Big Bend Rules & Regulations

PERMITS

Backcountry Permits

Backcountry Use Permits are required for all backcountry overnight camping, horse/stock use, and river use. Permits are obtainable at all visitor centers. Backcountry permits must be obtained in person at park visitor centers up to 24 hours in advance of the trip.

A backcountry use fee of $10.00 per permit is charged for all overnight use, with all revenue being used for backcountry-related projects.  See below for more information.

Special Use Permits

Special Use Permits are required for nontraditional, or unusual, uses and activities such as weddings. Requests for Special Use Permits may be made by writing the Superintendent or calling the park (432-477-2251) to initiate the process. Please allow adequate lead time to allow for permit preparation, review and approval. Fees for these permits may apply.

Commercial Use Authorization

Permits are required of all operators who provide any and all goods, activities, agreements or other services to the general public which take place, at least in part, in the park, uses park resources and are undertaken for or results in compensation, monetary gain, benefit or profit to an individual, organization or corporation, whether or not such entity is organized for purposes recognized as non-profit under local, state or federal law. This includes educational institutions.

Backcountry-use permits:

Big Bend offers a variety of primitive camping and backpacking options. A backcountry use permit is required and can be obtained in person at park visitor centers up to 24 hours in advance of the trip. The permit may be issued for up to 14 consecutive nights in the backcountry. See regulations and safety information for required information regarding backcountry use.

Permit Fee

A backcountry use fee of $10.00 per permit will be charged for all overnight use, with all revenue being used for backcountry-related projects.

Obtaining a Backcountry Permit

Backcountry permits must be obtained in person, and any changes must be also be made in person at any park visitor center.

Beginning February 1, 2007, a backcountry and river use fee of $10.00 per permit will be charged, with all revenue being used for backcountry-related projects.

Remember!

• You must have your vehicle license plate number to obtain a permit.

• Requests for permits or permit changes will not be taken over the phone.

• Permits may be obtained twenty-four hours in advance of your backcountry trip; advance reservations are not possible.

CAMPING

Camping Limits

Visitors cannot camp at developed campground sites for more than 14 consecutive nights, or for more than 28 nights (including both frontcountry and backcountry camping) in a calendar year, or at any one site for more than 14 nights in a calendar year. Occupying developed frontcountry campsites for more than 14 nights during the period from February 1 through April 15 is prohibited.

Backcountry Camping

Camping is also available at primitive backcountry campsites in the Chisos Mountains and along backcountry roads. High clearance or 4-wheel drive vehicles are necessary to reach most road sites. Big Bend's unpaved roads are generally unsuitable for RVs and trailers (check current conditions with a ranger). Overnight camping in any of the primitive road sites requires a backcountry use permit, obtained in person at park visitor centers up to 24 hours in advance.

Camping areas are often full during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, as well as during spring break in March or April. The only public showers and laundry facilities in the park are located at the Rio Grande Village store.

FIREARMS

If you are transporting firearms, you must notify the ranger or gate attendant on your arrival, and your firearm must be rendered inoperable before you enter the park. Individuals in possession of an operable firearm in a national park are subject to arrest.

Firearms are NOT permitted anywhere in the park's backcountry. Firearms brought through Big Bend National Park must be unloaded, broken down (temporarily inoperable), cased, and stored out of sight and reach, with ammunition separated from weapons while in the park (36 C.F.R. 2.4(a)(3)).

BORDER PARK

When Visiting A Border Park

Big Bend National Park shares the border with Mexico for 118 miles. This is a remote region.

Visitors should be aware that drug smuggling routes pass through the park. If you see any activity which looks illegal, suspicious, or out of place, please do not intervene. Note your location. Call 911 or report it to a ranger as quickly as possible.

Each year hundreds of people travel north through the park seeking to enter the United States. It is possible you could encounter an individual or small group trying to walk through the park with little or no water. Please do not stop, but instead, note your location and immediately call 911 or contact a ranger as soon as possible. Lack of water is a life-threatening emergency in the desert.

ATV USE

All-Terrain Vehicle Use Prohibited within Big Bend National Park

Please Remember:

    * No "off-road" vehicle travel is allowed in Big Bend National Park.  All vehicles must stay on established roadways.

    * All vehicles driven in the park, on paved or unpaved roads, must be "street legal" in the state of Texas. The use of "ATV's" is prohibited in Big Bend National Park

Regulations concerning ATV use are not specifically addressed in 36 C.F.R. The use of such vehicles is governed by state law as outlined in 36 C.F.R. Section 4.2 — State Law Applicable. Section 4.2 (b) states that violating a provision of State law is prohibited.

Under the Texas Traffic Laws, Transportation Code — TRC section 663.037 the operation of an ATV on a public roadway is prohibited.

An ATV is defined as "a motor vehicle that is (A) equipped with a saddle for the use of the rider; (B) designed to propel itself with three or four tires in contact with the ground; and (C) designed by the manufacturer for off-highway use by the operator only.

If the vehicle meets this description, it cannot be driven on public roadways in Texas and it cannot be registered with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.

ALL BACKCOUNTRY ROADS IN BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK ARE PUBLIC ROADS. ALL VEHICLES DRIVEN ON THESE ROADS MUST BE STREET LEGAL ACCORDING TO THE TEXAS MOTOR VEHICLE LAWS.