Big Bend is still great. Two kids (12 and 9). Rented a subdivided house in Study Butte (Chisos Mining Co, Santa Fe unit).
Day 0: drive. Dinner at taco place in Terlingua.
Day 1: Big Bend Ranch SP. Hiked Escondido Spring Loop. Packed lunch, ate at Saucedo.
Day 2: Lost Mine (arrived at trailhead before dawn and still barely got parking). Lunch at Basin restaurant. Recreated anniversary pics (got married at the Basin Wndow Overlook trail). Afternoon hike Santa Elena. Kids love to climb boulders in the canyon shade. Old Maverick headed out. Luna's Jacal is basically my happy place. I can't exaxplain it.
Day 3: Grapevine Hills am hike, lunch in Boquillas. Souvenir shopping. Burro rides. Pm hike in Boquillas Canyon for the kids to get filthy on sand dune.
Day 4: rented a jeep, drove River Road east to west. Lunch and hike at Masical Mine. Ice cream at Castalon to celebrate. Old Maverick to tell Luna about finally checking off the RR.
Day 5: drove home. Did both Fort Lancaster and Fort McKavett. At Fort Lancaster we were the only ones and they give you a golf cart to drive around. Lol
Next time we will do: Pine Canyon (after doing the RR I'm confident we can get to the trailhead); Cattail Falls (intended to go but no parking because of road work so did the Grapevine Hills); Closed Canyon; maybe do a boomerang kayak/canoe up Santa Elena (or north of park, depending on water level); Window + Basin (or finally take the kids up South Rim if they are ready). And of course do a Boquillas side trip, but this time I want to visit the hot springs on the Mexican side. It's only a half mile upriver.
Anyone done Peguis Canyon from Ojinaga? It's supposed to be cool, mostly safe, and not far at all.
I'm dieing to do Pine Canyon. If I do that, I'll think I'll have done every hike but the truly nuts high desert backpacking trips. We were going to do it, but I chickened out. If RR west is "hard" then I am 100% confident in doing it.