Far Flung Outdoor Center, Terlingua

There is nothing like an adventure in Big Bend, and Far Flung Outdoor Center has been creating memorable adventures for years!  From rafting the Rio Grande to jeep and ATV tours, Far Flung can help you make your vacation special!  And let’s face it, when you put your family’s safety in someone’s hands, you want it to be with someone you trust.  Far Flung has been in business since 2001, and Greg, the owner, is also the Chief of the Terlingua Fire and EMS, and studies wilderness medicine.  Heck, he even teaches classes in it!

Know Before You Go

Remember that Big Bend’s busy season is from October through April, when the average high is in the upper 70’s.

Bring plenty of water, soda or “other” drinks, in an ice chest. Please, no styrofoam.

Never, ever forget sunscreen.  Anytime of the year, it’s a necessity in Big Bend.  When we left FFOC for our river trip, the skies were overcast with a light sprinkling of rain, which was forecasted for the entire day.  As soon as we put in, the clouds broke and the temperature soared to 80 degrees with almost full sun, and I was glad I had, at the last minute, grabbed the sunscreen.

Lifejackets are provided for everyone on river trips.

River Trips

Far Flung offers full day, overnight, 3,4,5, 10 and even 30 days trips on the river!  They even have a New Year’s Eve 2 day trip with live music!  Doesn’t that sound amazing!  

We took a 1/2 day trip over Thanksgiving break.  The water level was good thanks to recent rains and Mexico releasing water from the dam on the Concho River, which feeds into the Rio Grande upstream.

Each raft will hold about 6 people, plus the guide.  Since we are a family of 5, we had our own raft, but if your party is smaller you may get to share and make new friends!  Talk about a conversation starter, “We met while rafting together down the Rio Grande in Big Bend”.

We rafted through Closed Canyon, or Cañon Oscuro, is one of the many canyons on the Rio Grande.  While we were quite warm in the sun, once we were behind the canyon walls, is was a little chilly.  Be sure to dress in layers.

During times of low water, the raft tours are switched to canoes.

During our trip, our guide did all the rowing, while we just enjoyed the scenery!  We loved our guide, who played games with the kids, and gave us a great history lesson on the region all while paddling!

There were a few gentle rapids along the way, but nothing the rafts couldn’t handle!  We held on and enjoyed the trip!

We didn’t get wet the entire trip, except from the kids splashing each other.  Some people did get a little damp.  We all wore cheap water shoes, probably purchased at some small town Walmart.  After hoarding Teva sandals for years, I’ve really come to prefer cheap water shoes for most river trips, because I don’t cry when one accidentally goes floating down the river.

Another thing is your pants.  The bottom of the raft does get a little wet, so you want pants that you can easily roll up the legs a few times.  Quick dry pants work best, and I prefer workout pants, which were easy to just pull up the legs when needed.

About half way through out trip, we pulled ashore and enjoyed a snack provided by Far Flung!

Turtle… or Tortuga?

This little guy was just inches from Mexico, so we decided he was a tortuga!  As you float along the river, FM 170, the River Road, runs along the Texas/US side, but the Mexico side offers nothing but tall cliffs, with almost no roads and very few people living on that side of the border.

We had such an amazing time on the river!  Far Flung has lots of other river adventures, and we can’t wait to come back and do a longer trip!  Click HERE to visit their river page.

ATV Tours

Enjoy the beauty of Big Bend on an ATV tour on private land not accessible to the public!  Drivers must be 16 with a driver’s license, and riders on the back must be at least 8.  Click HERE to visit their ATV tour page.

Jeep Tours

Far Flung also offers some amazing jeep tours through Big Bend, on-road and off!  Click HERE to visit their Jeep Tours page.

Gratuity for Guides

When planning to take a tour, always remember that your guide usually counts on gratuity as part of their income.  There isn’t a hard rule on how much to tip, but an article in Outdoor Magazine offers some guidelines, click HERE to read it.

Gift Shop

Far Flung has a GREAT assortment of t-shirts, hoodies, window decals and more, that we didn’t see anywhere else in Terlingua!  In fact, I was a little disappointed because we had already bought a lot of shirts somewhere else that I thought were just…. ok.  So, stop in to look, even if you aren’t out for an adventure!

More Things to do in the Terlinqua/Big Bend Area

Terlingua isn’t a town, but refers to the region, which includes the Ghost Town, as well as the hamlets of Lajitas and Study Butte.  Here is just a few of the things to do….

Big Bend Stables and Lajitas Stables offer 1/2 day, day and even 3 day trips into the Chihuahua Desert!  We loved it, and it’s an incredible way to experience Big Bend!  Click HERE to read more.

See the pictographs on Indian Head Mountain.  Ancient man left his mark all over the mountains of Big Bend, but one of the easiest to see is in Study Butte.  Indian Head Mountain road takes you right to the Big Bend National Park boundary (not an entrance), and the pictographs are located right off the road.

Big Bend National Park is huge, and you could spend your entire trip there, and not see a fraction of the park along, much less anything of the rest of the region.  There is a restaurant, RV and tent camping, lodging and high-demand cabins.   Click HERE to read more.

The Boquillas Border Crossing, in the Big Bend National Park, is a small boat that ferrys you, not your car, across the Rio Grande for $5 a person.  You can then take a burro into the Mexican tourist town of Boquillas for lunch and shopping.  Passports are required.

Big Bend Ranch State Park is 300,000 acres stretched along the Rio Grande River.  Camping is all primitive.  Click HERE to read more.  The Visitors Center has an interesting interpretive center and garden.

The River Road, FM 170, stretches up and down, and up and down, and up and down from Lajitas to Terlingua, and gives you one of the most scenic roadways in Texas, with stunning views of the Rio Grande and it’s many canyons!  Click HERE to read more.

Ojinaga, Mexico lies just across the border from Presidio, and is not really a tourist town, but does boast a good restaurant in the plaza.  Be sure and take your passports for everyone in your family, you can’t get into Mexico without them, and you can’t get back.   

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Far Flung Outdoor Center

1-800-839-7238 · info@ffoc.net

Click HERE to visit their website.

Click HERE to visit their facebook page. 

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Keep Having Fun in the Texas Sun! 

Michelle 

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