Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park (Blog Hike #1108)

Trails: Rio Grande, Tram Road, and Resaca Vieja Trails
Hike Location: Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park
Geographic Location: southwest of Mission, TX (26.18550, -98.37944)
Length: 4.1 miles
Difficulty: 3/10 (Easy/Moderate)
Date Hiked: February 2026
Overview: A barbell-shaped hike through flat mesquite forest.
Park Information: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/bentsen-rio-grande-valley
Hike Route Map:

On The Go Map

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming December 2027)

Directions to the trailhead: On the west side of Mission, take I-2 to US 83 BUS (exit 134).  Exit and go west on US 83 BUS.  Drive US 83 BUS west 1.5 miles to FM 2062 and turn left on FM 2062.  The parking lot is 2.4 miles ahead on the left.

The hike: For my introduction to the World Birding Center and the lower Rio Grande valley's collection of Texas state parks, see my hike at nearby Resaca de la Palma State Park.  Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park is the western-most of the 3 Texas state parks in the lower Rio Grande valley, and this hike is the final of the 3 hikes I did in those parks.  The park came to be in 1944 when Lloyd Bentsen Sr. and his wife Edna Bentsen, parents of the long-time United States Senator and one-time candidate for Vice President Lloyd Bentsen Jr., donated 586 acres to the Texas Parks Board.  That donation stipulated that the park bear the name it does today.  The park opened to the public in 1962, making it the oldest of the 3 lower Rio Grande valley state parks.

            Like every park in the lower Rio Grande valley, birding takes center stage here.  The park has only a primitive campground for lodging; the park's developed campground closed permanently in 2004.  Private vehicles are allowed only in the Visitor Center parking lot, and a tram that runs along the 3.8 mile tram road provides access to the park's hiking trails.  The hike described here uses a walk on the tram road to connect the park's 2 longest hiking trails.  While this hike does not pass the park's best birding area, it is the best option in this park for a hike of significant distance.

Trailhead for Rio Grande Trail

            To avoid a long road walk at the beginning or end of your hike, I recommend riding the tram to the first trailhead.  Board the tram at the Visitor Center, and ride it to the southeast corner of the tram road loop and the trailhead for the Rio Grande Trail.  From the signs that mark the trailhead, the wide dirt/gravel trail heads south and quickly splits to form its loop.  I turned right and used the left arm as my return route, thus hiking the loop counterclockwise.

Mesquite forest on Rio Grande Trail

            The entire Rio Grande Trail passes through sparse mesquite forest with a dense grassy understory; this will be a hot and sunny hike for most of the year.  The land is persistently flat, and the never-changing scenery makes for a somewhat boring hike.  The bird viewing is decent but not as good as at La Parida Banco in the northwest part of the park.  I saw a wild turkey and some vultures in addition to some common small birds such as cardinals and mourning doves when I hiked here.

Hawk-viewing platform

            This park lies flush against the Rio Grande and the Mexican border, and Border Patrol activity in the park is common even though all was calm on my visit.  Despite this trail's name, the Rio Grande never comes into sight on this hike.  At 1.65 miles, you reach the spur trail that leads to the hawk-viewing platform, which is probably the best view on this hike.  The platform overlooks El Morillo Banco, an oxbow lake that was dry on my visit.  I did see a couple of hawks on my hike, but the real hawk-viewing occurs during mating season in April, not mid-February when I came here.

El Morillo Banco

            Past the hawk-viewing platform, you quickly close the loop and return to the tram road.  You could wait for the tram to take you to the next trailhead, or if you get impatient as I did, you can walk north on the tram road and turn right at each intersection.  0.9 miles of road walking later, you reach the trailhead for the Resaca Vieja Trail on the right.  A blue/green sign board with a park map greets you at this trailhead.

Start of Resaca Vieja Trail

            The Resaca Vieja Trail heads east on another wide two-track dirt/gravel trail.  The mesquite forest along this trail is denser and therefore the understory less grassy than what you saw on the Rio Grande Trail.  Numbered posts indicate the presence of an interpretive guide, but none were available at the trailhead.  Where the trail splits to form its loop, I angled softly right to hike the loop counterclockwise.

Resaca Vieja

            At 3.3 miles (including the road walk in the middle), you reach an overlook of the old resaca.  Resaca is the Spanish word for oxbow lake, of which the lower Rio Grande valley has many.  Most of these resacas are dry for most of the year, and this old oxbow lake is no exception.  The loop continues through very flat terrain, and the dense mesquite forest prevents you from seeing many birds.  Just past 4 miles, you close the loop.  Turn right to head back to the tram road, and then either ride the tram or walk 0.5 miles along the tram road to return to the Visitor Center and complete the hike.

Estero Llano Grande State Park (Blog Hike #1107)

Trails: Wader's, Spoonbill, Alligator Lake, Llano Grande Trails et. al.
Hike Location: Estero Llano Grande State Park
Geographic Location: south of Weslaco, TX (26.12711, -97.95808)
Length: 2.5 miles
Difficulty: 2/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: February 2026
Overview: A loop with many water vistas and bird-viewing opportunities.
Park Information: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/estero-llano-grande
Hike Route Map:

On The Go Map

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming December 4, 2026)

Directions to the trailhead: In extreme south Texas, take I-2 to FM 1015 (exit 160).  Exit and go south on FM 1015.  Drive FM 1015 south 2.2 miles to the signed park entrance on the left.  Turn left to enter the park, and park in the only lot.

The hike: For my introduction to the World Birding Center and the lower Rio Grande valley's collection of Texas state parks, see my hike at nearby Resaca de la Palma State Park.  At only 230 acres, Estero Llano Grande State Park is the smallest of the lower Rio Grande valley's 3 state parks, but it is actually my favorite of the 3 because it has the most water and therefore the most wildlife.  The park was formed by assembling multiple pieces of land including some old farm land and an old trailer park; it opened in 2006.

            Like all of the lower Rio Grande valley's parks, bird watching takes center stage at Estero Llano Grande State Park.  The park has only a group lodge for lodging, and it offers only a Visitor Center and some picnic shelters for facilities.  For hikers and birders, the park offers 6 trails, but all 6 of the park's trails measure less than 1.5 miles long.  Because this park packs a large number of short trails into a small area, any route through the trail system will pass through many trail intersections with many route decisions to be made; picking up a trail map at the Visitor Center is advised.  This hike forms a grand loop around the park's central area while passing all of the park's best bird-watching spots, thus featuring the best this park has to offer.

Heading east from the Visitor Center

            After walking in the entrance trail from the parking lot to the Visitor Center, continue east to begin the Wader's Trail, which passes through a narrow strip of shrubby land with Ibis Pond on the right and a dry drainage canal on the left.  At 0.2 miles, turn right to head south on the Spoonbill Trail as it crosses Ibis Pond on a boardwalk.  Immediately the birding and wildlife show begins.  I did not see any spoonbills or ibis in this pond on the warm but windy early February day when I came here, but I did see some ducks and cormorants.

Boardwalk at Ibis Pond

            At the next 4 intersections, turn left, right, left, and left again to begin heading north on the east arm of the Wader's Trail.  Dowitcher Pond sits to your left now, and those long-billed wading birds would be common sights in this pond.  While I did not see any dowitchers here, I did see a large number of egrets.  At 0.7 miles, turn right twice to cross a drainage canal that was dry on my visit, following signs for Alligator Lake.

Egret

            0.85 miles into the hike, turn left to hike the short spur trail to the main overlook at Alligator Lake.  I saw several young alligators here in addition to many egrets.  A small picnic shelter stands in this area, and its shade will be welcome on a warm sunny south Texas day.

Small alligator in Alligator Lake

            Retrace your steps out the spur trail, then turn left to continue south.  Just shy of 1.2 miles, you climb the levee to reach the Llano Grande Hiking Trail, a two-track gravel linear trail that runs along the top of the levee.  Turn right to head southwest on the Llano Grande Hiking Trail, which is the most exposed trail in this park.  The levee's elevation gives nice views across Llano Grande Lake to the south, but you will need binoculars to see wildlife in the water: it is a decent distance away.

Hiking atop the levee

            After hiking less than 1000 feet on the Llano Grande Hiking Trail, turn right to descend from the levee, then turn left at the next 2 intersections to head around the south side of Ibis Pond on the Wader's Trail.  Turn left twice more to arrive at the Scissortail Loop, the Becard Trail, and my favorite bird blind in this park.  This blind overlooks an area of dense shrubs, and I saw many birds here including a bronzed cowbird and several redwinged blackbirds.  This blind is a popular spot, but the popularity is warranted.  Sit here awhile and see what birds you can see.

Hiking through the old trailer park

Hiking the Green Jay Nature Trail

            Continue west on the Becard Trail, then turn right to head north on the Tyrannulet Trail.  All of the trails in this part of the park are laid out in a grid formation and are paved with asphalt: this is the old trailer park I mentioned in the introduction.  Exit the old trailer park area to the north by passing the park's butterfly garden, then turn left to hike one last short loop: the Green Jay Nature Trail.  This narrow trail passes through dense woodlands, and I saw many more common songbirds here even though I did not see the regionally famous bird for which this trail is named.  After finishing the Green Jay Trail, head back out the entrance trail to the parking lot to finish the hike.