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Big Bend, Texas

Read Evan’s blog post about his trip to Big Bend HERE

 

In south Texas, the southern border of Big Bend National Park lies along the Rio Grande, the river that divides Mexico from the United States. Encompassing enormous canyons, the Chihuahuan Desert, and the Chisos Mountains, there is an abundant variety of scenery and wildlife. Originally, the Park was intended to be a joint operation, an international peace park with what are now Mexico’s Maderas del Carmen and Cañón de Santa Elena Protected Natural Areas. The Chisos people made their home here for thousands of years, and in the 1700s it was used and fought over by Apache, Kiowa, Comanche, and Spanish people. The federal government fought and removed the Spanish and the Native people from the area through the late 1800s to make way for American settlers. Far from any major cities, Big Bend is the darkest National Park in the contiguous United States, and offers astonishing stargazing and opportunities to see the Milky Way.

Resources

Big Bend and the Border Wall - NPR

On the Border - NYTimes

Wildlife in Big Bend

History of Big Bend

Visiting Big Bend