Boquillas Crossing Port of Entry

For most of its history Boquillas has been a mining town. Silver and lead mining began in Boquillas del Carmen, on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, in 1883. The Consolidated Kansas City Smelting and Refining Company built a cable tramway to carry ore across the river to a plant on the Texas side, and the railroad at Marathon became the nearest railhead. Ed Lindsey, sent by the U.S. Customs Service in 1894 to inspect the ore, opened a store that served both banks and became the local postmaster. The Puerto Rico mine in the cliffs above the village closed before the end of World War I, and most people left.

Families came back in later decades, and when tourism began in the 1980s the village built restaurants, lodging and crafts businesses to serve visitors from the park. The Boquillas Port of Entry opened on April 10, 2013, under an agreement between Mexico and the United States that also covers the protected lands on both sides of the river.

To cross you need a valid passport for the trip into Mexico and back. A passenger ferry, a rowboat, carries visitors over the river for a fee, and the village lies just beyond the far bank. The port's days and hours change with the season, so check the park's site or ask at a visitor center before you drive down.