Government Springs 1 Primitive Campsite

Just a short, easy drive from the main road. We take delivery of an Airstream Basecamp 20X In February so we were exploring future places to stay while on a hiking trip. It’s a huge site and while there’s traffic during the day (the road leads to the Balanced Rock Trail), I can imagine that it’s super quiet at night. The views are spectacular.

This was our favorite campsite of the ones we stayed in or drove by in Big Bend. Other reviewers mention getting a permit in the park, but we booked this site 6 months in advance, so planning ahead is necessary now for this campsite. It's listed as Grapevine Hills 1 on recreation.gov. It is RV appropriate and marked as a group site with 3 allowed vehicles. It's a very deep campsite, so we were able to park away from the road. We have a 24 foot travel trailer and had plenty of room, even to park sideways if we wanted. There's a little trail off the backside of the campsite, so our kids enjoyed having our own private 'hiking' area to explore.
Location is very central to a lot of the park.
No generators are allowed. There's a popular hike at the end of Grapevine Hills road, so a decent amount of traffic went by during the day, but nothing bothersome.

This was a great place that was easy to access and quite large. Scenery is all around with some views better than others. Depends on the time of day you look. It was nice and open for sunsets and close to the Chisos Mountains to see detail. At night when the moon isn't in the sky, you will take in a beautiful scene of stars! There was some traffic on the main road but it's a dirt road to the trail head for balance rock. It's really busy around spring break, so the park was full during the visit. It took a few early mornings to get a permit. I was told that other times you have your pick. It is permit only camping. So be sure to check in at Panther Junction for more info. Cell service was hit and miss.

This was the fourth site we occupied during out 14 day limit in Big Bend. We were here in January 2017. This was also the site we were able to secure for the longest time - we boondocked here for 9 days. I should say that I did put $1 for nightly rate - only because it is hard to predict. In Big Bend, you pay $12.00 for a 14 day back-country permit - so if you stay for 14 days, then your nightly rate is less than $1.

What I liked about this site was the accessibility to the main road in Big Bend. We were just 1/4 to 1/2 mile onto the Grapevine Hills dirt road, and within easy access to Panther Junction and the road to the Chisos Basin. This is a great, central location for exploring the park.

The site overlooks the desert, and has some fantastic expansive views. And is somewhat protected with mountains/hills on one side. We had some extreme windy weather for a day or two and I think it would have been worse had we been in a more exposed location.

The other major bonus to this site is that it is one of the few spots in the park where cell service is available. I had great ATandT coverage from this dispersed campsite. Location must be the key here. I'm told there is a private ranch adjacent to the park here and this is the reason for a nearby tower. Not sure if that's true - but service is good!

This is also one of the bigger rig-friendly dispersed camping spots in Big Bend. We easily accessed this site. The road into this site is dirt, but short and well-graded and the site is large and spacious enough to maneuver most rigs. Of course, leave that up to the rangers to decide when requesting a permit. They know the limits of each dispersed campsite and can guide you on choosing the best location for your rig.