Castolon

— As we prepare for our next trip to Big Bend NP in a few days, I’m revisiting some of the locations we saw last year. We were at the park in September 2018 and saw a different park. Everything was greener because of the rains. It was as if we were there in the spring minus the crowds. The area I was at when I made this shot is the historic Castolon area. A lot of people stop there for a quick rest before proceeding to the Santa Elena Canyon. However, the Castolon Historic District is part of the National Register of Historic Places. Unfortunately, on May 2019, a huge fire destroyed several structures in Castolon, including the store and visitor center. It will be a shock for us when we go to that section of the park and see what is left of the buildings. During this 2018 trip, we also visited Sotol Vista, where another fire had spread in the area.