Stillwell Ranch Store & RV Park (Outside Persimmon Gap northern Entrance to Big Bend National Park)

ahschneid

Mar 133 min read

Rio Grande River Wild and Scenic Wilderness Area

On 7 March 2025 we moved to Stillwell Ranch Store and RV Park which is just outside the Big Bend National Park Persimmon Gap Entrance. This campsite has full hook ups, which was nice. However, we had no cell service and no Internet. The drive from Rio Grande Village to Stillwell was only 55 miles, so we had the afternoon to explore. We checked out the Hallie Stillwell Museum which is a tribute to the matriarch of the Stillwell Ranch family. She lived to be 99 and only ever lived in the isolated homestead 22 miles from the Mexican border. The museum has a film of an interview with Hallie, and she remembers Pancho Villa! She ended up being a ranch hand out with the cowboys because it was not safe for her to be alone at the house. There were attacks by Indians and bandits when she was first married around the age of 18. The Stillwells were friendly with their Mexican neighbors from La Linda Mexico and they remember sending their Mexican hired help home with truckloads of furniture, food and clothes. We rode out to the one lane bridge to La Linda but now it’s blocked.

Hallie Stillwell Museum - 7 March 2025

Hallie Stillwell Museum - 7 March 2025

We had taken a walk around the campground before driving to the La Linda crossing. The campground is large and there are four sections to it. Most of the sights are either water/electric only or primitive. The Stillwell family had over 80,000 acres of land, which is beautiful with desert and canyons and mountains. It’s very quiet and peaceful. Hallie Stillwell said she never felt isolated or lonely, but Anita would miss the social aspect of community.