Camping at Big Bend of the Colorado
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Nevada’s newest state park, Big Bend of the Colorado
After months of DIY house renovations, we really needed a break and a week-long camping trip sounded like a good alternative. We’d never visited Nevada’s newest state park, Big Bend of the Colorado State Recreation Area, and it seemed like a great choice… not too far away and several available campsites.
Opened in 1996, Big Bend is located just outside Laughlin, Nevada at the very southern tip of the state where it borders with Arizona and California. As indicated by its names, the main attraction of the park is its location on the shores of the Colorado River downstream of the Davis Dam.
We were off mid-day on a Tuesday and arrived at the park 1-1/2 hours after leaving Las Vegas. We were able to snag a campsite for five days. The weather was perfect in the mid-70s (low 20s C) though predicted to be warmer over subsequent days.
Settling in with Blanche is so easy. We parked, set out the camp chairs and voilà … camp was set up. We’d lug out whatever else we needed for dinner later. We immediately entered ‘vacation’ mode. Vultures and raptors patrolled the skies. The cerulean blue sky was cross-crossed with white billowy dissipating contrails. We sat and relaxed, taking it all in as a soft breeze rustled through the trees. Heaven!
The campsites are well-spaced from each other and quite spacious. The parking area is dirt/gravel with the adjoining cement pad. A ramada under flowering acacia trees covered a picnic table provided a respite from the desert sun. A grated firepit completed the site amenities. The restrooms with flush toilets and showers were a short hike away. Wifi is available for a fee, but being so close to Laughlin, we had excellent phone coverage and wifi throughout the park. All campsites include electric, water and sewage and range from $10-$35/night depending on residency and state passes. We paid $10/night.
Blanche in Campsite #1 - Big Bend of the Colorado campground
A half-mile sandy path meanders from the campground and leads to the riverside. It’s a bit of trudge, but easy and well-marked. After slathering up with sunscreen, we headed down the path directly to ‘The Point’ on the advice of the park rangers for views up and down river.
We were surprisingly alone on a quiet Wednesday morning save for a curious roadrunner which hopped onto the picnic table showing little fear of us interlopers. We witnessed something we’d never seen or heard before. Our visiting roadrunner was calling to other roadrunner and his song was not beep-beep as his cartoon counterpart would have us believe. We’ll talk more about roadrunners in a future blog. They’re pretty interesting critters and quite vocal as we learned.
The evening was glorious. We sat out and sky-gazed. Despite being close to a small city, the sky was relatively dark and thousands of stars twinkled above. Most of the other campers were inside their large RVs, their A/C blasting, the flickering light from their TV screens escaping into the darkness. We played yahtzee at the picnic table with the aid of a lantern till well past 10pm, then called it a night.
The early mornings are nearly perfect for sitting and enjoying coffee but by 1100, the desert starts heating up. By early afternoon, it’s inadvisable to be out in the sun. We retired inside Blanche, but even with the fans blasting it was uncomfortably warm. We napped, but awakened damp with sweat, logy from sleep and heat.
Under the shade of the ramada, we played cards and yahtzee and sipped cold beer. One, two, three roadrunners visited briefly. A like number of quails, their silly topknots bobbing in front of their eyes as they scurried past. We’re easily amused.
As the sun began setting, the heat relented. We borrowed a set of horseshoes from the camp office and played a game. We learned quickly that we both suck at horseshoes. David sucked less and won the game 11-5. Our shoulders and upper arms complained the next morning.
With more heat predicted, we made plans for an early morning hike to nearby Grapevine Canyon the following day, but returned in the hottest part of the day. Bad timing. We began to rethink whether we wanted to spend several more days sweltering in the afternoon heat. We decided on a day trip to Oatman, Arizona the next day and we’d see how we fared with the subsequent day’s weather.
Join us next time for some petroglyphs and a quick hike in Grapevine Canyon.