3Guide and Advisor

Startling plant combinations comprise this forest floor on the South Rim of the Chisos. Such biotic richness and surprise led to the park’s designation as an International Biosphere Reserve.

Volcanic spires remind us that change has not always come slowly in the Big Bend. Molten rock under intense pressure created these spires as plugs inside softer rock, which has long since eroded away.

The other narrowleaf evergreens prefer intermediate to moister soils and the Chisos Basin is a good place to see both drooping and alligator junipers, the latter named for the square scales that make its bark look like alligator hide. This slow-growing, long-lived tree has bluish-green needles, and gray fox and rock squirrel relish its berry-like cones. Drooping juniper all but cries out for recognition. Its wilted leaves and drooping branches seem to be dying of thirst, but in fact are perfectly healthy, as is the bark that shreds in long, fibrous strips. You’ll find plenty of drooping juniper in Mexico, but the only place you can see it in the United States is right here in the Chisos Mountains.

The Chisos Basin has been hollowed out of volcanic rock by stream erosion. The peaks that ring the Basin all came into being when molten rock squeezed up under enormous pressure from deep within the Earth. Some of the red hot stuff poured out over the land surface in lava flows which cooled so quickly that they cracked in long vertical fissures. Then as the ages passed, joints toppled and square-faced peaks, buttresses, and free-standing spires emerged. So the Basin wall took shape from Casa Grande southward through Emory Peak. Later on, more molten rock pushed up from below, bulging the surface rocks upward without breaking through. Again the eons passed and the softer surface rocks wore away, exposing the dome-shaped peaks which now rim the Basin to the north and west. Today, loose rocks and clays still inch downhill toward the Window. All Basin runoff heads for this chute, and when it storms in the heights, the dry waterfall turns into a torrent, with boulders bouncing along like so many corks. Growling and grumbling, the big rocks plunge over the pouroff in a 67-meter (220-foot) free fall, coming to Earth in a great rubble pile below.

Pinyon pines grow abundantly across both Mexico and the American Southwest. In the Chisos you’ll find them almost anywhere above 1,500 meters (4,800 feet) of elevation, and at lower elevations they will be the only pines. Short of trunk, with spreading lower branches, egg-sized cones, and short, slender, bluish-green needles, pinyons range from dwarf size to a tree 15 meters (50 feet) tall. Many birds and mammals eat its delicious nuts.

As elevation increases you may find fewer junipers, while more pinyons appear on the open slopes and more oaks along drainages. The deciduous Graves oak requires more moisture than other oaks, so you find it putting forth its shiny, dark greenleaves in high moist canyons. The Emory oak also prefers high drainages but it grows at slightly lower elevations. It has small lance-shaped leaves. The Chisos oak, a small, graceful tree with narrow, leathery leaves, requires a high water table. In all the world it grows only in the Chisos Mountains’ Blue Creek Canyon.

Mule deer frequent the park’s lower, drier elevations.

The Sierra del Carmen whitetail haunts the Chisos Mountains. It has much smaller ears than the mule deer and bears the characteristic flag tail. Isolation allowed this sub-species of whitetail to develop. These deer live only in the Chisos and across the river in the Sierra del Carmen.

Many of these interesting woodland features can be studied at leisure in Upper Green Gulch, reached by the Lost Mine Trail from the trailhead in Panther Pass, following the well-kept path at least as far as Juniper Canyon Overlook. Here you find yourself among the very pines and oaks that you viewed from the switchbacks far below. On location it appears much as it did from far below. There are few grasses and a host of flowering bushes. Shaggy mountain-mahogany and fragrant sumac make excellent feed for whitetail deer. Fragrant ash puts out long clusters of cream-colored flowers in springtime. Mountain sage, a beautiful shrub that grows nowhere else in the world, bursts into crimson flower each fall. As a hummingbird feeder it even outranks the golden platters of the century plant. Probably most surprising at this elevation is the persistence of desert and grassland plants, for here among the pinyon pines and oak trees grow clumps of ocotillo, lechuguilla, pricklypear, and the great gray-green blades and towering bloomstalks of the Big Bend agave.

Dryness is a fact of life in these woodlands. The north-facing slope is densely covered with trees, while the opposite south-facing slope exhibits mostly ocotillo and lechuguilla. The same holds true on the narrow ridge extending from Casa Grande. Pine woodlands face north and lechuguilla flourishes on the south-facing slope. It’s a question of solar exposure and resulting temperature and moisture variations.

Oddly enough, you will likely see more wildlife in the populated Basin than along the whole Lost Mine Trail, for animals find the Basin as attractive as man does. The del Carmen whitetails find it a good place to feed off and on throughout the day. These deer are found only in the Big Bend and across the river in the Sierra del Carmen. To the rock squirrels the Basin offers acorns, pine nuts, and plenty of rocky lodgings. The busy cactus wren can indulge its habit of year-round nest building, because there is abundant tall grass, and introduced yucca, a favorite avian building site. Sounding like a child’s squeeze toy, the brown towhee takes to his human habitat as freely as a house sparrow, and the crestless Mexican jay scolds ferociously, as jays will.

Should the jackrabbit reflect on its situation it might think life is a conspiracy. This prolific breeder might feel it exists solely to keep the local web of life functioning. Many predators include this big-eared, nimble-footed creature in their diets.Big ears, big feet, and protective coloration are the jackrabbit’s major survival mechanisms. It will listen for danger, sit motionless until perceiving a threat, and then burst into speedy flight. The ears may also represent an adaptation through which the jackrabbit can emit excess body heat to the environment, a useful ploy in deserts.Birds, snakes, and numerous mammals prey on the jackrabbit, which is really a hare, and on the park’s desert cottontail and eastern cottontail rabbits. The coyote can sustain bursts of speed sufficient to run them down. An arch opportunist, the coyote eats almost anything, including an occasional tennis shoe. The bobcat and mountain lion (photopage 103) are the park’s two felines. The bobcat hunts by stealth. It will sit by a game trail for hours and then pounce on passing prey. Threats to the jackrabbit come from above, too, where the golden eagle soars.

Big ears, big feet, and protective coloration are the jackrabbit’s major survival mechanisms. It will listen for danger, sit motionless until perceiving a threat, and then burst into speedy flight. The ears may also represent an adaptation through which the jackrabbit can emit excess body heat to the environment, a useful ploy in deserts.

Birds, snakes, and numerous mammals prey on the jackrabbit, which is really a hare, and on the park’s desert cottontail and eastern cottontail rabbits. The coyote can sustain bursts of speed sufficient to run them down. An arch opportunist, the coyote eats almost anything, including an occasional tennis shoe. The bobcat and mountain lion (photopage 103) are the park’s two felines. The bobcat hunts by stealth. It will sit by a game trail for hours and then pounce on passing prey. Threats to the jackrabbit come from above, too, where the golden eagle soars.

Coyote

Bobcat

Golden eagle

Jackrabbit

Toward twilight the whitetail deer put in another appearance. These dainty little animals are highly territorial, so you are likely to see the same band of bucks in the upper Basin, and the same doe and twin fawns near the campground turnoff. The eastern cottontails, larger than the desert cottontails, also come out at dusk, after spending the day in the very same thickets that the deer come to browse. A little later, skunks may appear. These spotted, striped, or hognosed nighttime foragers are cyclic in their populations, and like the raccoon they have a decided fondness for campgrounds.

In the Basin as elsewhere, many residents are heard rather than seen, especially the tree crickets and katydids that sing their songs at night. The Chisos Mountains even boast their own katydid, known nowhere else in the world, the Big Bend quonker. Scraping its wings together it produces a squeak much like that of a cork being pulled from a wine bottle.

The woods that rim the Basin to the south have a softer, more life-supporting look than the slopes above Panther Pass. They feature the same junipers and pinyon pines and the same pricklypear and century plant, but the difference is the grass. Tall and short, gold and blue, tasseled, tufted and feathered, it grows so thickly under the trees and between the shrubs that it all but covers the ground. You find basketgrass, too, with leaf edges like fine sawteeth and their tips frayed into curls of twine. With such abundant cover animals should thrive, and judging from the scat they do. In the fall the pricklypear is still in fruit, and it appears that everyone is eating brick-red tunas. At lower elevations where the tunas have already gone by, many animals are eating black persimmons.

But strong as the signs of life are, the evidence of death and dying cannot be ignored. You hear the shrieks of some creature on the edge of a little meadow, watch a hawk come to circle the tree tops, wonder who has won that contest as the cries cease and the hawk flies off. You smell the pungent odor of pine resin and follow it to its source, a pinyon oozing crystal drops from dozens of holes. As the sticky stuff ages it turns yellow, and there, mired in the gum, is a small black beetle exactly as some fossil bee in amber. And here is a redberry juniper so strangled by pink tree-thief that the greenest thing on it is the mistletoe cluster.

The mountain lion’s mystique explains the many park place names that bear its alias, panther. Most park sightings of these regal cats occur at Panther Pass, usually in May or June.

Quicksilver, or mercury, the only metal that remains liquid at ordinary temperatures, was mined as cinnabar in the Big Bend country from about 1884 until after World War II.Cinnabar, red mercuric sulphide, was used as a pigment and medicine as early as the first century. Indians used it as pigment for war paints and pictographs. Today mercury is used in electrical apparatus, control instruments, thermometers, and medical and dental preparations. The United States once produced about one-third of all quicksilver. From 1910 to 1920 Texas mines produced about one-third the U.S. production. Locally, quicksilver mining began in 1884, but real production began after 1896. The park’s Mariscal Mine was opened as Lindsey Mine by D.E. Lindsey, an immigration inspector, about 1900. Production increased greatly about 1916, under the ownership of W.K. Ellis, as World War I pushed up quicksilver prices. The mine floundered again with postwar price declines and was not profitable anew until World War II. In the Mariscal Mine’s heyday between 1919 and 1923, from 20 to 40 men worked it. All were Mexicans except the manager, foreman, and a brick-kiln specialist. Wood for the furnaces came from as far as 80 kilometers (50 miles) away, by burro. These photographs show quicksilver operations at the Waldron Mine, just outside today’s park, in 1916. Laborers toiled 12-hour shifts for $1.00 then.

Quicksilver, or mercury, the only metal that remains liquid at ordinary temperatures, was mined as cinnabar in the Big Bend country from about 1884 until after World War II.

Cinnabar, red mercuric sulphide, was used as a pigment and medicine as early as the first century. Indians used it as pigment for war paints and pictographs. Today mercury is used in electrical apparatus, control instruments, thermometers, and medical and dental preparations. The United States once produced about one-third of all quicksilver. From 1910 to 1920 Texas mines produced about one-third the U.S. production. Locally, quicksilver mining began in 1884, but real production began after 1896. The park’s Mariscal Mine was opened as Lindsey Mine by D.E. Lindsey, an immigration inspector, about 1900. Production increased greatly about 1916, under the ownership of W.K. Ellis, as World War I pushed up quicksilver prices. The mine floundered again with postwar price declines and was not profitable anew until World War II. In the Mariscal Mine’s heyday between 1919 and 1923, from 20 to 40 men worked it. All were Mexicans except the manager, foreman, and a brick-kiln specialist. Wood for the furnaces came from as far as 80 kilometers (50 miles) away, by burro. These photographs show quicksilver operations at the Waldron Mine, just outside today’s park, in 1916. Laborers toiled 12-hour shifts for $1.00 then.

Waldron Mine, entrance

Waldron Mine, buildings

Aplomado falcons once ranged this far north and east, but no longer. Now that the national park offers a large protected area, we hope these birds of prey will return.

The death of trees is actually part of the continuing cycle of life because it returns much needed nutrients to the soil. Termites play an important role in converting dead wood into substances useful to plants although they cannot digest the wood themselves. Tiny protozoans living in their intestines secrete digestive juices that do the job for them. Dead trees also provide nesting and resting places for various birds and mammals: Screech owls and mice may make their homes in hollow trees and logs, and so may the ringtail, gray fox, and bobcat. These four mammals are adept tree climbers. The brush mouse climbs to garner pine nuts, acorns and juniper berries, while the ringtail and gray fox add berries to supplement their largely meat diet. The bobcat, as sure-footed aloft as other cats, will take to the trees when pursued but prefers to hunt on the ground.

The bobcat, so-called because of its short tail, limits his diet to mammals, birds, and insects. This smallest and most common of the wild cats prefers rocky canyons and outcrops in pine-oak woodlands. Hunting mostly at night and on the ground, he prowls on padded feet, hides for hours beside a game trail, and springs on his prey in one lethal pounce. The ringtail is the busiest of small predators. Strictly nocturnal, he covers a wide territory several times each night. He has much the same tastes as the raccoon, but without the latter’s fondness for water. The ringtail especially likes to prowl rocky ledges and canyon cliffs on the lookout for insects and small rodents. He climbs easily and hunts in trees for roosting and nesting birds.

Water, those rare spots where it occurs permanently, can do astonishing things to a woodland. In a secluded canyon you’ll find a grotto no bigger than a room, with countless seeps trickling down the face of a high, nearly dry waterfall. At the foot of the fall, maidenhair ferns and stream orchids crowd beside a deep pool, while redbud, oaks, and maples canopy a burbling brook. The sun rarely reaches this rockgarden, so that at midmorning it is significantly cooler than the grassy slopes nearby. The water in the main pool is even cooler. So many big boulders lie heaped across the canyon that few animals can reach the water, yet all sorts of creatures live here. You’ll find leeches in the pool, and, looking like a shelled peapod, a dead katydid’s exoskeleton gutted by water insects. You’ll hear a canyon wren echoing its own song, and spy tiny canyon tree frogs clinging to trees and rocks with sticky little suction-cup mounted toes. Tiniest are the mites living in parasitic comfort on the tree frogs. Such microenvironments stand in surprising contrast to the grandiose environment of the mountain masses surrounding you here in the Chisos, and elsewhere.

People call one particular spot high in the Chisos the top of the world. If you sit there at sunset you can watch the turkey vultures describing long, lazy figure eights from the top of the world down to the Window and back. At that time of day those vultures, not looking for food, simply seem to be enjoying their world and being alive. In those sunset cruises they’re living to the limit of their unique life form—and are glorifying Big Bend!

Big Bend’s future, as its past, will be ruled in the long run by triumphant nature. The vulture’s self-celebration almost portends this. If we are entering another Ice Age, what a new lease on life this will be for the high mountain forests of Douglas-fir, ponderosa pines, Arizona cypress, and quaking aspen. What vindication for the staying power of these many beleaguered species. If on the other hand the desert pushes on, the summer rains don’t come, and the springs dry up for good, then Big Bend’s big trees will vanish like the dinosaurs.

Such events are beyond our power to influence or foretell. Indeed, change may be so imperceptible, so slow, that people, supposing there are people left in Big Bend, may find it perfectly natural. Or change may be catastrophic, and those last Big Benders disappear without a trace, as though snatched off the Earth. And those, if any, who come after may then marvel over ruins and artifacts and ask what drove these Ancients from their homes.

The peregrine falcon’s easy soaring belies its diving speeds of up to 320 kph (200 mph). Peregrines nest in the river canyons and high Chisos.

Road into the park

The Roads to Big BendHigh-resolution Map

This Texas map shows the main routes to Big Bend National Park.

Big Bend National Park sweeps so far south that, since there is no road through it to Mexico, the park isn’t on the way to anywhere. That makes an automobile the best transportation bet. Trains and transcontinental buses approach only as close as Alpine and Marathon (seemap). There is no public transportation to or through the park. You can fly into the Midland-Odessa airport to the north. Cars may be rented in Alpine and in the Midland and Odessa areas. The distances encountered are vast, so plan departures and arrivals conveniently for available facilities.

From San Antonio, Texas, it is 660 kilometers (410 miles) to the park headquarters at Panther Junction via U.S. 90 to Marathon and south on U.S. 385. Driving from the Persimmon Gap park entrance to park headquarters will consume 46 of these kilometers (29 miles). The gap is a low mountain pass once traversed by the Comanche War Trail, a thoroughfare northward for thousands of horses stolen in Mexico. Had you crossed this pass in 1859 you might have witnessed the U.S. military experimenting with camels as beasts of burden for this dry country. The cantankerous camels bettered the standard military mule on several points. However, the Civil War ended the camel tryouts. The camel’s aptness illustrates that you are traveling desert country. This calls for unique precautions, so please read the “Tips for Desert Travelers” onpage 124.

From El Paso it is 520 kilometers (323 miles) to Panther Junction via Interstate 10 to Van Horn, U.S. 90 to Alpine, and south via Texas 118. You enter the park at the Maverick entrance. Just west of the park here on Texas Ranch Road 170 is the ghost town of Terlingua, a worthwhile side trip. In the park’s western section you find the Painted Desert, eroded badlands formations showing distinct bands of colorful deposits from up to 70 million years ago.

From El Paso and points west you can take U.S. 67 south from Marfa to Presidio, approaching the park on Texas Ranch Road 170, the Camino del Rio, at the Maverick entrance. From this entrance to the headquarters at Panther Junction is about 43 kilometers (27 miles).

Water and gasoline are available in and around the park only at a few, and often widely separated, points. Check your water supply and gas gauge before you leave U.S. 90.

At Panther Junction you can purchase theRoad Guide to Paved and Improved Dirt Roads of Big Bend National Park. It describes five tours and the points of interest en route. The Santa Elena and Basin drives begin at junctions along the park road from Maverick to Panther Junction. The Boquillas drive begins at Panther Junction. The Persimmon Gap and Maverick drives extend from their respective entrances to Panther Junction. A park map and information folder includes a large map showing major natural and historical features, roads, and facilities and services. It is available at Panther Junction in the administration building, and in dispensers at Persimmon Gap and Maverick. (Supplies at Maverick are sometimes exhausted.) Obtain a copy of this folder before your trip by calling or writing the Superintendent, Big Bend National Park, Texas 79834, (915) 477-2251.

After you have toured the main points on the major park roads, you may want to see more by vehicle. You can do so on the primitive roads, which introduce further varieties of scenery and interesting plants, animals, and historic features. Plan your trip in advance, don’t just turn off a main road on the spur of the moment. And register at park headquarters, getting current information about road conditions from a ranger. On these primitive roads you are on your own, so play it safe. Primitive roads are patrolled only infrequently. Some are suited only for 4-wheel drive. ARoad Guide to Backcountry Dirt Roads of Big Bend National Parkmay be purchased at Panther Junction.

Horse and rider in the hills

This drive offers short side trips: on a motor nature trail up to Dagger Flat, or just off the highway north of the Tornillo Creek bridge to the fossil bones exhibit. Signs along the Dagger Flat road identify Chihuahuan Desert species, including the giant-dagger yuccas, found in the United States only in Big Bend country. The Fossil Bone Exhibit shows an extinct mammal,Coryphodon, whose remains were found in sandstone deposits about 50 million years old. Tornillo Creek is one of the park’s largest drainages. The Chisos Mountains, seen as you approach Panther Junction, are the park’s highest. Panther Junction is such a focal point that you may overhear park employees call it PJ.

Terlingua and Study Butte are ghost towns—or nearly so—which were once prosperous cinnabar (mercury) mining communities. The large, rounded Maverick Mountain north of the road near the Maverick entrance is the eroded exposure of an intruded mass of molten rock pushed up through softer, older rock beds. You will also see the Painted Desert and many plants of the desert shrub community. Outside the park to the north the Christmas Mountains are prominent. To the east the Chisos define the skyline. Along the Maverick drive you come to the Santa Elena Junction, where the Santa Elena drive begins (seebelow). Further on you will see dry washes that can carry flash floods and gravel slopes formed by the erosion of the mountains. Then you come to the Basin Junction, where the Basin drive begins (seebelow). Near this area you may also see mule deer, the peccary (or javelina), coyote, or other desert animals. The next stop—except for pictures—is Panther Junction.

From Panther Junction you can head southeast toward the Rio Grande’s Boquillas Canyon. Along the way are the Dugout Wells picnic area and self-guiding nature trail, Hot Springs, and Rio Grande Village (seeFacilities and Services). Boquillas Canyon is one of the Rio Grande’s three grandest canyons here in the park. It was cut through the Sierra del Carmen (sierrais Spanish for mountains) and is the longest of Big Bend’s famous gorges. Across the river is the Mexican village of Boquillas.

Spectacular historic and geologic features are found along the Santa Elena drive. You observe wall-like dikes, massive gravel deposits, an ancient buried valley, and a narrow canyon cut through volcanic tuff. Across the river near Castolon is the Mexican village of Santa Elena. On the U.S. side are adobe and stone ruins of dwellings for farms on the river flats. Near the end of this drive a viewpoint gives an excellent view of Santa Elena Canyon. Summer sunlight only strikes the canyon mouth for severalhours after sunrise. To take pictures, make this trip in early morning. The canyon is usually hot in midday during summer.

From Basin Junction southward the Basin drive climbs out of desert lowlands into the woodlands of the Chisos Mountains and their Basin, the park’s “island” of green. The grade of the approach road is deceptive: watch that your vehicle does not overheat. The Big Bend agave plant reaches heights of 4 meters (15 feet). Even if you miss its bright yellow blossoms in summer, the old stalk remains standing for a year or two. As you drive up Green Gulch the vegetation changes from desert shrub to woodland species. The road’s highest point is Panther Pass, more than 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) in elevation. At the parking lot here the Lost Mine Trail begins its ascent of Lost Mine Ridge, where legends of a rich Spanish mine have touched off many a vain (no pun intended) search. From the top you get superb views into Mexico. As you leave the parking lot the road begins to descend into the Chisos Basin via a series of sharp curves. (Read about the Chisos Basin under Facilities and Services.)

There are desert-related driving hazards not mentioned above. Please seeTips for Desert Travelers.

Overnight lodging is available inside the park at the Chisos Mountains Lodge in the Basin; at campgrounds at the Basin, Castolon, and Rio Grande Village; and at a small trailer park at Rio Grande Village.

Chisos Mountains Lodge accommodates more than 200 guests in stone-and-adobe cottages with terraces and private baths and in modern motel-type units. Reservations should be made by writing to National Park Concessions, Inc., Big Bend National Park, Texas 79834. The lodge coffeeshop serves food from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Campgrounds at the Basin, Castolon, and Rio Grande Village provide water and comfort stations. Electricity and fuel are not available, except that the concessioner sells charcoal. Ground fires are not permitted. At Rio Grande Village only there are pay showers and laundry facilities for campers. Large groups may make advance campground reservations, but families, other small parties, and individuals may not.

A number of backcountry roadside campsites are located along the park’s backcountry dirt roads. A free permit, available at any ranger station, is required. If you are interested in a primitive site, ask at a ranger station.

Rio Grande Village trailer park has hookups; use of all hookups is required. Consult a ranger before taking trailers into the Basin campground. The road to the Basin is not recommended for trailers longer than 6 meters (20 feet) or RVs (7 meters/24 feet) due to sharp curves and steep grades.

Groceries, cold drinks, camping supplies, and film can be bought at the Basin, RioGrande Village, Castolon, and Panther Junction. There is a gift shop in the Chisos Mountains Lodge. Minor auto repair service and gasoline may be obtained at Panther Junction. Gasoline is sold in the park at Castolon, Rio Grande Village, and Panther Junction only, so check your gauge before you leave U.S. 90, and periodically in the park.

You can arrange for saddle horses, pack animals, and guides in the Basin with Chisos Remuda, Basin Rural Station, Big Bend National Park, Texas 79834.

Illustrated evening talks are presented in summer at dusk at the amphitheater in the Basin, and in other seasons at Rio Grande Village and park headquarters. Schedules for all programs are listed on park bulletin boards.

The naturalist programs at Big Bend are designed to help you understand and enjoy the natural and historic features. The park road system features wayside exhibits and markers about local attractions. The Dagger Flat Interpretive Auto Trail leaves the park road south of Persimmon Gap. Self-guiding trails are located at park headquarters, Dugout Wells, Santa Elena Canyon, the Basin, and Rio Grande Village. A descriptive booklet is available at the head of the Lost Mine Trail in the Chisos Mountains, to help you identify plants, animals, and panoramic views.

Park naturalists and rangers provide many other services to interpret the park’s geology, plants, animals, and history. You can supplement these personal services by purchasing maps and publications at park headquarters in Panther Junction.

A rainbow cactus in bloom is about to be immortalized by a young photographer.

The Panther Path, a self-guiding nature trail outside the visitor center, introduces you to cactuses and other desert plants of the park.

Besides floating the river, the surest way to experience the “real time” of the park is to walk out into it. Neither desert nor mountains will reveal themselves to a motor vehicle. Opportunities for walks and hikes abound, from short strolls on well-developed nature trails to multi-day, cross-park treks via its network of trails. Walks and hikes are described inHiker’s Guide to the Developed Trails and Primitive Routes, Big Bend National Park(seeArmchair Explorations). The guide and a “Terlingua-Chisos Mountains, Texas” topographic map sold at park headquarters or by mail, give particulars. General information follows.

If you take a trail, please stay on it. Trails are routed for safety and constructed to avoid washouts and erosion. Shortcutting increases erosion and rockslides. Low-heeled street shoes or sneakers will suffice on developed trails, but if you hike off trails, wear hiking boots with thick lug soles to protect against sharp rocks and the spines of desert plants. Carry tweezers in your first aid kit, for pulling spines and thorns. Take plenty of food and water to carry you through your return or your connection with new supplies. In hot weather one person needs 4 liters (1 gallon) of water per day; in winter slightly less. In winter rattlesnakes are rare. In summer they are common, but are mostly abroad at night. (SeePoisonous ReptilesunderTips for Desert Travelers.)

Smoking is prohibited on trails, because fire poses a real threat to plants and animals in this dry country. Building ground fires is prohibited, too. You will need charcoal or a camping stove in the campgrounds. In the backcountry you will need a backpacking stove and sufficient fuel for cooking and for heating water.

Water is a precious resource anywhere, but here in Big Bend it is also scarce. Do not pollute streams, springs, or tinajas by washing in them or close to them. Also be careful where you make your toilet in the backcountry.

Short walks on developed trails are available throughout the park. Short walks of 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) or less include: Window View Trail (Chisos Basin); Rio Grande Village Nature Trail; Burro Mesa Pouroff Trail (Sotol Vista/Castolon Road); Boquillas Canyon Trail; Chisos Basin Loop Trail; Santa Elena Canyon Trail; and Hot Springs Canyon Overlook Trail (off the road to Rio Grande Village).

Beyond the short walks, hiking and backcountry options are endless. If you go off trail, wear proper gear, carry adequate supplies, use a topographic map, and know your route. Get advice on routes and gear from any park ranger or at park headquarters or any ranger station. It is important that you inform someone, preferably a park ranger, of your intended route. A backcountry permit is required whenever you plan to camp overnight anywhere but in developed campgrounds. Backcountry permits are issued free at park information and orientation points (seemap).

Take it easy on the trails and enjoy yourself, especially until you are acclimated. In the mountains, the elevation adds to the exertion. In the lowlands the heat is an important factor.

To learn about the raven, writes Barry Lopez inDesert Notes, “bury yourself in the desert so that you have a commanding view of the high basalt cliffs where he lives. Let only your eyes protrude. Do not blink—the movement will alert the raven to your continued presence ... there will be at least one bird who will find you. He will see your eyes staring up out of the desert floor. The raven is cautious, but he is thorough. He will sense your peaceful intentions. Let him have the first word. Be careful: he will tell you he knows nothing.”

The raven is one of more than 400 species of birds that have been seen in Big Bend National Park. Why so many? The park lies right smack on the flyway for birds winging north out of Mexico and, indeed, almost three-fourths of the species recorded in the park fly right on through. But for serious birders—even those less determined than the raven seeker Lopez describes—this is paradise. During the spring migration northbound birds confront the northwest-southeast trending Sierra del Carmen. Instead of flying over them, most birds keep to the west and are funneled right into the park. For the return trip in fall, however, the Sierra del Carmen have the opposite effect. Many southbound birds peel off east at Persimmon Gap. The fall migration is smaller and brings more lowland than mountain species.

The springtime bursts of birdsong are inspired by the drive to claim territory, as some 100 species nest within the park. Many of these breeding birds will abandon the lowlands as soon as their young are big enough, moving to the mountains to beat the heat. Rio Grande Village, for example, is at its low ebb for birdlife in July, and in the Chisos Basin you will find yourself identifying lowland birds left and right! But all in all, Rio Grande Village, with its ponds, cottonwood groves, rich riverbottoms, heavy brushlands, and neighboring desert, is the best year-round birding site in the park. In the springtime it offers an unbelievable display of species.

The Chisos Basin is the second best overall birding site, providing a long parade of mountain birds throughout the year, as well as lowland birds. The Basin is one of three spots for the annual Christmas Bird Count, along with Rio Grande Village and the Castolon-Santa Elena Canyon area. Over a five-year period, 147 species have been counted at these locations at Christmas time.

The Colima warbler is probably the park’s most famous bird, because in all the United States it nests only here in the Chisos Mountains. It arrives in April from southwest Mexico and leaves in mid-September. The Big Bend has also remained one of the few successful breeding grounds of the peregrine falcon, a species that suffered much from pesticides. You are most likely to see peregrines during their spring migration, but nesting pairs have been sighted at Santa Elena, Mariscal, and Boquillas canyons and in the Chisos Mountains. These predatory birds prefer to nest in a scrape on a high cliff ledge. This falcon, about the size of a crow, is slaty backed and barred below, with a pair of black “mustaches” on the face. In its magnificent dive, the peregrine is one of the fastest moving animals on Earth.

For advice on good birding spots at any time of the year, or on where to find specific birds, ask a ranger or at park headquarters. Also seeArmchair Explorations.

Summer tanager

Gray vireo

Great horned owl

Yellow breasted chat

Blackthroated sparrow

Painted bunting

Belted kingfisher

Roadrunner

Boulders dwarf the raft of Park Service employees landing in Santa Elena Canyon.

A kayaker drifts into reflections.

If you stumbled onto the Rio Grande upstream of the park, between El Paso and Presidio, during most of the year you’d say “Oh well, forget floating!” That stretch is most often dry, sapped by irrigation projects. But the Rio Grande gets a new lease on life as the Rio Conchos, draining Mexican mountains, flows into it at Presidio. You can thank the Rio Conchos for the prospects of floating the Big Bend. Along the park boundary and down to the Terrell-Val Verde County Line, the Rio Grande is designated a national wild and scenic river for 307.8 kilometers (191.2 miles). The “scenic” goes without saying. When you hit the rapids or a cross-channel current hits you, the “wild” designation rings true as well.

Below is general information about floating the river. Particulars—including descriptions of the canyons and some rapids—are contained in, among others, the river guide series published by the Big Bend Natural History Association. (SeeArmchair Explorations.)

The first fact: You need a permit to float the Rio Grande in the park, including the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River. The free permit is available from park headquarters and ranger stations, or any park ranger. Permits will not be issued if the river is at flood stage. In high water the river is outright dangerous. The annual high water season is July through October. Flash floods are a great danger through summer and early fall. The best months for river running are November through February, when water levels are relatively stable and the heat is moderate. By late April or early May and after the heat can be a problem.

The recommended craft is the inflatable raft. It is not as prone to damage from submerged rocks as are kayaks and canoes. Any rigid craft may breakup when slammed into the canyon’s rock walls by treacherous cross-channel currents. No craft or accessory gear is available for rental within the park. You must bring your own, or make arrangements with an outfitter. (Call or write the park for information on local outfitting services.)

A second fact: Any float party, as the name implies, should consist of two or more people for obvious safety reasons. Fact three: Everybody should be able to swim....

You will need two vehicles, one for put-in and one for take-out. Gear should include: approved personal flotation device for each person and one extra for each boat; boat paddle for each person; waterproof duffle; freshwater; flashlight; lash lines and a 15-meter (50-foot) bow line and 15-meter (50-foot) stern line; extra paddle for each boat; first aid kit; and boat patching kit. Lash all these items to prevent their loss in the event that your craft capsizes.

Lest you be discouraged by the safety warnings and logistical considerations, suffice it to say that from the river inside Big Bend’s magnificent gorges you will experience an intimate immensity rare on this Earth.

Most of the park’s native fish are of minnow size but the Rio Grande does attract anglers. The major attractions are catfish, gizzard shad, carp and suckers, the freshwater drum, and an occasional longnose gar. The complete list of fish recorded in the park and its immediate surroundings includes 35 species, including bluegill and sunfish species.

Most anglers are after the blue, channel, and flathead catfish. The blue and flathead are favored food fish. The longnose gar may reach over a meter (4 feet) in length and is predatory, as its long snout and sharp teeth suggest. You do not need a fishing license to fish in the national park. For advice on fishing spots and preferred methods, ask a park ranger.

Yellow cat up to 45 kilos (100 pounds) have been taken from the river, and 14-kilo (30-pound) cats are not uncommon. Channel and blue cats also provide fine sport and good eating. These deepwater species feed on aquatic plants, insects, and smaller fish, both living and dead. They spawn in depressions and sheltered nooks in river banks and canyon cliffs. While catfish account for most of the recreational fishing in the Rio, many other interesting species swim the brown waters: the predatory garfish, needlenosed and shaped like a torpedo; the humpbacked carp that can survive even in limited waters; smallmouth buffalo, sheepshead, and green sunfish; the bullhead that favors quiet waters and can endure higher temperatures and lower oxygen content than most other fish; and of course the minnows, as plentiful and gregarious as sparrows, with a preference for running water and rocky or sandy bottoms.

Winter days will be nippy in Big Bend’s mountains and comfortably warm in the lowlands. Snow falls in the mountains once or twice a year. Spring hits the desert lowlands in February and begins a slow ascent up the mountain heights, arriving in May. Some of the desert plants bloom throughout the year, but the most predictable displays are in springtime. Summer is problematic. If you come in the summer you will probably want to take to the mountains. Midsummer daytime temperatures in the desert and river valley generally hover above 38°C (100°F)—often well above. But up in the Basin, daytime temperatures average 29°C (85°F) and nights are cool. Autumn is usually sunny, with the air gentle and warm. The best months for running the river are November through February, both for river conditions and for avoiding summer’s intense heat in the canyons.

The character of the basic rock in the park is very unstable, making it unsafe for climbing. Climbing is not recommended.

Be extra alert for wildlife while you are driving at night. Many creatures, particularly deer, may be blinded by your headlights so that they make no effort to get off the road.

Beware the cactus and other spine- and thorn-bearing plants, shrubs, and trees. These can inflict painful injury. To protect yourself, wear stout shoes and tough clothing if you go hiking off the developed trails. If you go out at night, walk carefully, carry a flashlight, and don’t venture out too far. The National Park Service recommends that you carry tweezers for removing irritating spines, which may be too small to extract with your fingers. People have even gotten mouthfuls of delicate—but highly irritating—spines of some pricklypear cactus species while trying to eat the fruits! Delicate spines hardly noticeable to the naked eye can inflict painful injury.

The park contains copperhead snakes and four species of rattlesnakes, although these are seldom seen in daylight. Though poisonous, they are protected in the park. Do not molest or harm them. Very few snakebites occur in the park. Most of these involve bites to the hands of people who have reached into places where they couldn’t see a snake resting or hiding. The general precautions are these: Stay on trails after dark and use a flashlight, and avoid bushes and damp areas. There are no poisonous lizards at Big Bend, but if you molest lizards they may bite you.

Tarantulas, contrary to horror films, will not bite you unless you annoy them. And the park species of scorpion is not deadly, although if you are stung, get prompt attention.

There are no doctors or nurses in the park. The closest hospital, in Alpine, is 174 kilometers (108 miles) from park headquarters. Terlingua Medics, a nonprofit first-aid station and medical care facility, is located 42 kilometers (26 miles) west of park headquarters, in Study Butte. The trained paramedics can provide interim care until further help can be obtained in Alpine.

Carry your own first-aid supplies (including tweezers). Please notify thenearest park ranger or park headquarters immediately of accidents or emergencies.

Carry drinking water with you whenever you are in desert country. This is particularly a must when hiking: 4 liters (1 gallon) per day per person is a good rule of thumb. And remember: Start your return tripbeforehalf of your water supply is used up. Floaters and boaters, do not drink the river water: Carry your own. Any spring water used for drinking should be treated first.

High water is a threat during the flash floods that may follow summer thunderstorms. You must be alert for this because a flash flood may travel down the watershed to you even though you were not rained on. Flash floods make roadway dips potential death traps. If you are caught in high water, drive slowly to avoid stalling your engine: Do not splash through at a high speed. And by all means, avoid any high water! Washouts are a hazard in a storm and afterwards, so be on the lookout for them. These same precautions about high water and low spots apply to camping, too. Do not camp in washes and arroyos. They could turn into swirling rivers while you sleep, and you might not even have the warning of raindrops to wake you.

The maximum speed on park roads is 72 kilometers (45 miles) per hour. Slower limits are posted; please observe them. Do not pass or park on curves, and take road dips slowly. Motorized vehicles are restricted to park roadways and are prohibited on all trails. Check with a park ranger before driving the primitive roads.

Stay on trails because shortcuts mar the area and can cause erosion and destructive rockslides. Smoking is not allowed on trails because fire is a constant hazard here. Please carry out all your refuse.

Camping is limited to campgrounds except for backcountry camping, which is by permit only. Building wood and ground fires is prohibited.

Fishing licenses are not required. Obtain fishing information from any park ranger.

Use or display of firearms is prohibited. Pets must be kept on a leash at all times, and they are not permitted on trails or in public buildings.

A permit is required to float the Rio Grande. At high water float trips are particularly hazardous. No permits are issued for Santa Elena and Mariscal Canyons when the river is at flood stage. Swimming in the river is discouraged because of the dangers, many of which are unseen. Obtain float permits at park headquarters or ranger stations. For information call or write the Superintendent, Big Bend National Park, Texas 79834, (915) 477-2251.

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