Stillwell Store & RV Park

Dates of stay: Nov. 17-27, 2018
Rate reflects a weekly discount

Stillwell's is an interesting place, and as the title of this review indicates, it is the only place to stay outside the east entrance to Big Bend Nat'l Park. It has easy access, and all options for hookups are avail (full by the office, partial and dry in the area across the street known as The Strip which is a wide open level scrub dirt field. Most sites are pull-thrus. They have picnic tables, but when we visited, they were all stacked up as if for storage. I believe we could have brought one over to our site if we had wanted to. Some of the sites on that side had fire rings, and at the far end of the lot were several horse pens available (we saw a group with many horses stay for a few nights during our visit.)

There are restrooms, showers, and a laundry room in buildings near the office/store, all of which are operational but very run-down and a wee bit gross. The showers had plenty of hot water. The washers and dryers, while located in what reminded me of someone's ramshackle basement, worked well. It was 1.25-1.50 to wash/dry, and I didn't need more than one dry cycle for a full load. **twice during our 10-day stay, the park's well pump went out, and we were without water for a one full and one partial day

The park has free wifi which works the best the closer you are to the store but was still usable for us from across the road. We got no Verizon signal at all (good reception in the National Park, however.) There was no OTA TV or radio reception.

The store/office had basic items, ice cream, and drinks for sale. They sell propane and gas. We did not visit the small Hallie Stillwell museum. There were never more than 10 campers there at any one time, all were well spread out, and it was very quiet both day and night.

Stillwell's, despite its drawbacks, can't be beat especially for the price and its proximity to Big Bend.

We stayed here overnight in an electric/water site in early March 2018 while waiting for our reservation to start in Big Bend National Park. This RV park is @ 15-20 minutes from the entrance to Big Bend. The staff was very friendly and the grounds were well maintained. Don't expect a resort style park here, this area is very rugged and rustic and the park fits right in. There is a small store with wifi, it appeared to sell gasoline(we didn't inquire), a Hallie Stillwell Hall of Fame Museum, laundry and showers. The park itself is a big sandy lot with hookups, but the surrounding views are amazing. If you have the time take a ride to the end of the road to La Linda, it's a nice, scenic ride with an overlook of Mexico and an old Mission Church at the end.

We ended going to Big Bend during Spring Break of 2016 and did not realize how busy the park would be. We stayed at Stillwell the first night due to no available sites inside of Big Bend. Stillwell is an amazing experience. They have a store and if you stop in they will explain to you and show you the way to the "sites". You pretty much drive into the desert and pick a flat spot to pitch your tent, which was AWESOME! Great experience! We were pretty far from anyone else but it was still a little noisy due to it being Spring Break and the amount of people present. Stillwell has showers included with the price of a site. Bathroom/showers were clean! I believe they also have WIFI available at the Stillwell store as well. It is a 15-20 min drive to Big Bend from Stillwell.