Braving the Rio Grande

Kayaking into the Great Unknown at Big Bend National Park

There are many hotsprings along the river. By paddling away from the roads, itis possible to enjoy them in solitude. The small circle of stones (shown in thephoto) traps some of the warm mineral water bubbling out of a spring.
Photo by Stephan Lorenz
The dramatic entrance to Mariscal Canyon appears suddenly from the upstream end.It is the remotest of the three large canyons carved by the Rio Grande withinBig Bend National Park.
Photo by Stephan Lorenz
It is easy to find beautiful campsites along the river. Just drag the boat ontoland and set up.
Photo by Stephan Lorenz
The seasons can be extreme on the river, with summers unbearably hot, andwinters bitterly cold. The best seasons to float the river are spring and fall,with spring often having lower water levels than fall.
Photo by Stephan Lorenz
The sheer limestone cliffs reach 1,200 feet within Mariscal Canyon, making itonly accessible by boat.
Photo by Stephan Lorenz
Life along the river moves at a different pace. Seasonal monsoons carrynutrients and moisture to the floodplains, supporting relatively lushvegetation, including groves of cottonwood, mesquite, and many wild flowers.
Photo by Stephan Lorenz
Fern Canyon, within Santa Elena Canyon, is a must visit. Here, a slot canyonwinds away from the river on the Mexican side and includes waterfalls and manytenajas (featured toward the front of the photo).
Photo by Stephan Lorenz
Away from the canyons the river flows slow and broad, offering spectacularvistas in all directions. Due to the river’s meandering cours,e each mile treatsone to a new view.
Photo by Stephan Lorenz
Santa Elena Canyon offers relatively easy access to one of the river’s mostspectacular gorges. Just a few miles of upstream paddling will get you rightinto the heart of the canyon.
Photo by Stephan Lorenz
Here we have moonrise over the Sierra del Carmen in Mexico. These mountains arepart of a large biosphere and harbor many large animals, including black bears,which, in recent years have re-colonized Big Bend National Park.
Photo by Stephan Lorenz
Tenajas are cistern-like pools, often within canyons. This one is in FernCanyon. Besides summer, the water is often freezing cold.
Photo by Stephan Lorenz
The river supports dense vegetation within the desert, along with many animalsnot usually found in the otherwise dry climate.
Photo by Stephan Lorenz

If there's one thing you must remember about paddling your kayak in Big Bend National Park, it's to expect the unexpected.

I had expected heat during the day, freezing nights, a few ripples and rough turns with plenty of dense cane thickets, and an utter lack of people. But I hadn’t really anticipated wind.

I looked downstream across a broad stretch of water, and the gusts actually kicked up whitecaps. I pulled my kayak onto a sandbar, and sat down, facing upstream, eyes out of the dust.

For the last two hours, I'd been struggling through the storm, trying to remember some special paddling technique that would prove useful in strong headwinds. But abandoning the diagrams for reality, I knew I was just torturing my rotator cuffs. When the squalls blew me upstream, I decided to wait it out.

I had nothing but time. Three days before, I'd launched under perfect conditions near the downstream end of Santa Elena Canyon. While the majority of hikers and canoeists flocked to the dramatic mouth of the gorge, I pointed the nose of my kayak downstream to float approximately 85 miles of the Rio Grande through a section called the Great Unknown, and several canyons further on.

The river was just at the right level to keep things exciting without any danger of overturning in the rapids. I stayed mostly out of the dense cane thickets that choke some of the narrow bends and grow far over the water.

The trick is to lean into the vegetation, or else the current could flip a kayak or canoe. At that point, you just close your eyes and bite cane.

First things first

Before you get wrapped up in the rapids, you've got to get to the river.

Floating the Rio Grande is as easy as tackling the long drive — 10 hours from Houston, more with canoe or kayak in tow — and obtaining free permits from the national park at any of the ranger stations. Several outfitters in the area also offer canoe rentals and guided float trips.

Before heading down or up the river, it's important to check on current water levels. Summer monsoon rains often cause flooding — an integral part of the floodplain ecosystem that supports the green ribbon of vegetation snaking through the desert.

At flood stage, the river can only be navigated by extremely experienced rafters. Launching in a tube, Texas Hill country-style, might be the last thing an amateur ever does. Let's hope that's not you.

At other times of year, especially during the spring, the flow of the river can slow down to a trickle, due to heavy water usage for agriculture hundreds of miles upstream. River trips then turn into what locals call “canoe-assisted hiking” — a less cultured way of travel, where short floats are interrupted by pushing and shoving the craft over shallow sandbanks. Better leave the cooler at home.

Now that's a big river

The Rio Grande flows for 1,885 miles, from southern Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico, making it one of the longest rivers in North America. About one-third of its length marks the international border between Mexico and the United States.

In the Big Bend region, the river makes a large sweep northeast. Long stretches are protected as wild and scenic river. Add Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, and the Sierra del Carmen Biosphere in Mexico, mix with a general lack of roads, and throw in a dash of remote canyons — you have the perfect recipe for wild solitude.

The river marks the southern boundary of Big Bend National Park for 118 miles, which can be kayaked, canoed, or rafted along various sections, ranging from half-day jaunts to wilderness paddles lasting more than a week. Santa Elena Canyon itself offers 20 more miles of exhilarating downstream rafting or canoeing.

Limestone cliffs reaching 1,200 feet hem in the river. During high water levels, this can be one of the most challenging sections of wild water. The famous Rock Slide Rapid should only be attempted by experienced paddlers.

An easier way to see the splendors of Santa Elena Canyon is to take the slow road, and paddle upstream during low water periods, which are during most times of the year.

By bringing camping gear, it's even possible to stake out a flat grassy spot along the river. But remember — the canyon is known as "the oven" in summer, and "the freezer" in winter, so spring or fall may be the best seasons to go.

One must-see attraction is Fern Canyon, a narrow gorge within Santa Elena Canyon that requires scrambling up waterfalls and diving into tenajas.

Walk, camp, soak, paddle, repeat

Although you're here to paddle, you owe it to yourself to get out of the boat.

Along calmer stretches, I observed birds flitting just above the water, hawking insects. Other wildlife was plentiful, with mule deer in the desert, muskrats and even a few beavers in the river, and golden eagles and peregrine falcons in the larger canyons.

I stopped here and there to explore the desert, the old homesteads, and the endlessly changing vistas, as the river meandered first east, and then north. Countless side canyons and endless miles of pristine desert beckoned to hike, and at nearly every suitable spot, something could be discovered.

To the south, in Mexico, the landscape was barren, due to constant grazing by goats and donkeys. On the United States side, desert vegetation like creosote, ocotillo, prickly pear and some grasses flourished.

After the Great Unknown, the river plunges into Mariscal Canyon, a 1,200-foot limestone chasm that offered the most breathtaking landscape along the way — not to mention the most difficult rapid, Tight Squeeze, but I jostled through all right.

That night, I camped on a small, sandy island, gathered a few twigs to make a weak fire, and warmed some canned food.

Four days later, with plenty of time to spare, I landed on the well-trampled mud bank near the Hot Springs, a popular destination within the park, where hot water bubbles into an oversized bathtub and offers the chance to soak sore limbs. A couple was already bathing in the lukewarm water — the first people I had seen in four days.

Halfway back to civilization, I enjoyed the mineral water for an hour, before pushing back off into the river. I floated down Hot Springs Canyon — the last true landmark before the end of the trip at Rio Grande Village.

It's never enough

With a cooler filled to the brim and spectacular views galore, it may take awhile to burn out on paddling the Rio Grande.

For the kayaking junkies that can't be satiated, the Boquillas Canyon makes a great three or four-day trip. Since there are no serious rapids, it can be completed at a relaxed pace. This run ends outside the national park at La Linda Bridge, which is pretty obvious as it is the only bridge across the river for hundreds of miles. Here, a pre-arranged shuttle can pick up paddlers. Several local outfitters offer shuttle service for nearly all sections of river.

The first time I floated it, we didn’t even have a map. The guide working for the local outfitter where we rented the canoe advised us to "stop before the rabbit ears" on the first day. When the ears finally appeared, there was no doubt.

For the truly hardcore, the Lower Canyons — downstream from Big Bend National Park, but still protected as wild and scenic river — offer an 80-mile or longer section that boasts smaller canyons, but even more solitude. Here, paddlers have to be self-sufficient, as roads are a long way off.

Whether a few miles of paddling or several days on the river, a single bend will leave everything behind. A couple more twists and turns will get you deep into the wilderness. It's just what the city dweller ordered.

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Get your kicks

Texas is just the start of the ultimate Route 66 road trip

Cadillac Ranch/ Facebook

Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo is an essential stop on a Route 66 road trip.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — There are faster ways to get from Chicago to Los Angeles, but none have the allure or cultural cachet of Route 66.

To John Steinbeck, it was the Mother Road that led poor farmers from Dust Bowl desperation to sunny California. To Native Americans along the route, it was an economic boon that also left scars. To Black travelers, it offered sanctuary during segregation. And to music fans, it was the place to get their kicks.

Route 66 marks its 100th anniversary this year. Despite losing its status decades ago as one of the nation’s main arteries, people from around the world still flock to it to take perhaps the quintessential American road trip and soak in its neon lights, kitschy motels and attractions, and culinary offerings.

The dream
Route 66, which runs for roughly 2,400 miles (3,860 kilometers) from Chicago through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending in Santa Monica, California, was stitched together a century ago from a collection of Native American trading routes and old dirt roads with the goal of linking the industrial Midwest to the Pacific coast.

Oklahoma businessman Cyrus Avery, known as the Father of Route 66, saw it as more than just a way to cross the country efficiently. It was a chance to connect rural America and create new pockets of commerce.

Avery knew the number 66 would be ripe for marketing and could be seared into drivers' minds, and he was right: Route 66 has been immortalized in movies, books, including Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, and songs such as Bobby Troup's “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66,” which served as an anthem for post-World War II optimism and mobility.

If you’ve ever planned to motor west and take the highway that’s the best, the year of Route 66's 100th anniversary just might be the time.

Many stretches of Route 66 may be littered with abandoned buildings and faded signs, but there's still much history and magic to be discovered. With each stop the wheels of imagination turn, leaving travelers to contemplate what life was like for the people and communities that made the road hum.

Here are essential stops and sights to see on a road trip along historic Route 66.

Somewhere along Route 66. Photo by Morten Andreassen on Unsplash

Illinois
Chicago has long been one of the country’s economic engines, with access to international waters and railroads that linked all corners of the country.

For some travelers, the journey is fueled more by the food than the scenery, and there’s plenty to choose from — slices of homemade pie, thick shakes, cheeseburgers and an assortment of fried delights.

The Cozy Dog Drive In in Springfield, the Illinois capital, is one of the many diners that sprang up along Route 66, and its breaded hot dogs on a stick have stood the test of time. Third-generation owner Josh Waldmire says the recipe is a secret.

Waldmire’s grandfather, Ed, saw the concoction’s potential as fast and convenient road food and developed a system for frying the dogs vertically.

Missouri
Route 66 has its share of twists and turns, and it’s no surprise that a highway famous for its quirky roadside attractions would cross the nation’s most famous river on one of the more peculiar bridges known to modern engineering.

As the road nears St. Louis, the mile-long (1.6-kilometer-long) Chain of Rocks Bridge hovers more than 60 feet (18 meters) above the Mississippi River.

Engineers eventually built a straighter, higher-speed option, and a poor resale market spared the original bridge from the scrap heap. Today it’s reserved for pedestrians and cyclists.

A median in Missouri is home to St. Robert Route 66 Neon Park, which features orphaned neon signs that once beckoned travelers to stop at certain sites and businesses along the highway. Often handcrafted, they weren’t only markers for motels, cafes and gas stations, but were also folk art and symbols of local culture.

Kansas
The Sunflower State hosts only a short stretch of Route 66, but it packs a punch with the Kan-O-Tex Service Station in Galena. A classic example of roadside fare, the station served as inspiration for the animated 2006 Pixar film Cars.

Director John Lasseter and his crew took road trips along the route, digging into history and looking for elements that could bring the project to life. It was in Galena where they spotted the old boom truck that served as the basis for the character Tow Mater. The plot wasn’t far off, as so many once bustling towns — like the fictional Radiator Springs — nearly faded away after being bypassed by an interstate.

Kansas also is home to the Brush Creek Bridge, otherwise known as the Rainbow Bridge. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of few remaining examples of the concrete arched bridges designed by James Barney Marsh.

Neon signs along Route 66. Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

Oklahoma
There was a real danger for some who traveled the road, particularly Black motorists passing through inhospitable and segregated areas during the Jim Crow era. The Green Book — a guide first published in 1936 by Victor Hugo Green — listed hotels, restaurants and gas stations that would serve Black customers.

The Threatt Filling Station near Luther wasn’t listed in The Green Book, but it was a safe haven — not only for getting fuel, but for barbecue and baseball. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was the only known Black-owned and operated gas station along Route 66.

Route 66 is littered with abandoned buildings and faded signs, but one example of the highway’s resilient spirit stands tall in Sapulpa, near Tulsa. The restored Tee Pee Drive-In Theater offers a step back into the 1950s, when the booming car culture helped spawn thousands of drive-in theaters nationwide.

Built in 1949, the drive-in officially opened in the spring of 1950 with a screening of John Wayne’s “Tycoon.” It was one of the few drive-ins at the time to have paved pathways. Over the years, it survived a tornado, a fire that destroyed the concession stand and break-ins before being shuttered for more than 20 years. It reopened in 2023.

route 66 historic district Get your kicks on Route 66 in Amarillo. Photo courtesy of Visit Amarillo

Texas
Blink and you might miss it, but a stop at the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo is a must for any Route 66 journey. For decades, visitors have been spray-painting the 10 vintage Cadillacs at the site and mulling the transitory nature of time as Bruce Springsteen did in his 1980 song of the same name.

It’s not a ranch, but rather a public art installation created in 1974 by the art and architecture collective Ant Farm. At first, the cars — which were half-buried front-down at a 60-degree angle — were used for target practice. Others would scratch their initials into the metal. The spray painting started later.

Arrive in Adrian and you’re halfway through your trip. Steps from a white line marking the midpoint of Route 66 is the Midway Cafe, where the “ugly pies” are anything but.

If you’re still hungry, head back to Amarillo for a 72-ounce (2 kilogram) steak and all the sides at The Big Texan. If you can finish the meal in an hour or less, it's free.

New Mexico
More than half of Route 66 cuts through sovereign Native American lands, often tracing routes used by tribes long before settlers arrived. Much like the railroad in the 1800s, the highway opened the door to a new era of commerce, but it also fueled stereotypes about cultures along the way.

There are still faded and crumbling references to tipis and feathered headdresses at some stops along the historic highway. The symbols were easily appropriated for marketing by roadside vendors but weren't indicative of the separate and distinct Native American cultures in the area.

Today, tribes are telling their own stories and showcasing their creations, whether it be pottery, fruit pies or poems.

Albuquerque boasts the longest intact urban stretch of Route 66. Those 18 miles (29 kilometers) pass through several neighborhoods and business districts, from historic Old Town to Nob Hill.

Some of the old motor lodges and neon signs along what is now Central Avenue have been restored. Other signs are being reimagined using hubcaps, elaborate lowrider-inspired paint jobs and New Mexico’s classic yellow and red license plates in a nod to the car culture that is very much still alive in the city.

Arizona
Musician Jackson Browne was taking his own road trip in the early 1970s when his car left him stranded in Winslow. The experience inspired the lyrics to the Eagles’ hit “Take it Easy.” But it’s certainly not the only song that is a must-have for a Route 66 playlist.

Bobby Troup created a classic American road anthem in the 1940s with “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.” Nat King Cole, Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones and Depeche Mode carried it through the decades, each covering the song with their own flair.

While standing on a corner in Winslow, don’t be surprised if someone saunters up with a guitar and starts strumming favorites from their own road trip playlist.

Before leaving the state, the one-time gold mining town of Oatman features a Wild West atmosphere, daily staged shootouts and beloved burros. Oatman was a destination along one of the original alignments of Route 66 via a treacherous path through the Black Mountains, but it was later bypassed as part of improvements made in the 1950s.

California
Once a desert oasis, Roy’s Motel & Café in Amboy is a quintessential Route 66 landmark. The towering neon sign is one of the most photographed spots along the road. Inside, foreign currency left by international visitors lines one wall. Across the street, a clothing post decorated with shoes, shirts and other items juts up from the desert floor.

This stretch of the highway through the Mojave Desert offers a special kind of solitude. The pavement gets rough in spots and the landscape takes charge, showing off Joshua trees, wide-open spaces and the remnants of ancient volcanic activity.

Much of the area is undeveloped, meaning it looks a lot like it would have when Route 66 was commissioned in 1926.

After making it through oft-congested Los Angeles, the iconic Santa Monica Pier marks the end of the line, and it’s nothing short of a perpetual party with a steady stream of spectators and performers. Although many stretches of Route 66 have lapsed into decay, the breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean are a reminder of the pursuits made possible by the road over the last century.

american road trip neon signs road trip route 66