Member-only story
Panther Junction Visitor Center
The center of Big Bend National Park
The Panther Junction Visitor Center is the main visitor center of Big Bend National Park. This is 26 miles south of the main entrance. At this visitor center there is a large 3D topographical map showing the terrain of the entire park area. There is also a post office here where you can mail postcards home.
If you turn right there is a small gas station. It might look closed and unused, but boy is this a life saver. From Panther Junction Visitor Center straight north to the next gas station at Marathon is 68 miles.
I highly recommend getting gas at this point. If you don’t you will probably wish you had. Big Bend National Park is huge.
From this point at Panther Junction coming from the north entrance you can turn left or right. To the left will take you to Rio Grande Village and the Rio Grande River. This is the way we went first. Turning right takes you to the Chisos Basin and the mountain range. We have not explored…
