Parking
Use the paved Tuff Canyon pullout on Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive; it holds about six vehicles.
Overview
About Tuff Canyon Trail
Why go
- Three platforms show different views into the canyon.
- Embedded rocks and contrasting tuff and basalt make the short walk interesting.
Heads up
- The rim itinerary is brief and does not include a canyon-floor descent.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Big Bend map
Full mapElevation2,283–2,379 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Big Bend alerts
- ClosureWeather-related road closuresDo not use these closed roads; NPS lists the closures as in effect until further notice.Official details
- InfoBoquillas Crossing schedule changeBoquillas Crossing is open Friday through Monday, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.; NPS says it will not change to winter hours at this time. Check current park conditions before planning a crossing.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Big Bend Tour Guide
Your drive to Tuff Canyon Trail, narrated.
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 trailhead
Tuff Canyon0:00 / 0:29
“Tuff Canyon is coming up, a good twenty-minute stop for a close look at the pale volcanic walls. The half-mile rim walk connects three viewing platforms, each with a different angle into the gorge.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Big Bend Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Cerro Castellan Exhibit
- The River That Refills the Rio Grande
- The Engines Behind Castolon’s Cotton
- The Shrike’s Thorn Pantry
- 110 audio storiesacross Big Bend’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Collared Peccary, White-tailed Deer, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 45 trails, 64 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Tuff Canyon Trail
A quick rim stopTuff Canyon Trail is a 0.
Tuff Canyon Trail is a 0.5-mile round-trip rim walk, listed at about 20 minutes, with two short paths to three platforms over the canyon. It is an easy way to get close to the volcanic walls without committing to a long hike. This itinerary covers the rim platforms; a canyon-floor descent is not part of this mapped walk. Pets are not allowed on park trails.
What to look for from aboveUse all three platforms: each gives a different angle into the wash.
Use all three platforms: each gives a different angle into the wash. Look for pebbles and boulders embedded in the pale canyon walls, then pick out the darker basalt lower down. During the rainy season, pools can collect in the wash, though the walk described here stays on the rim.
How the canyon formedAbout 30 million years ago, hot ash and rock fragments from nearby volcanic activity settled…
About 30 million years ago, hot ash and rock fragments from nearby volcanic activity settled here and welded into tuff. Water from Blue Creek, fed by rain in the Chisos Mountains, later cut through the tuff and basalt. The contrast is easy to see from the platforms: pale welded ash above, darker rock below.
Keep to the platformsThe rim is soft and erodes easily.
The rim is soft and erodes easily. Steep drop-offs and regular rockfalls make the edge a bad place to wander, so stay back and use the viewing platforms. A separate canyon-floor route appears in longer descriptions, but its current access status is unclear; check with the park before attempting any descent.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Big Bend
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.
