|
Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park is southeast of Alpine on SR 118 and US 385. The park derives its name from a U-shaped bend of the Rio Grande bordering the park. This last great wilderness area of Texas offers mountain and desert scenery and a variety of unusual geological structures within its 801,163 acres.
The park encompasses the entire range of the Chisos Mountains. Three river canyons--Santa Elena, Mariscal and Boquillas--channel the Rio Grande as it forms the international border. Santa Elena Canyon's cliffs rise 1,513 feet above the river. The region is rugged, with volcanic rock formations, abrupt pinnacles, dry channels and deep-cut canyons. It was here that the fossilized bones of a pterosaur, a soaring reptile with a wingspan of 38 feet, were discovered in 1971.
When conditions are right, the lowlands bloom with desert flowers, shrubs and cacti. Piņon woodlands are found on the mountain slopes. High in the mountain canyons are forests of Arizona cypress, Douglas fir, juniper and oak.
Desert mule deer live in the area, and small white-tailed deer inhabit the Chisos Mountains. Coyotes, foxes and collared peccary or javelina also can be seen. More than 450 species of birds have been identified in the park.
|
|
