One of our favorite trails in Big Bend National Park is Santa Elena Canyon, where you hike alongside the Rio Grande River as it flows through spectacular 1,500-foot cliffs. Roundtrip Distance: 1.6 miles Elevation Change: 80 feet Average Hiking Time: 1 hour The trailhead is at the end of the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. At the river, to access the trail you’ll have to first cross the bed of Terlingua Creek, and then climb a short but steep bank. Sometimes there’s water in the creek and sometimes it

WE DON’T NEED A BORDER WALL IN BIG BEND!!! Building a border wall here would RUIN fragile desert ecosystems, disrupt wildlife migration corridors, threaten cultural and archaeological sites, destroy farmlands, and so much more! This region is defined by its wildness, its openness, and its shared history. Once altered, it can’t be restored. Look at the breathtaking one we already have. The towering cliffs of Santa Elena Canyon, the rugged ridgelines of Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch St

Big Bend National Park is a wildlife photographer’s paradise, but it’s not always easy to find wildlife across the park’s 801,000-plus acres. Its terrain requires determination and a willingness to embrace the unknown. That’s exactly why National Geographic Photographer Filipe DeAndrade loves it. | National Geographic