• Sierra del Carmen

    Big Bend

    National Park Texas

Rivers and Streams

Canyon of the Rio Grande

Canyon along the Rio Grande.

NPS/Big Bend National Park

The Rio Grande is the defining feature of the Big Bend. It is here that the river swings abruptly to the northeast after flowing south and southeast for nearly 1,000 miles.

In the desert life clings to water, and it is along the Rio Grande and intermittant streams that wildlife is often found. Both humans and animals are attracted to and depend on the limited water of the Rio Grande.

Did You Know?

Woody Guthrie

American folk singer Woody Guthrie spent a short time in the Big Bend region in 1921 and briefly searched for the legendary "lost mine" in the Chisos Mountains. More...