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.
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.
It was easily accessible through a narrow dirt road, as it was one-way.
There was one vault toilet in the parking lot.
From here to the hot springs, it is a 0.5-mile round-trip hike through an area dotted with remains.
This stone building is a former post office.
Here was a town centered on a spa resort.
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.
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.
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.
Passing through the remains, a boardwalk extended toward the limestone cliffs.
Indigenous hieroglyphs.
It is proof of the importance of hot springs long before white settlement.
The trail emerged into an open area facing the Rio Grande.
There I saw colorful wirework and trekking poles.
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
Border hot springs
The square pool jutting out into the river was the hot spring.
It was large enough to accommodate 10 people.
The Rio Grande River, which has flowed through Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, was muddy.
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.
This pool is the remains of the bathhouse once built by Langford.
In the early 1950s, the Parks Department dynamited the top of the bathhouse for safety reasons.
Even after that, the park did not seem to intend to maintain the area carefully, and a little sediment had accumulated.
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.
Temperature 106 degrees F, tasteless and odorless water.
In the world seen from the pool, there was no border line that should have been in front of me.
Above us, only sky.
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
