Big Bend Country · Lakes & Rivers
A remote, exceptionally clear spring-fed river natural area in Southwest Texas with two reservation-only units—Del Norte and Dan A. Hughes—protecting rugged limestone canyon country and primitive backcountry access.
Photography: Clinton & Charles Robertson from RAF Lakenheath, UK & San Marcos, TX, USA & UK · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Plan the visit
The place
Devils River State Natural Area protects one of Texas' clearest and least-developed river corridors, but it is not a single trailhead or campground. TPWD currently operates the Del Norte Unit and Dan A. Hughes Unit as separate reservation-only destinations.
The river attracts paddlers and anglers, while both units offer primitive backcountry experiences in exposed limestone and desert terrain. Extended river trips have additional access-permit requirements designed to control use and protect the river corridor.
Study the exact unit, road, check-in time and permit requirements before leaving Del Rio. Cell service is unreliable, summer heat is dangerous and an older 'Big Satan Unit' name in legacy data refers to property now identified by TPWD as the Dan A. Hughes Unit.
The details
Quick answer
Field notes
Conditions, closures, fees and availability can change. Use these notes to plan, then confirm the latest details with the official site before making the drive.
Build the trip
Nearby places, worthwhile detours and combinations for adding water, history, outdoors or a full weekend around this destination.
Close enough for the same trip
Places ordered by straight-line distance when reliable coordinates are available.
Brackettville · Kinney County · Big Bend Country
A remote western Hill Country park near Brackettville with wild-cave tours, rugged trails and seasonal evening flights of Mexican free-tailed bats from Stuart Bat Cave.
Approx. 39 miles away
Rocksprings · Edwards County
Rocksprings is an Edwards Plateau courthouse town best known as the required departure point for Devil's Sinkhole State Natural Area, where reservation-only tours lead to a National Natural Landmark cave and one of Texas' largest seasonal Mexican free-tailed bat colonies.
Approx. 47 miles away
Sonora · Sutton County
Sonora is an I-10 Sutton County town at the meeting point of the Hill Country and West Texas, combining a historic courthouse and Main Street, Eaton Hill trails, ranching history and one of the state's most celebrated show caves just southwest of town.
Approx. 49 miles away
Sheffield · Crockett County · Big Bend Country
Established in 1855, Fort Lancaster protected a strategic overland route linking San Antonio and El Paso across West Texas. The isolated ruins make the scale, distance and logistical difficulty of 19th-century travel across the Edwards Plateau immediately understandable.
Approx. 66 miles away
Leakey · Real County
Leakey is the Real County seat and practical hub of the Frio Canyon, pairing a historic limestone courthouse with Frio River recreation, scenic Hill Country drives, nearby Garner State Park and access to the Lost Maples and Three Twisted Sisters landscape.
Approx. 74 miles away
Build a better day
Nearby parks, water, towns, history and outdoor places that complement this destination.
Concan · Uvalde County
A Hill Country favorite on the Frio River, where limestone hills, cypress-lined water, Old Baldy and the park’s long-running summer dances make the destination as social as it is scenic.
Approx. 78 miles away
Junction · Kimble County
Junction is a Kimble County river town where the North and South Llano meet, combining a compact county-seat core with paddling, tubing, fishing, birding, dark skies, Lovers Leap overlooks and South Llano River State Park just south of town.
Approx. 82 miles away
Menard · Menard County
Menard is a San Saba River town on the northern Edwards Plateau where frontier-era history, a restored Art Deco courthouse, the historic irrigation ditch, river parks, fishing and a quiet ranch-country landscape support a low-key Texas heritage stop.
Approx. 99 miles away
Add some water
Lakes, rivers, springs and coastal places that can fit into the same trip.
Junction · Kimble County
A clear-river Hill Country park near Junction where swimming, tubing, paddling, turkey habitat, pecan bottomlands and miles of trails come together along the spring-fed South Llano River.
Approx. 79 miles away
Spring Branch · Comal County
Four miles of Guadalupe River frontage between San Antonio and the Hill Country, pairing cypress-lined swimming and paddling water with trails, camping and access to the protected Honey Creek landscape.
Approx. 149 miles away
San Antonio · Bexar County
San Antonio's 15-mile river corridor links the famous below-street downtown promenade with the Museum Reach, Pearl and the Mission Reach, combining cypress-shaded walks, restaurants, public art, river cruises and some of the city's most important historic places.
Approx. 154 miles away
Blanco · Blanco County
A small Hill Country park wrapped around a mile of the Blanco River, with limestone dams, swimming, fishing, paddling and shaded picnic areas within walking distance of downtown Blanco.
Approx. 154 miles away
Add some Texas context
Historic sites, small towns and road-trip stops that add context to the route.
Fort McKavett · Menard County
The remarkably preserved West Texas post interprets U.S. Army life and conflict on the 19th-century frontier, including the service of Buffalo Soldiers. Its surviving buildings and remote setting create one of Texas' clearest physical impressions of an Indian Wars-era military post.
Approx. 81 miles away
Keep the day outside
Parks, caverns and outdoor destinations that pair naturally with this stop.
San Angelo · Tom Green County · Big Bend Country
A large Concho Valley park on O.C. Fisher Reservoir with miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails, wildlife habitat and a landscape tied to the official Texas State Longhorn Herd.
Approx. 110 miles away
Fredericksburg · Gillespie County
A massive pink-granite dome north of Fredericksburg with nearly 21 miles of hiking, a famous summit climb, rock climbing, stargazing and a newly opened backcountry trail system.
Approx. 135 miles away
Terlingua · Brewster County · Big Bend Country
A vast Chihuahuan Desert national park where the Rio Grande, the Chisos Mountains and some of Texas's most dramatic canyon country meet, with scenic drives, long-distance hiking, dark skies and enough geographic range to reward several days rather than a single overlook stop.
Approx. 140 miles away
Terlingua · Big Bend Country
The mountain heart of Big Bend National Park, where the Chisos rise above the Chihuahuan Desert and major trails begin from a high-elevation basin surrounded by cliffs and iconic views.
Approx. 146 miles away
More like this
Similar destinations, favoring the same region and the shortest available distance.
Johnson City · Blanco County
Thirty miles west of Austin, the Pedernales River pours across broad shelves of Hill Country limestone, creating a dramatic falls area plus separate places for swimming, hiking, camping and river access.
Approx. 165 miles away
Wimberley
A spring-fed swimming area on Cypress Creek inside Wimberley's Blue Hole Regional Park, shaded by mature cypress trees and managed through a seasonal reservation system that protects the experience from uncontrolled crowding.
Approx. 173 miles away
Austin · Travis County
An Austin state park where Onion Creek drops over broad limestone ledges at Upper and Lower Falls, with swimming holes, trails, camping and reminders of Central Texas history only minutes from the city.
Approx. 196 miles away
Fritch · Hutchinson County
A large Canadian River reservoir in the Texas Panhandle surrounded by breaks and dry plains, with free access to boating, fishing, swimming, hiking, camping and backcountry roads.
Approx. 396 miles away
Keep exploring the region
Additional places from the same Texas region.
Salt Flat · Culberson County · Big Bend Country
A remote West Texas national park protecting the fossilized Capitan Reef, Guadalupe Peak—the highest point in Texas—McKittrick Canyon, El Capitan and rugged desert-to-mountain trails near the New Mexico line.
Approx. 265 miles away
Balmorhea · Reeves County · Big Bend Country
A West Texas oasis built around San Solomon Springs and the world’s largest spring-fed swimming pool, where clear 72-to-76-degree water fills a historic CCC-era park in the desert.
Approx. 181 miles away
Fort Davis · Jeff Davis County · Big Bend Country
One of the Southwest's best-preserved frontier Army posts, set beneath the Davis Mountains with restored barracks, officers' quarters and exhibits interpreting soldiers, civilians and Buffalo Soldiers on the nineteenth-century Texas frontier.
Approx. 180 miles away
Monahans · Ward County · Big Bend Country
A West Texas field of wind-shaped dunes where visitors can roam without marked trails, rent sand discs, camp beneath wide skies and watch the landscape change after every strong wind.
Approx. 160 miles away
El Paso · El Paso County · Big Bend Country
An El Paso national memorial telling the story of a century-long U.S.–Mexico boundary dispute resolved peacefully in 1963, with museum exhibits, cultural programs and broad lawns beside the international border.
Approx. 349 miles away
Presidio · Presidio County · Big Bend Country
Texas' largest state park, stretching through remote Chihuahuan Desert mountains, canyons and Rio Grande country west of Presidio with rugged roads, trails and primitive camps.
Approx. 179 miles away
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