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PANTHER JUNCTION VISITOR CENTER TEMPORARY CLOSURE
The Panther Junction Visitor Center will be closed Tuesday May 28 and Wednesday May 29 for needed maintenance. Information, backcountry permits, and entrance fee payments can be taken care of at the Chisos Basin Visitor Center.
Designations
Basin junction, 1930s. From 1933 until the national park was formally established in June, 1944, Big Bend was a Texas state park.
NPS/Big Bend National Park
In 1933, the state of Texas established Texas Canyons State Park, using 15 school sections owned by the state. Lands forfeited for non payment of taxes were quickly added and the name was changed. By October 27, 1933, Big Bend State Park included about 160,000 acres. In 1935, on June 20, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill that authorized the establishment of Big Bend National Park. On June 6, 1944 a deed for about 700,000 acres was formally presented to President Roosevelt and Big Bend was established June 12, 1944 as a National Park by Congressional Act signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was designated an International Biosphere Reserve in 1976.
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Did You Know?
In 1942 the state of Texas spent $1.5 million dollars to acquire privately-owned lands in the Big Bend area in order to create the park. Paying between $1-5 dollars per acre, the state obtained all but 2% of the original acreage of the park in this manner. More...