Pictures of Big Bend National Park
This post is part of a series where we visit many of our beautiful national parks.
Like the state of Texas where this park is located, Big Bend National Park is huge. There is a 118 mile stretch of the Rio Grande River that forms the US / Mexican border alone that the park administers. Covering over 800,000 acres with elevations ranging from 1,800ft to over 8000ft.
This diverse landscape is home to over 1200 species of plants as well as a large variety of animals as well. While the wildlife and fauna are an attraction, it is the hiking and backpacking that most tourists come for. With literally unlimited trails this park is a hikers dream.
Check out this NPS map of the park:
We were visiting San Antonio before we visited Big Bend National Park. The miles really added up as we drove west towards the park. It seemed like a really long drive. If you are not from Texas or the western US, you will notice that there is a lot of distance between towns unlike other parts of the country. As we found, out some towns don’t have gas or at least gas stations that are obvious. There is gas available in the park near Panther Junction.
We entered the park at the Persimmon Gap. This is 39 miles from the nearest town, Marathon. It is another 26 miles to the visitors center at Panther Junction. This place is BIG.
At Panther Junction is a large visitor center and the park headquarters. This is pretty much the center of the park and we made side trips by road out from here. 
Our first destination was the Chisos Basin. The road to Chisos Basin starts 3 miles west of the park headquarters in Panther Junction.
This is a steep and winding road as you approach the pass into Chisos Basin.
Here’s a view from the Chisos Basin Ridge.
