My favorite feature, however is the incredibly dark night skies. I cannot remember ever seeing stars as bright as those in Big Bend, earning the park the distinction of being an International Dark Sky Reserve.
— Adam Marland
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Date Created: June 12, 1944.
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Location: Southwest Texas, along the United States-Mexico border.
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Size: Approximately 801,163 acres (324,219 hectares).
No doubt about it, Texas likes it big and wild. Big Bend National Park is huge – 1200 square miles of canyons, deserts, woodlands, mountains and an impressive diversity of plants. The park is located in west Texas where the Rio Grande makes a big bend – and thus its name. My favorite hike was up through the Santa Elena Canyon requiring sloshing through the Terlingua Creek, climbing past fossils embedded in limestone, being sandwiched between shear cliffs towering 1500 feet on each side of the canyon for a magnificent panoramic view of the Rio Grande River and valley below. If you are a bird watcher Big Bend is a destination during late April and early May for numerous species. Please, do yourself a favor and spend the night. The stars are magnificent. It is a phenomenal experience.
