Lost Mine Trail, Big Bend National Park, Texas :: WHAT TO DO IN BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK

WHAT TO DO IN BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK

				Approximate Round Trip Time
1.	HIKING TRIPS
	A.	Lost Mine Trail		3 hours
	B.	Juniper Flats		2 hours
	C.	Window Trail		3½ hours
	D.	South Rim Loop Trail		10 hours
2.	HORSEBACK TRAIL TRIPS
	A.	Juniper Flats		2 hours
	B.	Window Trail		3½ hours
	C.	South Rim Loop Trail		9 hours
	D.	Pack Trips by special arrangement.
3.	AUTO TRIPS
	A.	Santa Elena Canyon		4-6 hours
		1.	Visit Mouth of Canyon.
		2.	Castolon trading post.
		3.	Terlingua and Study Butte ghost mining towns (outside park)
	B.	Boquillas Canyon		4-6 hours
		1.	Excellent View of Del Carmen Mountains and Mexican Village of Boquillas.
4.	SUNSETS
	A.	From the Basin through the “Window.”
	B.	Del Carmen from Vicinity of Lower Tornillo and Boquillas.
	C.	Chisos Mountains from vicinity of Lower Tornillo and Boquillas.
	D.	Chisos Mountains from vicinity of Santa Elena Canyon and Study Butte Area.
5.	SUNRISE
	A.	Over Casa Grande from the Basin.
	B.	Over the Del Carmen from vicinity of Hot Springs and Boquillas.
	C.	Over the Chisos Mountains from Santa Elena area.
6.	WILDLIFE
	A.	Over 55 mammals have been identified to date.
	B.	Approximately 200 birds have been identified to date, including the rare Colima warbler and Aplomado falcon.
		Fifty-four reptiles, which include 4 species of turtles, 22 species of lizards, and 28 species of snakes.
7.	WILDFLOWERS, TREES, AND SHRUBS (1,100 plants identified to date)
	A.	Cactuses and other desert flowers are usually at their height of bloom from the latter part of March to the middle of April.
	B.	Semi-desert shrubs—mostly July, August, and early September, depending upon rain.
	C.	Autumn foliage coloring—late November and first half of December.
8.	GEOLOGY
	A.	The oldest rocks (Persimmon Gap) are comparable in age and structure to those found in the Appalachian Mountains.
	B.	The Lowland area is underlain by rock with fossil content, comparable to the Gulf Coast and Great Plains areas.
	C.	Chisos Mountain volcanic area is comparable in age and structure to the great volcanic activity period of the Northwest.

Santa Elena Canyon

Mariscal Canyon
(Photo by 111th Photo Sec., Texas Nat’l Guard)

Big Bend is one of the newest of the great, scenic National Parks, having been established June 12, 1944. A unit of the National Park System, it is administered by the National Park Service, U. S. Department of the Interior.

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