Burro Mesa Pour-Off Trail Lower, TX

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK

The Rio Grande River comes down out of Colorado, heads south through New Mexico, and passes through El Paso Texas where it now becomes the border between the United States and Mexico. The river flows 1254 miles in a southeast direction toward the Gulf of Mexico, but before getting there, it turns to the North East, creating a momentary bend in the river; this Is Big Bend National Park. The mountains in this park are a continuation of a mountain range in Mexico that will continue into the US through Guadalupe National Park and New Mexico. The highest point in this park is Emory Peak, at 7800 feet. This park is probably one of the remotest parks in the contiguous United States. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, it has a lot to offer in hiking, camping, and general sightseeing.


BURRO MESA POUR-OFF LOWER TRAILOverview
Burro Mesa Pour-Off is a 100 foot falls along Javelina Creek as it comes down from Burro Mesa. The Lower Burro Mesa Pour-Off trail is a 0.6 mile trail that goes to the base of this falls. The trail to the falls travels along Javelina Creek with volcanic rock and Tuff cliffs on either side, quite scenic. The pour-off is quite impressive, even though it will most likely be dry when visiting. The trailhead is located along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive at the marked lower Burro Pour-Off road. There is parking for about 15 cars at the trailhead. There is no access to the upper Burro Mesa Trail from this trail, even though you are standing almost directly below the upper trail.

Description
I would recommend taking this trail prior to the upper Burro Mesa Pour-Off to get a good idea of just how high and steep this pour-off is. From the parking lot, the signed trail heads directly up Javelina Creek. To the north of the trail are cliffs of volcanic ash capped with harder volcanic rock that comprise most of Burro Mesa. A canyon north of the trail looks like it might be worthwhile exploring if time permits. There is quite a bit to see along this short trail with a lot of OOHS and AHHS until the last 100 yards when it’s a HOLY XXXX as the falls come into view, quite impressive. At least when I was there, the falls were dry, but that made it all the more interesting; you can stand directly below the falls and look straight up. The upper Burro Mesa Pour-Off trail is quite literally just a few feet removed from being directly on top of you 100 feet up. It probably would also be awesome to see this with a gully washer of water coming over the top. I would also recommend this trail later in the day since it is a west-facing falls to take advantage of the light on the multicolored rocks of Burro Mesa.

2021-05-22 markthurman53