Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park, southwestern Texas, authorized 1935, established 1944. The park consists of a scenic region bounded on the south by the great bend of the Río Grande. It offers the contrasts of a vast desert landscape and the rugged Chisos Mountains. The Río Grande cuts through three deep canyons in the park: Boquillas, Mariscal, and Santa Elena. Shells and dinosaur fossils are found in the park’s sedimentary rocks. Wildlife in Big Bend includes coyote, mule deer, collared peccary, roadrunner, various lizards and snakes, and tarantula. Area, 324,219 hectares (801,163 acres).

Reviewed by: National Park Service