BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK

TEXAS

Big Bend National Park is a land of borders. Situated on the boundary with Mexico along the Rio Grande, it is a place where countries and cultures meet. It is also a place that merges natural environments, from desert to mountains. It is a place where south meets north and east meets west, creating a great diversity of plants and animals. The park covers more than 801,000 acres of west Texas where the Rio Grande makes a sharp turn - the Big Bend.

Author Fredrick Gelbach describes these borderlands aptly when he calls them "a carpet of interacting plants and animals deftly woven on a geologic loom." His description conjures up images of looming mountains and stark desert landscapes with a ribbon of water slicing through it all. Indeed, this characterizes the Big Bend and its surrounding area - a diverse natural area of river, desert, and mountains, and a land of extremes - hot and cold, wet and dry, high and low. To wander the shimmering desert flats, to ascend the rimrocks of the desert mountains, to float the canyons of the Rio Grande, to be "on the border," is to experience sights and sounds and solitude unmatched elsewhere.

It's been said that if the Chisos Mountains are the heart of Big Bend. If that is so, then the desert floor is its soul. Ninety-eight percent of the park is desert, and like the mountains, the desert is a land of contrasts-a place where you can touch 400-million-year-old rocks with one hand, and a day-old flower with the other, where extremes of temperatures of 50 degrees or more between dawn and mid-day are not uncommon.

Big Bend's desert landscape itself is a study in contrasts - mesas, mountains, and dikes formed by volcanic activity, limestone ridges and cliffs formed 100 - 200 million years ago when shallow seas covered the area, and ever-changing arroyos, dry most of the year, but subject to violent flash flooding during summer rains. Water is truly the "architect" of the desert, as its presence or absence determines the way the desert looks, its plant and animal life, and the way humans have been able to use it through time. Lest you feel a pang of pity for the roadrunners, coyotes, or javelinas you may encounter living in this harsh land, don't - the adaptations that allow these creatures to live here are no less than amazing, and, in fact, even allow them to thrive. Instead, think of the land not as burdened by its lack (or in some months, abundance) of water, but rather as blessed. It is this cycle of wet and dry, so unfamiliar to those from wetter climates, that allows us our spectacular display of bluebonnets, yucca blossoms, and other spectacular wildflowers. Our water, although paltry to some, is enough for a desert environment. Any more and this place would be something very different.

The one location where you can count on seeing water in Big Bend is along the Rio Grande - a linear oasis that's been called the "lifeblood" of Big Bend. To drift through the majestic canyons of the Rio Grande, with your oars touching two countries at the same time, is to span time and space. Although the river, as the boundary between the United States and Mexico, looks like a solid line on the maps of the area, it is always changing, always going somewhere, and it takes us along on its current, opening our eyes to a panorama of towering cliffs, brilliant bird life, and grassy vegas or beaches. As you drift with the current, you may see both the expected and the unexpected - the black phoebe flitting to and fro, a turtle or a Big Bend slider, perhaps perched on a rock slipping with a quiet "plop" into the water, swallows darting into their mud-nest "apartments," or a Peregrine falcon stooping to its prey. Then at night, you see the display of stars connecting you to other parts of the world as well as to other worlds.

A visit to Big Bend provides opportunities for us to escape to isolation seldom found in daily life-a chance to experience unfamiliar creatures and plants, an endless expanse of stark desert and mountain scenery, and the vast space, heat, and silence that is the essence of the desert. Big Bend has been described as harsh, isolated, lonely, parched, and desolate. But for some people, in the remoteness and isolation, lies the fascination of the Chihuahuan desert. From the earliest days of human occupation, people have recognized the value of this rugged land that the Spanish called "El Despoblado," and as a result, the people and the land have had a long partnership here.

DID YOU KNOW

• Big Bend celebrates its 60th anniversary on June 12, 2004.
• Emory Peak in the Chisos Mountains is the highest peak in the park at 7,832 feet. A 9-mile-roundtrip trail leads to the top and offers spectacular views of the surrounding area and into distant Mexico. A slightly longer hike can take the explorer to the edge of the South Rim and a 2,000 sheer drop-off with a view second to none.
• Elevations in the park range from Emory Peak's height, to the 1,800-foot elevation at Rio Grande Village, a variance of more than 6,000 feet over just 20 miles. Within the park, nineteen types of soils can be found, as well as many springs, creating an incredible diversity of life.
• Big Bend has documented more than 450 species of birds - more than any other National Park! Big Bend also has 11 species of amphibians, 56 species of reptiles, 40 species of fish, 75 species of mammals (including 19 species of bats), 1,200 species of plants and 3,600 species of insects.
• The park shares the international border with Mexico for 118 miles of the Rio Grande, which offers fantastic river trip possibilities and quiet walks along its banks. The river has three deep canyons, Boquillas, Mariscal and Santa Elena, each used by recreationists for river trips.

DON'T MISS ATTRACTIONS

• The park is really three parks in one, including the Chisos Mountains, the Chihuahuan Desert and the Rio Grande corridor. Each is unique and each offers much to the visitor.
• The Chisos Mountains includes wonderful day hikes and overnight backpacking, camping and motel accommodations. Trails vary in length from ¼ mile to over 14.5 miles with breathtaking views, a wide range of wildlife and a great diversity of plants.
• The Chihuahuan desert is as diverse as it is large and spread out. It offers hiking, driving, and four-wheel-drive opportunities on remote back roads. A visitor can camp, watch wildlife, and visit homesteads of those who lived here in the early days, or find a backcountry spring with a myriad of life.
• The Rio Grande is a ribbon of green within the desert. Beavers, water birds, plants and animals of many kinds can be found along its shores. A river trip into silent walled canyons or a relaxing short float is there for the asking.
• All times of the year are great for visiting the park. Wintertime temperatures are normally warm and pleasant along the river low country, while summertime temperatures in the Chisos Mountains rarely are higher than the mid 80s. Springtime is especially popular due to the bloom of desert wildflowers and cactus.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PRIORITIES

The park is a treasure trove of diversity of life, history, environments and cultures. It does, however face management challenges including air-quality issues. Air pollutants in the form of sulfates and other particulates, especially in the summer months, reduce the visibility of the park's long vistas. Also, water quality and quantity in the Rio Grande are diminished and imperil its recreational use and use by wildlife.

The park has a rich and varied prehistory and efforts continue to document and survey what may be as many as 10,000 known and unknown archeological sites within its boundaries.

Like many parks, Big Bend has non-native species requiring continued management effort, including exotic species of plants such as bufflegrass and exotic animals such as feral hogs and nutria.

The park has other partners and agencies along or near its border including the more than 200,000-acre Big Bend State Park Ranch, two Mexican protected areas with over a million acres between them under protection and state-owned lands to the north. The park continues to partner with these other protected areas to manage and conserve regional resources, provide for shared training and ideas, and to allow for the continued use of this region by the visitor.

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LINKS:

Big Bend National Park»

Partnering & Managing for Excellence Report»

Previously Featured Parks»