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Big Bend National Park

Photo: Yinan Chen / Public domain · source

🏜️ Canyons & deserts

Big Bend National Park

Terlingua, TX · Chihuahuan Desert, West Texas

About

Big Bend is named for the sweeping curve where the Rio Grande turns north along the Texas-Mexico border, wrapping over 800,000 acres of Chihuahuan Desert, river canyons, and the entire Chisos mountain range. Walk the short Santa Elena Canyon trail beneath limestone walls that rise some 1,500 feet and narrow to a slot barely wide enough for the river. One of the most remote parks in the lower 48, it rewards visitors with vast solitude and famously dark night skies.

Highlights

The big bend of the Rio Grande along the Texas-Mexico borderSanta Elena Canyon, with walls up to 1,500 feet and a slot as narrow as 30 feetThe Chisos Mountains, the only U.S. mountain range fully contained in a national parkChihuahuan Desert landscapes spanning over 800,000 acresSome of the darkest night skies in the continental United States

Getting there

1 Panther Junction, Big Bend National Park, TX 79834

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