Hiking in the Unspoiled Beauty of Big Bend

The hiking trip in Big Bend National Park exceeded my expectations! Tara and Joe shared their vast knowledge of Big Bend and their love and enthusiasm for the area was contagious. The finale hike was challenging for me and I was so proud and happy that I completed it! I liked the daily trips to hike in different parts of the park, the motel, the transportation, the food, the guides, the other attendees; only thing that needs improvement are the motel's beds which are beginning to sag.

The Big Bend program is outstanding!! The guides, Tara and Joe, made this a wonderful experience to hike the challenging trails. From their stories, I gained an appreciation of this very special, unique area-- the geology, geography, and cultural significance.

I highly recommend this program! The scenery was amazing and our guides (Tara and Joe) were top-notch. I learned so much about this very interesting area of Texas.

We had a great four days hiking Big Bend National Park. Our two tour leaders were wonderful, showing us the beauty of West Texas. The pace was good for this intermediate hiking trip. Highly recommended.

This is a wonderful trip! Tara and Joe are amazing guides. They share their extensive knowledge of the Big Bend area, its history, geology, flora and fauna. They know BBNP inside and out and how best to experience the diverse areas of the park. Meals prepared by Betty were superb. Highly recommend this trip and Tara and Joe's Hidden Dagger Adventures.

Visiting Big Bend has been a long-time dream, and this trip allowed me to see and learn about very different parts of the park. Joe and Sandy were our guides and they were both excellent, and Betty provided delicious meals. It was unseasonably cold on this trip, but everyone layered up and the biggest consequence was that the trails weren't very busy. Highly recommended!

What a great trip! Tara and the Hidden Dagger Adventures team are exceptional guides, so familiar with the area and both the human and wildlife inhabitants. Mady added her expertise on animal and botany. Tara always kept our safety and enjoyment of the hikes front and center while maintaining her super friendly attitude. We all appreciated how much she gives of herself in sharing the beauty of Big Bend and the people. And huge kudos to her mom Betty for the excellent meals and Cantina management!

A wonderful way to see Big Bend! The guides were extremely knowledgeable, engaging, and experienced with the outdoors. Such a diverse area with so much to offer. I'm so happy I did this!

A great trip. The guides were awesome!

If you like to hike, this is a wonderful trip.

Treat yourself to challenging hiking in one of the US's largest National Park - Big Bend. Given its remote location so much better to do with a group rather than on your own!

This was my second time on this trip. Hidden Daggers is a great guide company and Tara and Mady are excellent guides. Their knowledge and passion for this region makes you as excited as they are about the land and people. Betty provides wonderful meals to look forward to after a long day of hiking. The scenery is spectacular while the hiking challenging and rewarding. Marathon is a cool town and the Marathon Motel is a very comfortable place to stay. I will do this trip a third time in the near future.

Big Bend National Park is beautiful in its wildness - its challenging trails - its canyons with green growth - its wide expanses of rocky flat land and jutting mountains. The views are endless!

I highly recommend Road Scholar's Challenging Big Bend adventure. Decent hiking abilities are important, however, there were many ways that the hikes could be adapted to different hikers' abilities. The guide company, Hidden Dagger Adventures, led by Tara Shackleford and co-leader, Mady, did a fantastic job all-around. An added bonus was the wonderful and varied food served up chief cook, Betty.

I loved this program, which was one of the weeks rated Challenging. Tara and Mady, our trip leaders, were wonderful. They clearly loved the land and the region, provided both leadership and friendship, imparted information about the history and geology and environment, and generally made the trip a joy. The rustic Marathon Motel was a perfect home base for this program. The hikes were enjoyable and beautiful, and were sequenced properly to prepare us for the long and challenging final hike. If you think the Challenging week sounds fun but you aren’t sure you’re up to it, you’d be like me. Step out of your comfort zone and go for it. If you’re sure you’re not up to it, I’m confident the weeks rated Spirited would be every bit as enjoyable.

Loved hiking in Big Bend for four days for my 72 birthday. The air was so clean.

It was a very good trip. Kara and her team are awesome. She has been the best leader I've had in all my trips with Road Scholar. She is very outgoing and taught us a lot about Big Bend. Its history, geography, plants, wildlife, geology, and people. We also had a great time in Marathon doing the Star show which was part of the program. We visited a house that is made out of recycled shredded paper and styrofoam using paper crepe technique which was neat. The first trail we did at the park was the Hot Springs which was difficult because it was uphill, and there are no trees to hide away the sun, but it was worth it. The Window and Lost Mine trails are awesome to do. This trip does require skill and very good physical ability to do trails. Please make sure you are in good shape to do difficult and long trails, if you want to sign up for this trip. Kara and her team made the trails come alive with their explanations . I enjoyed that she read excerpts from a book about the people who used to live in Big Bend before it was a national park. She and her team know the park and the area very well, but they also love it a lot. The food the team made for us was very good and for lunch at the park, they made different food on different days. So we had home cooked meals for all meals every day. We did go to the Gage Hotel to eat dinner one evening, which was very good too. Big Bend offers canyons, river, wildlife like bears and falcons which we saw, plants that you don t see anywhere else in the country, great trails to hike. It offers mountains, forest and a semi dessert area all int the same park. It 's a gem to see. I'm from Texas. This is my third visit to Big Bend and I am definitely coming back !!!

This program is one that challenges Seniors but not at an unreasonable level, instead it stretches participants own expectations and confirms we are able to do still more than initially thought!

Big bend hiking is a superb program led by experienced and friendly guides who enhanced the program immensely. I strong recommend this program- it is in a gorgeous location, is highly informative and well worth taking.

Excellent!

One of favorite Road Scholar programs to date. Never could we of imagined all the geology and landscapes Big Bend NP had to offer; a true hidden gem. A completely different Texas vibe from what you see and hear on the news so close to the Rio Grande. Tara and her staff/family were so warm and welcoming. You could feel the love and passion they have for their town of Marathon and for this part of Texas. The added bonus were the wonderful hikes and the history lessons that accompanied each of them. There is a lengthy van ride to the park each day but that should not stop you from taking this trip. The van rides were a time for conversations, history lessons and wildlife spotting. We would definitely recommend this trip if you want to see the best of Big Bend NP. The Feldstein's

Tara and Joe were terrific hosts. This small family business offered a very comprehensive, safe, and fun way to hike in BBNP which is not easily accessible. Joe and Sandy were terrific guides. The food cooked and served by the family was absolutely fabulous, especially since they accommodated several types of diets. The Marathon Motel is cozy, safe, and fun place to stay. Truly, I couldn't have asked for anything better, especially given that Marathon has few options to offer. If you want to hike in BB, then this is a great option. I don't regret the effort it took to get there.

The RS challenging Big Bend hiking tour is a great experince for hikers. Big Bend NP is amazingly beautiful and the hikes take you to most of the accessible areas of the park. The tour leaders are excellent, food very good, and acccomodation good to very good. It is hard to think how this hiking trip could have been better for my wife and me. Combine it with visits to Gaudalupe NP and Carlsbad Caverns NP and you will have a wonderful vacation as we did.

I highly recommend this program. It was physically challenging in a good way. The landscape was unbelievable and the experience with the other participants was warm and enjoyable. I gained a deep respect for the history and people of West Texas. What made the experience so memorable were the guides Tara and Joe and their family. Their care, great attitude, knowledge and love of the place made this a very special experience.

Loved the trip to Big Bend we just completed. The area is beautiful and the hiking was good. They accommodated different levels of hikers and kept everyone involved. I learned a lot about the area, and now I want to go back! We ate very well and our accommodations were comfortable and clean. Everyone felt accepted and almost part of the family. Can't recommed this trip highly enough!

This was a great trip. The hiking was indeed "spirited", always interesting with just the right amount of challenge. Joe and Tara wereleaders. Their love of Big Bend and the small town of Marathan was infectious. I learned so much about the joys and challenges of living in the Big Bend border region.

I had a great time on our four day Road Scholar trip to Big Bend National Park. All my comments are positive and I thoroughly enjoyed this trip. Tara and Joe were great leaders and guides.

This trip far exceeded our expectations! The scenery of the park was breathtaking. The hiking was great! Our guides, Joe and Tara, were excellent! Their vast knowledge and love of the area was evident and really enhanced our trip. They were organized, efficient and enthusiastic!

Hiking in Big Bend was awesome!! Tara and Joe were absolutely the best!

Spectacular! Guides Tara and Joe of Hidden Dagger Adventures were excellent guides and tireless enthusiasts for the Park, its geology, flora and fauna. The hikes featured the most beautiful areas of the Park with great elevations and 100 mile views. While the desert and mountains were in their winter dormancies, the variety of colors of the land and mountains were vivid in the brilliant sunshine. The base of operations in tiny Marathon, TX, although an hours drive from the Park, proved to be an attraction in itself with a vibrant local arts and music culture. I highly recommend this trip to anyone who loves to hike and enjoy the outdoors.

Tara and her team were welcoming, extremely knowledgeable, flexible, kind, and loads of fun. This was a wonderful trip, well-paced in a stunning, otherworldly landscape. Hiking with a micro group was sheer pleasure. Carol M., Annapolis

This particular trip exceeded my expectations! The staff and accommodations were delightful.

Hidden Dagger Tours were great. They live in the area and know all aspects of both the park and the local town. I saw and learned more than I would have doing this trip on my own.

What an amazing experience of trails, people, culture, history and just wonders I had not expected!

Our guides were incredible. Tara and her team shared their vast knowledge of Marathon and Big Bend while keeping us safe and comfortable. Tara and her mom cooked delicious, varied, and healthy food with ample portions. Tara also hosted us at wonderful local restaurants. By the end of the trip, we felt that we were part of her family and the town. We also had a very interesting evening of dark sky viewing with powerful telescopes and a very knowledgeable instructor. We had a wonderful overview of the vast Big Bend National Park. She carefully, and without politics, showed and explained the changing and tricky relationship with Mexico. I have been on many guided trips and cannot recommend this trip highly enough.

This outstanding program was greatly enhanced by the excellent guides and staff from Hidden Dagger Adventures!

Great experience & opportunity to explore wonders of the world. Highly suggest traveling with your favorite gal pals!

Thanks to the local outfitters Tara and Joe with Hidden Dagger Adventures, this was a most excellent excursion into 4 different areas of Big Bend. Between the varied landscapes, the vegetation and wildlife, the dark skies, the creative vibe in Marathon, I highly recommend this trip. I did buy the trip insurance offered by Road Scholar through Aon, which turned out to be worth it, as the first leg of my flight was cancelled and I arrived a day late.

Big Bend National Park and the surrounding area is truly unique and beautiful from the Rio Grande to trails where there were Ponderosa Pines and Aspens! Oh and did I mention the night sky--truly starry starry nights abound! Most importantly our Tour Guides were enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

Tara and team made our trip memorable by their personalized touch on everything from the food to the stories. The Marathon community is rich with history and culture. The Marathon Motel is clean and comfortable, a hidden gem that we didn't expect. This trip exceed our expectations in every way. We will certainly sign up for another Road Scholar trip.

The guides were extremely knowledgeable, patient and friendly. I learned so much about the area. Big Bend is a beautiful National park with a wide variety of landscapes. Hiking can be strenuous but I appreciated that I was able to safely challenge myself with guidance and advice from our leaders. Food was excellent and the educational learning experiences from locals were great.

A superb trip for people with experience hiking on rocky, rugged trails and at 5000+ altitude. Spectacular scenery and history. Best for cheerful, friendly, and flexible people. Amazing geology and flora. Outstanding leadership.

Excellent program but strenuous. Program leaders from Hidden Dagger Adventures were superb! Pay attention to the elevation which made some of the hikes difficult.

Tara and Joe are building their new business - Hidden Dagger Adventures. They were totally committed to making everyone comfortable during the program. Our experiences in Marathon significantly added to the program. Each day exposed us to different parts of the park (which is huge), giving us an appreciation of all of it.I would highly recommend the challenging version of the program to anyone!

This trip was outstanding! The guides, Tara and Joe were knowledgeable, enthusiastic, safety conscious and a real pleasure to be around. Big Bend has a variety of scenery and history that is amazing. The challenge level was what I expected and wanted out of this trip. It was strenuous and I appreciated that we were kept on-pace. The accommodations and meals were great. I would recommend this trip and Hidden Dagger Adventures.

Excellent, healthy food was served with attention to vegetarian as well as meat dishes. The guides, Tara and Joe, shared their love of Big Bend and the Marathon community, worked extremely well as a team and were attentive to individual needs. They were also very knowledgeable, enthusiastic and personable. We hiked dramatic, scenic and challenging areas of the park and got to see highlights of this vast and beautiful land area. I highly recommend this program and Hidden Dagger Adventures.

This experienced had everything I wanted in an adventure - beautiful scenery, new landscapes that captured my imagination, historical perspective with contemporary context, a physical challenge, and great food and company within our group and in the lovely town of Marathon. Tara and Joe were knowledgeable and enthusiastic guides who maintained the safety of our group while extending wonderful hospitality. Thank you!

This program provides a nice overview of Big Bend National Park and its three ecosystems: the desert, the river/canyons, and the mountains. The leaders, Tara and Joe, are outstanding.

Great program for those who are up to the physical activity level required for hiking in Big Bend National Park. Exceptional Guides with intimate knowledge of the Park. Good way to capture the expanse and contrasts of such a unique area. We never could have experienced so much in four days on our own.

Tara and Joe of Hidden Dagger Adventures were enthusiastic and flexible guides to Big Bend. I would recommend this program for introducing a unique and fascinating area of the country. This was a trip for those people who don't like to sit around a meal table endlessly, but want to see the planets through a telescope, bathe in a hot spring, visit an innovative house, and explore fossils and geology. Not to mention hike!

Tara's and Joe's energy and passion is as mind-boggling as it is contagious. They cook, they drive, they hike, they plan and back up plan and alternate plan. The new digs at Marathon Motel are a huge improvement. Big Bend National Park with its river, desert, and mountains is like nothing you've seen before.

Just finished a great hiking trip at Big Bend with the Road Scholar contractor Hidden Dagger Adventures and would heartily recommend it to anyone who is looking for a fun and challenging visit to a great national park!

Excellent program. Guides/leaders were exceptional. Challenging program but! just what I wanted. Big Bend is beautiful/awesome

The Road Scholar formula of exercise and learning at a fair price cannot be beat.

Great scenery, vigorous hikes, knowledgeable and personable leaders, and a glimpse at surprising aspects of relations along the Mexican border. Big Bend is somehwhat remote, but this program makes it well worth the trip.

In my first RS hiking trip since COVID started, I was pleased with this micro group. Tara and Alicia were amazing and inspiring group leaders, a true team, who introduced us to the flora, fauna, and human/geologic history. The hikes were great and I slept well each night. Bonus is that Tara and Alicia also served as our cooks, providing home cooked breakfasts (along with lots of options), in field lunches (including hot soups and tea--we only took pre-prepared sandwiches once), and some evening meals as well. This in addition to doing the dishes, etc, without missing a beat or losing any time for the hiking/excursions into Big Bend. Their energy levels, knowledge, and constant smiles were incredible. I would highly recommend this program. Too bad it's so hard to get there!

Big Bend NP is vast and amazing - Road Scholar helped me to see and hike, feel the land in historical perspectives, understand the geography and geology...the size and variety of landscapes of this NP make it very difficult to encompass on a do it myself trip - it was great!!

The staff of Tara, Alicia and Joe were extremely accommodating which fostered comradery in the in the group.

It is difficult to be a "spoiler alert" but I felt compelled to alert people who have read reviews of this trip from awhile ago, as I had. Big Bend is an unusual and atypical National Park in many ways. If hiking in a desert environment is something you find fascinating by all means you will totally love your time in this park. If you can tolerate staying in one of the most horrific motels since you became a seasoned traveler, then you will do okay with what others identify as "basic." It is definitely unfortunate that Road Scholar lost its relationship with the Far Flung's Casitas, where you will have the majority of your meals at this lodgings' "Oasis" building. Definitely the guides are fabulous as will be your fellow hikers, as has been the case with all of the hiking trips I have done with Road Scholar; however, had this been my first trip with this company I would be hesitant to book with them again. Our itinerary was also changed once we got on site, and this has been a valuable lesson for me as a traveler arriving early to a location. Fortunately, the guides understood my desire to do a certain trail and I was given the opportunity to do one of the two I had hoped to hike. All in all, I am totally glad I have experienced the Big Bend area, especially Big Bend Ranch State Park, but I would definitely have recommendations for friends to do it differently than I did with this program.

Excellent program. Very worth traveling to the remote area. Hikes were challenging in the picturesque area. Both Alesia and Tara were knowledgeable and encouraged participants to add their expertise to the discussion.

Rugged hiking in an area of the U.S. that few people visit. The guides are great and the environment is more varied than I expected. Big Bend has mountains, desert, and river environments, and you will get a chance to experience them all. Accommodations were pretty basic, but that had more to do with the fact that the base town where you are staying has suddenly become quite the hot spot, and Road Scholar wasn't able to secure the better options in town. Maybe now is the time to see this area before everyone else discovers it.

The challenging hikes are challenging!! Tara and Alicia are excellent leaders, who bring great knowledge about the area and are fun to hike with. Food was great, home cooked breakfasts,and some lunches and some dinners. This was an outstanding trip.

Outstanding leadership, good food, small group, and stunning surroundings. Heat will be a factor for some.

I enjoyed this hiking trip tremendously. Our leaders, Alicia and Tara, were very well prepared, organized, and helpful. Big Bend is a wonderful park to hike in with trails along the Rio Grande, in the desert, canyons and mountains. Meals were very good, with our leaders generally preparing breakfast and lunch, with dinners at a variety of local restaurants. Our accommodations in Teralingua were on the basic side, but comfortable enough, and close to the Park entrance. There was enough travel without being farther away from the park. A wonderful trip!

Great destination, guides, hikes.

Outstanding program in a beautiful, less-traveled natural area. Excellent balance of outdoor activity and learning about flora, fauna, geology, ecology, culture, history, and politics. Knowledgeable and caring leaders; comfortable accommodations; delicious food. Five stars!

January is a great time to be in south Texas when you live in the Midwest or Northeast, and everyone in our group of just 10 was from one place or the other. The warm dry breeze, the great guides Tara and Jake, (and they even COOK wonderful meals!!), the hikes full of scenic beauty, taking a dip in the Hot Springs at the edge of the Rio Grande, the funky fun places we went for dinners, touring Terlingua, and the lovely accommodation at Far Flung Outdoor Center were above and beyond my expectations for the trip. It was relaxing in the way that good hiking makes you feel. Make no mistake, it's not easy to get there, but it was worth the effort. I've experienced a true place unique unto itself. Thanks, Tara and Jake!

The Big Bend, TX. adventure was wonderful with diverse hikes, including desert, canyon, and mountain. Alicia and Jake opened our eyes to the incredible plant life and geological formations found within the terrain. Truly a unique experience.

My program taught me so much about the area we visited. I came home with a brain full of new information.

Big Bend NP was worth the hassle of getting there with a rental car. I loved the hikes. I could have done with a slower more consistent pace, but managed to endure and enjoy.

Fabulous weather, great lodging, excellent guides, everything was A+++.

Excellent program. Big Bend is beautiful. I recommend this program to anyone not familiar with this part of the country. Hiking in Big Bend was fabulous!!! First time on a Roads Scholar trip, had a great time!

Big Bend is not the first or even fourth or fifth on most people's "bucket list," but perhaps it should be. The area was breath-taking. Our instructor, Dean, was clear and knowledgeable. Accommodations were perfect. It's a place to go and a place to "go back to."

A terrific way to combine good exercise and new friends in a very unique environment.

Just returned from Big Bend National Park hiking trip, challenging category, last week. Please do not be intimidated by the long drive to get there, as this is a spectacular program!! Tara and Alicia were first-class guides and educators. I learned so much about the history of its Native peoples, geology, geography, plants and animals, history of Texas and its relations with Mexico. The hikes were wonderfully varied in degree of difficulty and diversity of the landscapes-- canyons, mesas, mountains-- wowie! The group was fun and welcoming. My charming casita at Far Flung was immaculate and spacious-- loved having my own little kitchen, and porch with rocking chairs. Great variety of places for dinner and great food, too. The government shutdown did not affect our hiking itinerary, gratefully. Big Bend National Park is a stunning locale for hiking. I highly recommend this program.

Truly a "hidden gem". Every hike exposed a different feel of the park: waterfalls, slot canyon, plant life variation.

Of the 3 "strenuous" hiking trip we've taken with RS, this was by far The Best! Best guides, best accommodations, best fellow hikers (11 in our group), and best food. It's a little tricky getting to Terlingua but so worth the effort!