In 2021 my wife Jude and I (Erik) purchased 43 acres of Chihuahuan desert property in Terlingua, Texas close to Big Bend National Park. The land is entirely off grid, isolated, and amazing. Our goal is to build our own self sufficient home with solar and rain water catchment so we can move here full time.

The Property


We looked at hundreds of pieces of land in Terlingua online and viewed 1/2 dozen places in person. Many were a complete disapointment and not what we wanted. We did find a nice piece of land in Cedar Springs but we decided it was just a bit too far down very rugged dirt roads for us to realistically get supplies there. So we kept looking until we saw this plot in November of 2020. This site was only a 15 minute drive down a decently kept dirt road and we knew it was the one as soon as we got out of the truck. The mesas created an excellent backdrop to build up against that would leave us a 270 degree view of Packsaddle, Panther, and Agua Fria Mountains.

43 acres unimproved land in Brewster County, Tx cost us 24,000$ with 800$ paid to get a property survey. Property taxes are approximately 700$/year.

June 4, 2023 – John Wells stopped by and I asked him to do a quick drone survey of our place.

The mesas are the defining feature of our land and are bordered with thin rock ledges that overhand several feet in some places.

Packsaddle (L) and Panther (R) Mountains.

Packsaddle Mountain.