Big Bend National Park features a diverse landscape that is waiting to be explored. With trails, unique plants and animals in the desert, mountains and around the Rio Grande, adventurous travelers will be in heaven.
Big Bend is home to more than 60 species of cacti; more than any other park in the world. Visitors will find the prickly pear, claret cup and lechuguilla, a cactus that does not grow any where else in the world, all over the park.
A variety of mountain trees, such as the piñon, oak and juniper, are nestled along the trails of Big Bend's Chisos Mountains. The ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and drooping juniper are also found deeper in the mountains.
Ocotillo are unique desert plants that appear to be shrubs of large, dead sticks. Only found in the American southwest and northern Mexico, the plant quickly blooms and sprouts green leaves and red flowers when it rains.
Of the numerous flowers found in the park, Texas' state flower, the bluebonnet, is most commonly seen. Known to grow as tall as 24 inches, white, pink and, of course, blue, bluebonnets leave colorful trails from the banks of the Rio Grande to the top of the Chisos Mountains.
Willows, cottonwood trees and other lush riparian vegetation are found near the park's campsites and nature trails. Resting along the shores of the Rio Grande, riparian trees grow and thrive in the middle of the desert.
