Way down on the Mexican border, tucked between Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park, the tiny ghost town of Terlingua has come back from the dead, reborn as a glamping destination. Basecamp Terlingua, which opened in 2017, was among the pioneers of the trend, erecting tipis, casitas, lotus tents and bubble tents with transparent walls, all designed to bring people and nature into closer harmony.
Basecamp owner Jeff Leach had been visiting the Big Bend area for over 30 years when he decided to open glamping options in the old ghost town. He chose the name of his new venture, he says, because it “fits what people are looking for when they arrive: a Basecamp to begin their adventure every day and a cool and safe place to return to."
According to company spokeperson, Tiffany Swift, Leach started the business with the idea of connecting every guest with the beauty and environment of Big Bend. “It’s a place where you can disconnect and relax,” she says. “All of our properties feature outdoor rainfall showers where you can bathe privately and feel the sun and wind on your skin.”
Today, Basecamp operates more than 30 rentals in the Terlingua area. “Our first accommodation was Casa Azul (a renovated house in the heart of the historic district), then the Desert Pearl (a renovated Avion trailer),” Swift says.
Next came a half-dozen luxury 26-foot-tall tipis equipped with king-size beds and upscale amenities including a microwave, refrigerator and Wifi, with a dedicated bath house with heated floors nearby.
“When you open your tipi door the first thing people are struck with is the size and spaciousness,” Swift says. “The inside is recessed into the ground about 4 feet, which makes the tipis more than enough space for a family of four.”
Other accommodations soon followed including 16-foot Lotus BelleTents, shaped like a Hershey Kiss, a luxury tenting area (but no RV sites), and a variety of adobe casitas scattered through the area. Basecamp Terlingua’s most popular lodgings, however, are the two bubble tents, usually booked months in advance.
Bubble tents have unique transparent walls, which were the first ones to appear in the US [Photo/Basecamp Terlingua]
A creation of French designer Pierre Stephane Dumas, who calls his bubbles “an eccentric shelter with the aim of offering an unusual experience under the stars while keeping all the comfort of a bedroom suite,” the bubbles have transparent ceilings for stargazing and translucent walls for privacy. A silent air pump keeps the bubble inflated.
The bubbles are hugely popular in Europe, where BubbleTree lodges are found throughout France and as far afield as Iceland. The bubble tents at Terlingua were the first in the U.S., debuting in December of 2018. The two-person bubbles will soon be joined by Bubble X, a multi-bubble structure that sleeps four, with separate bedroom and living room, full bath with a bathtub, plus an outdoor hot tub.
Basecamp orients its properties to face east toward the Chisos Mountain Range in the heart of Big Bend National Park. All are equipped with in-ground fire pits and lounge chairs where, according to Swift, “ you can soak in the sunrises and sunsets.”
Lotus BelleTents at Basecamp, a luxury tenting area [Photo/Basecamp Terlingua]
But there’s more to do in the Terlingua area than gaze at the sun and stars. Big Bend National Park is just 10 miles away while Big Bend Ranch State Park, the largest state park in Texas, is 12 miles the other way. Both offer amazing outdoor recreation, including hiking, mountain biking, horse trails, river running and more. Basecamp Terlingua itself offers guided hikes and jeep tours to areas of Big Bend.
There’s plenty to see in Terlingua, as well, a funky community that calls itself Ghost Town Texas. In the 1880s, the area was an important mining center for cinnabar, an ore from which mercury can be extracted. By the 1940s, the mines had closed and the town dwindled. By 2010, the population was 58. Remnants of the old town and mines survive, haunted, many claim, by the ghosts of the former occupants. A boot-hill cemetery and ruined mansion built by one of the town’s richest residents are highlights of the historic walking tour.
The old Chisos Mining Company Store is now the Terlingua Trading Company. A former cinema now houses the Starlite Theatre Restaurant and Saloon, with live entertainment most nights. There are plenty of places to eat offering a variety of food and entertainment, although menus mostly feature tacos and/or burgers.
Basecamp Terlingua is getting into the food service business too, building the Sotol House, a new cafe in town. “It will have fresh food options,” Tiffany Swift says. “You can come relax, have a drink, use the internet.” Cocktails will feature Sotol Terlingua, a distilled liquor made from a desert plant called sotol, or desert spoon.
The liquor is another of Jeff Leach’s projects. He has his own brand of sotol produced in Northern Mexico, where archeologists believe the plant has been used by native people for a variety of purposes for some 10,000 years. The liquor is produced in much the same way as mescal, but it has an entirely unique flavor, not at all like a tequila. Leach brands his sotol with the hashtag #notagave.
To get the word out about this little known spirit, Leach helped organize the world’s first ever Sotol Festival, with tastings and local music and tours across the border, last April and hopes to make it an annual event.
However, the Sotol Fest isn’t the celebration Terlingua is best known for. Back in 1967, two local guys came up with a publicity stunt to put Terlingua on the map. They were spectacularly successful, founding not one, but two chili cookoff competitions - the “Original” Frank Tolbert Cookoff and the larger Chili Appreciation Society International (CASI) Cookoff - both held on the first weekend of November each year. The rival cookoffs have grown into a four-day celebration of chili, food, music, and fun that draws hundreds of cooks and more than 10,000 “chiliheads” to the region.
Known locally as “a bowl of red,” the chili con carne celebrated at these cookoffs is based on meat, with no beans, and usually is not overwhelmingly spicy. The chili judges rate the entries on appearance, taste and aftertaste, and prefer a chili that is hot but not too hot, that unfolds into a complex “back heat” on the tongue.
During the Chili Fest(s), you’ll be hard pressed to book accommodations at Basecamp Terlingua or anywhere else in the area. Many RVers dry camp right on the festival grounds. However, the rest of the year, the area is more laid back, a destination that attracts repeat visitors, some of whom stay on to open a bar, or an art gallery, or a funky shop and become permanent residents.
“We are open 365 days out of the year,” Tiffany Swift says. “But the busy season for Basecamp Terlingua and the entire Big Bend area starts mid-October through the end of March.” Many snowbirds find their way to this remote Texas town where sunny days and mild winter weather make a welcome change from blizzards up north.
At Basecamp Terlingua, visitors can enjoy all the comforts of home, while getting up close and personal with the desert, its dark skies and unique ecosystems.