Sight · Big Bend National Park
A short hike turns a scenic-drive pullout into a ranch-history stop.
Overview
Homer Wilson Ranch is the remains of a Blue Creek sheep-and-goat line camp in the valley below its overlook on Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. It’s a good detour if you like ranch history: the roadside pullout has parking, a ramp to the interpretive wayside, and a view that puts the old site in its landscape. The ranch house itself takes a walk down.
Parkwolf’s verdictWorth the stopMap
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Big Bend Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Big Bend National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Big Bend audio tourRecorded for this place
Homer Wilson Ranch“You're coming up on Homer Wilson Ranch Overlook, with an old sheep-and-goat camp in the valley below.”
Plays as you drive up to Homer Wilson Ranch in the Parkwolf Big Bend Tour Guide.
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Guide
The old ranch road drops from the wayside to the camp. The out-and-back is one mile, with 200 feet of elevation change and about 30 minutes of walking. The trail is steep and rocky, so count on a harder climb on the way back. It crosses two drainages that can flood in the rainy season. A wheelchair-accessible ramp reaches the wayside; the house is below it on a separate trail. Blue Creek and Dodson trails also leave from this point.
Homer Wilson bought foothills land in 1928 for sheep and goats. This Blue Creek camp served foreman Lott Felts as an outlying working base. Keep that distinction in mind: the surviving house belongs to Wilson’s ranch story, but it wasn’t his main home.
The stone house has thick walls, a flagstone floor, and a shaded porch. Nearby, a corral with a central snubbing post and a sheep-and-goat dipping vat show the work the camp supported. Brush partly screens some of the other ranch features, so the walk down gives you more to look at than the view from above.
The overlook shows the ranch sitting low in the broad valley, so include the surrounding hills if you want the setting in your photo. Down at the camp, the porch and stonework are the details to frame. The overlook is 7.7 miles from the north end of Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.
Wildlife
377 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
329 sightingsCollared PeccaryMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
500 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
985 sightingsRoadrunnerMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
228 sightingsRavenMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
264 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around noonSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Big Bend. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingSmoky Creek Trail16.3 mi · 10 hr · At the trailheadA long, rough wash walk ending at the Mule Ears overlook.
EasyHomer Wilson Ranch Trail0.7 mi · 30 min · 0.2 mi awayA steep descent to the ranch line camp below the overlook.
ChallengingBlue Creek Trail5.8 mi · 4 hr · 0.2 mi awayA red-rock wash walk with a hard climb into the Chisos.
ModerateUpper Burro Mesa Pouroff Trail3.5 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.2 mi awayA sandy wash and boulder scrambles lead to a slick-rock grotto.
ModerateWard Spring Trail2.9 mi · 2 hr · 2.4 mi awayA rocky walk to a spring beneath a wall of volcanic rock.
EasyLower Burro Mesa Pouroff Trail1 mi · 30 min · 2.8 mi awayA short wash walk to a 100-foot rock chute.
ChallengingApache Canyon Trail to Rock Corral7.2 mi · 4.5 hr · 3.2 mi awayA cairned desert hike ends at Sam Nail's stone corral.
EasyBurro Spring Trail2.4 mi · 1.5 hr · 3.3 mi awayA rocky desert walk to a spring overlook above a green pocket.
Sight · 0.7 mi awaySotol VistaA west-side panorama with Santa Elena Canyon as a distant gap.Sight · 2.6 mi awayLower Burro Mesa PouroffA short wash hike ends beneath a 100-foot rock pouroff.
Scenic pullout · 3.7 mi awayFins of FireStone walls from ancient magma, right beside the scenic drive.
Sight · 3.9 mi awaySouth Rim ViewpointA hard, full day of hiking earns the high rim panorama.
Sight · 4.3 mi awayEmory PeakA 10.5-mile round trip earns a 360-degree summit panorama.
Sight · 4.5 mi awaySam Nail RanchA half-mile loop to adobe ruins and a shaded creek oasis.
Sight · 4.5 mi awayGoat Mountain Observation PointRead the volcanic story with the mountain in view.Parkwolf’s Big Bend ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
