This is a hot spring located almost on the border between the United States and Mexico.
Imagine there's no countries.
Big Bend National Park
Of all the national parks in the continental United States, Big Bend is one of the least visited.
![Highway 01](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs26.jpg)
It is located in a remote area about five hours drive from either El Paso or San Antonio, Texas.
Hot Springs Historic Area is one of the park's main attractions.
![Dirt Road 01](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs18.jpg)
It was easily accessible through a narrow dirt road, as it was one-way.
![Parking Lot 01](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs16.jpg)
There was one vault toilet in the parking lot.
![Trail 03](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs14.jpg)
From here to the hot springs, it is a 0.5-mile round-trip hike through an area dotted with remains.
![Picnic Table 01](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs27.jpg)
This stone building is a former post office.
Here was a town centered on a spa resort.
![Ruins 02](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs11.jpg)
J.O. Langford, a Mississippi native, sought a cure for malaria, which he had contracted, and was told that there were medicinal baths in the area that could cure the disease.
In 1909, Langford purchased the property and moved his family there.
![Ruins 03](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs10.jpg)
Convinced of its curative effect against malaria, he built a bathhouse, but in 1912, after a series of bandit attacks, he left this area.
The family did not return to the area again until 1927, 15 years later.
![Ruins 01](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs12.jpg)
They restored bathhouses, built a post office, operated a motel, and the spa resort flourished in the 1930s and early 1940s.
In 1942, Langford deeded the land to the State of Texas when the area was turned into a national park.
![Cliff 01](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs09.jpg)
Passing through the remains, a boardwalk extended toward the limestone cliffs.
![Hieroglyph 01](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs25.jpg)
Indigenous hieroglyphs.
It is proof of the importance of hot springs long before white settlement.
![Trail 02](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs23.jpg)
The trail emerged into an open area facing the Rio Grande.
There I saw colorful wirework and trekking poles.
![Illegal Souvenir 01](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs15.jpg)
It was apparently for sale, but there were no people around, and it looked out of place in a national park to begin with.
In fact, Mexicans living on the other side of the river are selling their wares to visitors
![Alpaca](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/10/alpaca150.png)
![Capybara](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/10/capybara150.png)
Border hot springs
![Mexico-side 02](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs05.jpg)
The square pool jutting out into the river was the hot spring.
![Pool 05](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs01.jpg)
It was large enough to accommodate 10 people.
![The Rio Grande 01](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs02.jpg)
The Rio Grande River, which has flowed through Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, was muddy.
![Mexico-side 01](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs22.jpg)
The river was not so wide.
It would be easy to walk across to Mexico on the other side of the river if you wanted to.
![Pool 03](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs06.jpg)
This pool is the remains of the bathhouse once built by LangfoRoad
![Pool 01](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs20.jpg)
In the early 1950s, the Parks Department dynamited the top of the bathhouse for safety reasons.
![Soaking 03](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs04.jpg)
Even after that, the park did not seem to intend to maintain the area carefully, and a little sediment had accumulated.
![Water Outlet 02](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs03.jpg)
The water outlet was located at the bottom of the pool, and the gush was so abundant that it created ripples on the surface of the water.
![Water Outlet 01](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs19.jpg)
Temperature 106 degrees F, tasteless and odorless water.
![Water temp 01](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs08.jpg)
In the world seen from the pool, there was no border line that should have been in front of me.
Above us, only sky.
![Soaking 01](https://hotspringers.net/ja/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/langford-hot-springs21.jpg)
Summary
Langford (Boquillas) Hot Springs, Big Bend National Park, Texas, U.S.
My rating
Type: Undeveloped (fee required)
Rule: Clothing required
Chemical use: No
Water temp: Up to 106 degrees F