Our 6 Days In An Off-Grid Cabin In Terlingua, Texas

One of the places I’d been looking forward to most of all in the first year of our 5 year, 50 state road trip was Terlingua.

Terlingua is in southwest Texas near Big Bend National Park and the Mexican border. The reason I’d been looking forward to it so much is because there’s very little light pollution. So little light pollution in fact that it’s known for its starry skies and the fact that you can see the Milky Way at night.

Neither Shae nor I had ever seen the Milky Way in person, so we were hoping to have clear skies at night. It turns out that we had nothing to worry about as we saw the Milky Way every night of our stay.

We’ve stayed in about 20 different Airbnb properties over the past year, but I’ve never written a review on the blog about them like I do with hotels we stay at. However, we had such a fun and unique experience at the property we booked in Terlingua that I wanted to write more about it.

West Corazón Casita

When researching accommodation options in Terlingua, pretty much everything was off-grid. That made me a little nervous as Shae and I aren’t really roughing it kind of people.

The listing for West Corazón Casita stood out as it had a few creature comforts that would make the stay much more comfortable. They had solar power, Wi-Fi, an electric light and fan, a flushing toilet and running water (albeit with water that needed to be conserved). There was even a small fridge and microwave!

So even though it’s off-grid in that it doesn’t have a regular electric supply, the solar panel ensured all the essentials could be included. The Wi-Fi in particular was essential as I knew I’d have to work a couple of days during our stay.

To get to the cabin, it was a long drive down some unpaved roads. Our Airbnb host mentioned it’s best to use an SUV or high clearance vehicle, but we had to make do with our 2004 Toyota Corolla. Thankfully we made it in and out several times without popping a tire.

The cabin would be considered a tiny home as it’s only 300 sq ft, but it didn’t feel too cramped. It has a spacious unfinished bathroom (currently only consisting of a flushing toilet), but that meant there was plenty of space to store our bags.

The main living area was a large room that’s split into two zones – the bedroom on one side and the kitchen / work area on the other.

The bedroom had a comfortable queen bed, a tall dresser and a mini fridge. The bed was on tall legs which meant there was even more storage space beneath.

The opposite side featured the kitchen area. There was a propane stove and oven, microwave, sink with cold running water, cooking equipment and more. It wasn’t safe to drink the running water, so the hosts provided a 5 gallon water dispenser.

As you might have noticed, there was no shower or bath in the cabin. They did have a solar-heated camp shower we could use, but even better was that we could also use the hot showers at the nearby Terlingua Ranch for free.

You don’t go to Terlingua for ultimate hygiene though. You go for the views of both land and sky and the West Corazón Casita delivers on both of those.

West Corazón Peak

The cabin is named that way because it looks out at West Corazón Peak, a 5,002 ft tall mountain.

The views of the mountain were beautiful at sunrise…

…at sunset when its color changed to a deeper orange/red…

…and at nighttime beneath a starlit sky.

Hiking

EDIT: Since the writing of this post, we’ve been informed that this hike is on private land. We didn’t know, as there weren’t any signs and we didn’t cross any fencing. We’ve apologized to the owner but we wanted to highlight that you should not attempt to hike up West Corazón Peak.

Shae and I had the not-so-genius idea to hike up West Corazón Peak one afternoon. There seemed to be some kind of plateau about halfway up, so we figured we could manage that fairly easily as it didn’t look too steep.

We were mistaken.

It turns out that the view of the mountain from the cabin is a little misleading. Hiking halfway up wasn’t the issue so much as actually getting to the base of the mountain. If you look at the photo below, the terrain looks reasonably flat leading up to West Corazón Peak.

It’s a lie! There are actually several gorges along the way, several of which get quite steep. That meant we’d already expended more effort than expected before we even started heading uphill. There were also a lot of picky plants – both cactus and others – so our dog Truffles was getting them stuck in her paws and fur. That meant I ended up having to carry her most of the way, similar to our Quartz Mountain experience in Oklahoma.

Also similar to Quartz Mountain, there wasn’t a defined trail to follow – we simply tried to find our own way across and up. We eventually made it after about 90 minutes and were glad we hadn’t wanted to go any further as there was a fence blocking the way.

The photo below has the Casita circled in the distance and gives a better idea of how uneven the terrain was that we’d had to traverse. Even this view doesn’t give a true representation of how deep some of the gorges were though.

The hike was worth it though as there were some beautiful views from halfway up West Corazón Peak. Here’s a video I took which gives a panoramic view.

The journey back down didn’t go quite as planned. Shae slipped and landed on a rock extremely hard, leaving her with an enormous bruise on her butt. That meant we had to take our time heading back to the cabin, with the hike made even harder due to us taking a different route that took us through even deeper gorges.

We’d brought a flashlight with us just in case, but thankfully made it back to the dirt road as the sun was setting.

Big Bend National Park

Terlingua is the closest city to Big Bend National Park, so it’s a great place to stay if you want to visit this National Park that borders Mexico.

We visited with Truffles and so weren’t able to go hiking as dogs aren’t allowed on any trails there. Dogs are allowed in the park though on campsites and in your car if you’re driving through. The great thing is that Big Bend National Park is a beautiful and expansive park with several scenic drives. That meant we were able to explore the park without having to leave Truffles locked in the cabin all day.

Check out this post for more about Big Bend National Park.

Big Bend Ranch State Park

While Big Bend National Park is to the southeast of Terlingua, Big Bend Ranch State Park is to the southwest. I actually preferred the State Park to the National Park for a couple of reasons – check out this post where I explain why.

Don’t Trust Google Maps

I use Google Maps pretty much every day seeing as we’re visiting new places all the time. I also have zero sense of direction (Shae has my share of that), so Google Maps is a lifesaver.

Having said that, don’t trust it when visiting Terlingua. Thankfully our Airbnb hosts warned us beforehand as it would’ve taken us down the wrong dirt roads on the way to West Corazón Casita.

It wasn’t any better when it came to directions to the National Park and State Park. It only took a couple of hours – if that – to get to both parks from the cabin, but Google Maps said it’d take more like four hours. That seems to be because it tries directing you to the park headquarters in a roundabout way.

Instead of using Google Maps for directions to the two parks, simply follow the road signs. Take Texas State Highway 118 south all the way to Big Bend National Park or Texas State Highway 170 to Big Bend Ranch State Park.

Gas

There are very few gas stations around so you’ll want to fill up whenever you can, even if you only need 1/4 tank. Alpine is the last city you’ll hit before arriving in the Terlingua area, so fill up there.

You then have a couple of options in Terlingua. There’s an Alon on Highway 118 and a Sunoco on Highway 170 before you reach the State Park.

Stargazing

One of the best reasons to visit Terlingua is for the stargazing. Both Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park are International Dark Sky Parks, so Terlingua’s proximity to those helps ensure you get an amazing view of the night sky.

I don’t think I’ve ever lived or visited anywhere with no light pollution. As a result, I’d never seen the Milky Way. This probably sounds stupid, but I’d always thought photos of the Milky Way were manipulated or Photoshopped.

Being able to see the Milky Way with the naked eye in Terlingua was therefore a magical experience. I tried taking photos with my phone but nothing showed up. Thankfully Shae has a decent camera and so was able to try her hand at astrophotography for the first time.

We also got to attend a free stargazing event in Terlingua during our stay – check out Shae’s post for more about that.

Quietness

Staying at the cabin was incredibly quiet. As in absolutely silent at times. It was actually noisiest at night when the crickets chirped, but even that wasn’t loud. When the wind was still during the day though, you often couldn’t hear a thing. It was eerily beautiful.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve always wanted to see the Milky Way but don’t want to camp in the middle of nowhere, West Corazón Casita is the place for you.

A decent bed, flushing toilet, solar power, Wi-Fi, kitchen and more all ensure a comfortable stay. I’m not sure how much the cabin’s pricing fluctuates throughout the year, but we only paid $62 per night. That’s great value for such a well-equipped cabin (by Terlingua standards). Plus our Airbnb host has chickens and so brought over a dozen fresh eggs for us to enjoy.

We stayed at the end of November / beginning of December which seemed to be the perfect time to visit. It was a decent temperature during the day, so the cabin didn’t get too hot. Summer temperatures can apparently get very high, so not having air conditioning could be unpleasant. Although it got much cooler at night, the cabin was well insulated and so we weren’t too cold despite it only being ~40° outside.

Just in case you’re wondering, our host didn’t know we were going to write about our experience. We simply had such a great time at their place and visiting the area, I wanted to share it with you 🙂