A Fun ATV adventure with Far Flung in Terlingua

As part of our stay at Lajitas Golf Resort & Spa, we signed up for an off-road ATV tour with Far Flung Outdoor Center in Terlingua, Texas which is 25 miles from Big Bend National Park.

We chose Far Flung because they have an excellent reputation, have been in business since 1976, offer reasonably priced self directed rides into the wilds of Big Bend, and to my knowledge they have never lost an ATV rider! Far Flung states: “Folks, this is a guided tour with the objective of showing you the Big Bend in a different way. It is not a high speed, slide around the curves, cut across the desert type of experience.

If you are looking to test the limits of an ATV, you will be sorely disappointed in this tour.” Their goal is provide you with a fun, educational, and scenic ride through the desert with unbelievable desert and mountain scenery and if you’re lucky you might spot a variety of wildlife from snakes to tarantulas to rabbits, javelina, or deer. And depending on rain and the time of year you’ll see a desert alive with red, yellow, and white blossoming desert fauna.

Most of the ATV tours are 3 hours but we took an abbreviated hour and a half of a 11 mile tour through Terlingua Ranch that was a blast. When we arrived we were warmly greeted by the office staff who introduced us to our guide, Erica. We would be riding on a small portion of what is called terlingua Ranch with over 200 acres that once belonged to a railroad that planned to run railroad track through terlingua.

After signing a waver, Erica got us fitted with a helmet and goggles which made me look like a fat motorcyclist! Once I had squeezed my big head into what seemed like a kids helmet (it was really an 3XL) Erica led us to our ATVs (powerful Polaris Sportsman 570s with seats for 2) for a short lesson on how to drive our ATV as well as some other safety rules. “Follow me, but not too closely unless you like to eat dust, avoid big rocks in the trail, and let me know when you want to stop for break or to take pictures. Have fun!” And we took off in a fire ball of dust.

We rode through some amazing beautiful mountain scenery on Terlingua Ranch property – up and down several hills,

in some arroyos, across the desert, next to some huge boulders, and in some dry creek beds.

Erica pointed out some Impressive geological formations with a variety of colors thanks to wind, rain, uplifting, volcanoes, and more. It’s like an artist’s painting. I muttered under my helmet lots of “wows” and “holy cows.” Beautiful and diverse!

Erica likes to make her ATV tours more of a nature and interruptive tour, which means you have frequent stops where she’ll point out some interesting facts about the terrain, medicinal plants, geological history, fauna, animals, and local lore. For instance, she talks about some of the edible plants and explained that some of the layers and different colors in the mountains was volcanic ash. Rainbow mountain is a perfect example of that – red, white, brown, and black layers. .

All too soon we were heading back to Far Flung. When I got off my ATV I looked like dust ball – guess I was riding a little too close to Erica. What an enjoyable tour!

In addition to ATV tours, Far Flung also offers:

• river tours – half day to 3 or 4 day trips as well as gourmet and family adventure trips
• several different Jeep tours as well as air conditioned Hummer tours
• hikes and walks through a variety of beautiful and unique terrain
• wilderness medicine which is focused on first aid skills for the wilderness
• rental kayaks or canoes which can include a shuttle
• Jeep rentals

If you’re headed to the Terlingua/Big Bend area, make sure you schedule some adventure with Far Flung. And you might consider staying in one of Far Flung’s 400 square foot casitas which are next door to where your Far Flung adventure starts. Have fun.