I left off my last post about Big Bend National Park, hinting that we found somewhere awesome to eat. That place was at Terlingua Ranch Texas.
The tiny town of Alpine, TX where we exited Big Bend National Park
We were really famished by the time we drove out of Big Bend. And unfortunately we still had to wait a good bit longer to eat because the only decent restaurant was still about 30 or so miles away from the little town of Alpine where we exited the park.
Terlingua Ranch Texas
Terlingua Ranch Texas
Terlingua Ranch is located just outside of Big Bend National Park. And the ranch has so much to offer. There is a lodge with 32 cozy, clean and quiet cabin guest rooms with shared decks and great views of the surrounding Big Bend area mountains by day and a universe full of stars and galaxies at night.
Accommodations
Their guest rooms (four to each cabin) are for folks who want to get away from it all. In other words, there’s no TV or phone service, but they do have Wi-Fi throughout the grounds. Eight of the rooms have refrigerators, and all rooms have new queen beds, full bath, heating, air conditioning, writing table and a dresser.
The rooms have no stove, oven or microwave and no indoor cooking is allowed, but fire rings are available near each porch for outdoor cooking as campfire safety rules and burn bans allow.
RV friendly
For the RVers amongst you, Terlingua Ranch Lodge RV park offers 8 pull-through RV sites with power/water/sewer connections plus 12 back-in RV sites with power/water hookups and a dump station.
Those twelve back-in sites are near the pool and restaurant. Designed for smaller camping trailers and RVs less than 25 feet, they offer 15, 20, 30 and 50 amp power with water hookup and a dump station nearby.
The eight pull-through sites are located at the base of Whitehouse Mountain and offer 15, 20, 30 and 50 amp electricity service plus water and sewer connections. They can easily accommodate larger RVs. Each of these sites also has a fire ring for your outdoor cooking and enjoyment subject to our recommended campfire safety rules and periodic mandatory burn bans.
There are no telephone or cable connections at any of their RV sites but all paying guests are welcomed to enjoy the swimming pool, bathhouse, horseshoe pit and other resort amenities. Be advised that the last three miles of Terlingua Ranch Road are unpaved but RV-friendly – and they have a road crew aims to keep it that way!
Tent camping
The Big Bend campgrounds offer seven private tent campsites, two open camp grounds with shared water spigots, and a horse camp for dry horse trailer camping.
Private campsites are situated in the southeast quadrant of the resort, along the base of Whitehouse Mountain. Each campsite has fire ring for your outdoor cooking and enjoyment subject to these recommended campfire safety rules.
Equine facilities
They also offer a horse corral, stable and pens. So they really have every aspect of accommodations covered, including a restaurant to feed guests.
Bad Rabbit Café
Bad Rabbit Café menu board with the Specials
I had read online that Bad Rabbit at Terlingua Ranch served really good food. By the time we got there we would probably have thought show leather tasted good. And honestly the extremely rustic surroundings made us very skeptical about the food. But by this time we really needed sustenance so we took a leap of faith. We were not disappointed.
Ambience
An entire wall in the Bad Rabbit Café is artistically hung with real cowboy boots!
The “Tin Man” was so cool just hangin’ out.
The Duke – John Wayne – let’s the guys know this is their room
Mural entitled Nine Point Mesa
Santa Elena Canyon
Bad Rabbit had such a cool ranch vibe. There were wonderful murals depicting the history of the area. And there were very cool artistic touches. For example there was an entire wall hung with cowboy boots. Bright and colorful cowboy boots! There was a cute “Tin Man” made out of food cans. Even the rest rooms had an adorable way to let you know which was the appropriate bathroom for you gender.
The food
Order up!
Our server Marie was so helpful and so delightful. She had just moved to the area from Minnesota, and was genuinely happy to meet new people. She suggested that the special burger of the day, with jalapeño bacon jam, was really good. And she also let us know that the truffled sweet potato fries were awesome. So Steve and I both ordered the burger. But I ordered mine with truffled onion rings and Steve got the fries. Now we had the best accomplishments a burger could have. Yes. Of course. We did share.
Steve’s urger
My burger
Our burgers were perfectly cooked and quite beefy and juicy nestled inside their toasted buns with bacon, fresh lettuce, tomato and bread and butter pickles. The kitchen did make a faux pas. Steve was served regular fries. Which were also delicious. But our server still brought out an order of those fabulous sweet potato fries. And there were worth the wait and the hype, but we were too busy stuffing our faces to take a picture of those fries. Please forgive us. But it was nearly 5 PM and those burgers ware our very first bites of food that day!
We were beside ourselves! That’s the shadow of our Jeep. So cool, right?
The sun sets behind the mountains on our ride home
The long drive back to Fort Stockton gave us a chance to enjoy the sun setting behind the mountains. It was a fitting ending to an incredible day visiting Big Bend National Park and Terlingua Ranch Texas.
