Chisos Mountains Lodge - Big Bend National Park

Constructed in 1964, the 72 guest rooms of the Chisos Mountains Lodge are the only lodging available in Big Bend National Park. The guest rooms are split between 38 Casa Grande rooms (including 4 ADA compatible), 20 Rio Grande motel-style rooms, 8 Emory Peak Lodge rooms, and 6 Roosevelt Stone Cottages. Only the Casa Grande and Rio Grande rooms have air conditioning. All guest rooms and common areas are non-smoking.

As is usual with most national park lodging, the rooms are spartan and outdated, but clean. All of the rooms sleep at least two people, with most providing beds for four people and five of the Stone Cottages having space for six people. 

When we stayed in September 2021, the dining room was closed through the week with limited carry-out service available for a few hours each afternoon and evening. We were told the dining room was open with limited service and minimal menus on the weekend, but we couldn't take advantage of that as our stay was during the week. The concessionaire was having trouble finding additional staff to open the dining room for additional days and to offer the full menu. 

Knowing this lack of availability before we arrived and considering the nearest couple of restaurants were at least 40 minutes away in Terlingua and a more comprehensive selection of restaurants was over 100 miles and nearly two hours away in Alpine, we brought groceries with us and made extensive use of the in-room refrigerator and microwave. 

Entrance

Another view of the entrance

Registration

Some of the items for sale in the lobby gift shop

More items for sale

Even more souvenirs

One of two payphones at the lodge

Another view of the lobby

The closed dining room

Patio dining

Visitor Center, camp store, and lodge building from the patio

View of The Window from the patio

Gazebo

One of the lodge buildings

Another view of the lodge building

View from a second lodge building

An entry fee of $30 per vehicle, $25 per motorcycle, or $15 per person is valid for seven consecutive days at Big Bend National Park. Other fee payment options include the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes including the Annual Pass ($80), Senior Pass ($80 for a lifetime), Access Pass (free with a documented disability), and Military Annual Pass (free for active-duty personnel). Also available is a Big Bend National Park Annual Park Pass for $55.

The Big Bend National Park website is https://www.nps.gov/bibe/index.htm.