX

1 Comment

Weather

Current Trail Conditions

All Clear 26 days ago

Update Conditions See History

Add Your Check-In

Check-Ins

Apr 21, 2026

Kevin Armour

wear water shoes 2mi

Mar 30, 2026

Stewart Carnes

Mar 8, 2026

Dana Hippler

Feb 21, 2026

Tom Herr

Beautiful hike along the Rio Grande, climbing up the cliffs on the American side. Bird haven! I love walking by the water. 1.6mi

May 25, 2025

Anonymous

After getting to the end of the trail, we walked down the shallow and muddy Rio Grande just under a quarter mile.

May 5, 2025

Mary Elizabeth Cordia

Great hike to walk down the middle of the Canyon! A bit longer than expected and not too much shade so plan accordingly! 1.9mi — 0h 54m

Nov 29, 2024

Anonymous

Nov 28, 2024

Emily Carrizales

Oct 26, 2024

Anonymous

Completed there and back with birding stops

Apr 13, 2024

Frank Hinkelmann

Apr 6, 2024

Rachel Solorio

1mi

Feb 22, 2024

Raj Mathew

10h 34m

Feb 2, 2024

Mike Sanders

Nov 10, 2023

Lauren Leal

Oct 11, 2023

Elizabeth Tackett

Nov 11, 2022

Leah McCarty

Nov 2, 2022

Ashley Byrom

Camps and Byroms 2mi — 2h 00m

Oct 23, 2022

Sam Carrion

Awesome Hike!

Oct 23, 2022

Abigail Cheney

1.8mi — 1h 00m

Oct 13, 2022

Detlev Boison

Oct 3, 2022

Auggie Bautista

Aug 13, 2022

Bobbidy Bob

Jul 30, 2022

Cole McSpadden

May 18, 2022

Philip Puckett

Apr 14, 2022

Randy H

It was fun

Apr 11, 2022

Trent Caldwell

Mar 19, 2022

Jojo Figueroa

Jan 16, 2022

Arika Wade

Jan 4, 2022

Jeannie Denk

Dec 11, 2021

Neil Mullen

9h 45m

Nov 28, 2021

Jennifer Starcher

2.1mi — 1h 05m

Nov 21, 2021

Wei Zhu

Nov 13, 2021

David Hitchcock

Nov 10, 2021

David de la Garza

Lunchtime hike 2mi — 1h 09m

Oct 26, 2021

Randall Grimes

Fun hike. Nice views of the canyon and river 1.7mi

Oct 18, 2021

Kat Nyquist

2mi — 1h 15m

Sep 10, 2021

Jesi Shiffer

Walk through water - sticky mud Well worth it 1.3mi

Sep 7, 2021

Drew Perry

Jun 3, 2021

Ashley Dalrymple

Had to cross Rio Grande River at very beginning.

May 11, 2021

Norman Gehring

May 10, 2021

Luke Skywalker

May 4, 2021

Chris Johnson

Apr 30, 2021

Sutton Allain

Apr 25, 2021

Victoria Presson

1.6mi

Apr 3, 2021

Olivia Koster

Really cool hike along the rio grande and into the canyon. Mexico in the other side of the river

Apr 1, 2021

Scott Johnson

Danielle, Rhyan, Alex, Marie 1.4mi

Apr 1, 2021

Anthony Hart

Amazing views.

Mar 10, 2021

Carissa Bryant

Mar 7, 2021

Andy M

Feb 10, 2021

Jason Duncan

Gorgeous canyon walls tower above you ascend for a better look. 1.5mi — 0h 45m

Feb 5, 2021

denise larson

Dec 21, 2020

Aniruddha Shastri

Nov 6, 2020

Chris Benford

Oct 6, 2020

Austin Stutts

1mi

Jun 29, 2020

Dani Gauch

1mi — 0h 20m

Mar 19, 2020

Patrick Muller

Amazing! 1mi

Mar 6, 2020

Bridget Bednarz

Mar 1, 2020

Avini V

Feb 27, 2020

Jen OReilly

Took our time taking pictures and enjoying the scenery 1.6mi — 0h 30m

Feb 11, 2020

Sherry Abbot

The canyon is much more beautiful if you walk the trail. We put some of Seth's ashes in the Rio Grande in memory of him.

Feb 8, 2020

Dennis Chan

Very brief hike, funny acoustics once within the canyon. 1.6mi — 1h 00m

Jan 26, 2020

Amy Ogrin

Jan 15, 2020

Eric Lynch

Jan 2, 2020

Rocio Rodarte

Jan 1, 2020

M Allen

Dec 31, 2019

Whitney Anthony

The river was high so we went a little further to an alternate trail. It was longer to get to the canyon but definitely worth it. 3.1mi — 1h 30m

Dec 27, 2019

Alexis Nguyen

Dec 22, 2019

Amy Jau

Dec 22, 2019

Chris Bruman

Can go back in the canyon quite a way; Great pics, cool hike; Easy 3mi — 1h 30m

Dec 20, 2019

Anonymous

Easy hike with bub

Nov 29, 2019

Michael Shin

Nov 12, 2019

Ramon Rocha

Nov 9, 2019

Sterling B

Nov 1, 2019

BK Hope

Oct 27, 2019

Scott S

Lots of wildlife tracks 1mi

Oct 22, 2019

Carissa Bryant

Water crossing was knee deep! Worth the crossing though to hike the trail along the canyon wall. Getting muddy definitely added to the adventure.

Aug 30, 2019

Tracie McCoy

0.8mi

Jul 20, 2019

Brendan McNelly

1mi — 0h 35m

Jun 30, 2019

Karen Sullivan

Jun 29, 2019

Elizabeth Carter Fayers

May 20, 2019

Chelsie Schanz

Apr 21, 2019

Vanessa Hess

Beautiful!

Apr 20, 2019

Shelley Statler

1.6mi — 1h 03m

Apr 15, 2019

Ashton Salter

Mar 21, 2019

Dana Ochs

Mar 19, 2019

Anthony Sanchez

Mar 16, 2019

Erika Perez

3h 45m

Mar 11, 2019

Brian Severski

Mar 1, 2019

Graham E

Feb 26, 2019

Drew Domalakes

Hiked w sandals. Bare feet. No water

Feb 23, 2019

Donna Kepf

Feb 21, 2019

Jason Draper

Feb 17, 2019

Sarah Hearn

Feb 14, 2019

Erika Chan

Feb 3, 2019

Dan P

Feb 2, 2019

Dan P

Dec 28, 2018

Angela Seekins

Dec 24, 2018

Dan Sorensen

Dec 24, 2018

Chad Falk

Dec 23, 2018

Justin Hill

Dec 22, 2018

Justin Hill

Dec 20, 2018

Ari Tepper

0.8mi

Dec 17, 2018

William Young

Dec 17, 2018

K C

Dec 16, 2018

Scott Street

Nov 24, 2018

Kenny Landrum

Nov 20, 2018

Austin Brodin

Nov 19, 2018

Ben C

Nov 7, 2018

S.L. Hall

Oct 30, 2018

Leo Grrrl

The Rio was full, but that did not stop some from crossing the river to climb the cliff. 0.2mi

Oct 24, 2018

Birgit Moeller

Oct 14, 2018

Patti B

Started trail. Didn’t finish. Was beautiful but lots of screaming kids and people crossing to Mexico. Will go back and finish

Jun 1, 2018

Tessa Fries

May 25, 2018

Blair Gibson

Apr 30, 2018

Mark Rushing

Apr 18, 2018

Monisha Saggi

Apr 11, 2018

Victoria Volcik

Apr 6, 2018

Crystal Burchfield

Apr 1, 2018

Sandra Banks

1mi

Mar 24, 2018

Natalie Weisner

Mar 23, 2018

Terri Sensintaffar

Mar 20, 2018

Cheryl Jones

Mar 18, 2018

Mike Jerla

Mar 12, 2018

Jennifer Culver

Beautiful views of canyon. 1.6 mike round trip.

Mar 12, 2018

Kaleb Kleiss Hoeft

0.8mi — 3h 15m

Feb 13, 2018

Donna Cleaveland

Feb 4, 2018

Walter Cunningham

1.6mi

Jan 25, 2018

Erin Adam

Jan 17, 2018

Ari Hoffman

Jan 1, 2018

Kristina Stemler

Dec 30, 2017

Leanne Pacheco

Dec 25, 2017

Carrie Hopper

Good views, good climb at the beginning of the trail, lots of people 2mi

Dec 15, 2017

Mar Rio

Easy, short and beautiful

Nov 29, 2017

Steve White

Nov 23, 2017

Andrew McEathron

1.6mi

Oct 6, 2017

Denys Herfort

1.7mi

May 18, 2017

Amanda Wieland

May 13, 2017

Dustin Haley

May 1, 2017

David Scott

Mar 29, 2017

Reubadubah Reubadubah

Beautiful views and amazing to be in the canyon by the river between tall walls

Mar 13, 2017

Dylan Cohen

Easy access in to a beautiful canyon

Mar 12, 2017

Garret Ward

Hike into the rio grande canyon. We got to wade in the river and touch Mexico!! Gorgeous views yet again! 2mi

Mar 12, 2017

Elizabeth Malmberg

Feb 10, 2017

Traci Kendrick

Jan 25, 2017

Allison Snyder

Jan 4, 2017

Liz Fakadej

Jan 1, 2017

Kristina Coleman

Dec 30, 2016

Live the Odyssey

1.8mi

Dec 29, 2016

Bobby Schoen

Dec 27, 2016

Randy Fine

Dec 23, 2016

Akash Sharma

Dec 23, 2016

T Y

Dec 10, 2016

Nichole K.

1mi

Dec 10, 2016

Karly Morgan

Nov 22, 2016

Susan Farley

Nov 21, 2016

Alissa Scire

Oct 28, 2016

Brian Matteson

1mi

Jun 22, 2016

Ford Hook

0.8mi

Jun 13, 2016

Brian Lubbert

Great hike up the canyon to a very quiet and solitary spot if you are here early or on a hot day. Stirs at start of hike offer great views.

Jun 11, 2016

Brian Lubbert

May 21, 2016

Charles Zoghbi

Mar 19, 2016

Nancy Stockdale

Couldn't do the trail because of my knee but went to the overlook!!

Feb 19, 2016

Darcy Wheeler

Loved this hike! Super short and the views at the end are spectacular. Very close to the town of Terlingua.

Jan 23, 2016

Geoff Starett

0.8mi

Jan 18, 2016

Andreya Cobey

Cross the Rio Grande to a steep switchback then descend to alongside river.

Dec 30, 2015

Kathleen Almenario

Dec 29, 2015

Raul Vela Ross

Apr 19, 2015

Chris Rutan

Mar 15, 2015

Madeline Rene

Jan 9, 2014

Paul Morelli

Apr 18, 2013

Kim H.

Apr 16, 2012

Jeremy R

Mar 31, 2012

Roger Chesser

Jan 4, 2009

Khanh Vu

1.7mi

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Santa Elena Canyon Trail

“A quick jaunt through spectacular Santa Elena Canyon. ”

1.0

1.5

Out and Back

2,314' 705 m

2,163' 659 m

167' 51 m

167' 51 m

7%

23%

Toolbox

Know This Trail?

Dogs No Dogs

Features River/Creek · Views

Family Friendly Gorgeous canyon views and a manageable length make this a wonderful option for families with children.

Overview

Description

Contacts

Shared By:

Trail Ratings

#1

#109

#1

#3

#109

Photos

1 Comment

Comment Type:

Weather

Current Trail Conditions

Check-Ins

Nearby Recommended Routes

Tuff Canyon Trail

Upper Burro Mesa Pour-Off Trail

Window Trail

Outer Mountain Loop

South Rim Trail

Emory Peak

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