Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park: Santa Elena Canyon

Big Bend National Park, remote frontierlike region in southwestern Texas, U.S., 250 miles (400 km) southeast of El Paso, along the Rio Grande; the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Coahuila lie across the river. Established in 1944, the park occupies 1,252 square miles (3,243 square km). Named for a wide bend in the Rio Grande, which skirts its southern edge for 118 miles (190 km), it has magnificent mountain and desert scenery, deep canyons carved by the river, and spectacular geologic formations.

The park is located in the northern third of the warm Chihuahuan Desert, which extends across the Rio Grande into the United States from northern Mexico. Precipitation in the southern portion of the park is less than 4 inches (100 mm) a year, and summer temperatures there can exceed 115 °F (46 °C); nonetheless, portions of the desert are actually somewhat lush. Ocotillo, yucca, century plant, creosote bush, lechuguilla (the indicator plant of the Chihuahuan Desert), and many kinds of cacti, including prickly pear and strawberry, thrive in the park. The mule deer, coyote, collared peccary, jackrabbit, roadrunner, kangaroo rat, and rattlesnake are typical wildlife. March and April, when the desert is in bloom, draw the greatest number of visitors to the park.

The Rio Grande, forming a ribbonlike oasis, has carved a deep, often narrow canyon into the layered sandstone, limestone, and volcanic rock along its banks. Cottonwood, acacia, willow, and mesquite trees are found along the river, beavers and catfish inhabit its waters, and sandpipers, tanagers, cardinals, and cliff swallows fly above. Float trips (via canoe, kayak, or inflatable raft) through the Santa Elena, Mariscal, and Boquillas canyon portions of the Rio Grande are popular in the park.

Rising toward the centre of the park are the Chisos Mountains, which reach an elevation of 7,825 feet (2,384 metres) at Emory Peak. Because of their height, these rugged mountains form a third environmental zone within the park. Annual precipitation in the high Chisos is about 25 inches (635 mm), and temperatures are usually 10 to 20 °F (6 to 11 °C) cooler than those in the desert below. Above 4,500 feet (1,400 metres) forests of juniper, oak, and piñon pine appear in the mountains. Douglas firs, quaking aspens, and Arizona cypresses are also found at these higher elevations, as are white-tailed deer and pumas (mountain lions).