Persimmon Gap Visitor Center - Big Bend National Park

The last stop on our September 2021 trip to Big Bend National Park was at the Persimmon Gap Visitor Center. Since the visitor center is only open seasonally for the six months of November through April, it was closed during our visit. However, the stop gave us a chance to check out the scenery we missed on the way in and to stretch our legs after the 35-mile ride from the Chisos Mountain Lodge and prepare ourselves for the nearly 100 miles to Fort Stockton.

The visitor center building was built as Coopers Store in the early 1940s before the park was created. It was built with about 10,000 adobe bricks formed by craftsmen from Ojinaga, Mexico, west of the park.

Persimmon Gap has been used for nearly 10,000 years as it is the easiest way through the Santiago Mountains. In more recent history, the gap was part of the Comanche Trail and was used as a seasonal migration route to winter settlements on the Rio Grande.

This unassuming building was once a store

A simple pergola provides a bit of shade on the north end of the building

Information sign

Another information sign

Entrance

Information desk and bookstore

The southern end of the building

Prickly Pear Cactus

Purplish Prickly Pear Cactus

The Rosillos Mountains (6 peaks over 5,000 feet) are outside the park

A hill across the highway from the visitor center

Persimmon (3749')

An unnamed hill rises nearly 400 feet above Persimmon Gap

The Rosillos Mountains with the Chisos Mountains in the background

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.