Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park
a national park in W Texas, on the Rio Grande. 1080 sq. mi. (2800 sq. km).

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Preserve, southwestern Texas, U.S. It lies 250 mi (400 km) southeast of El Paso and occupies 1,252 sq mi (3,243 sq km).

It was established in 1944 and named for the wide bend in the Rio Grande that skirts its southern edge. The park has magnificent mountain and desert scenery; it is home to more than 1,000 species of plants, and its wildlife includes coyotes, pumas, and roadrunners.

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      remote frontierlike region in southwestern Texas, U.S., 250 miles (400 km) southeast of El Paso, along the Rio Grande; the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Coahuila lie across the river. Established in 1944, the park occupies 1,252 square miles (3,243 square km). Named for a wide bend in the Rio Grande, which skirts its southern edge for 118 miles (190 km), it has magnificent mountain and desert scenery, deep canyons carved by the river, and spectacular geologic formations.

      The park is located in the northern third of the warm Chihuahuan Desert, which extends across the Rio Grande into the United States from northern Mexico. Precipitation in the southern portion of the park is less than 4 inches (100 mm) a year, and summer temperatures there can exceed 115 °F (46 °C); nonetheless, portions of the desert are actually somewhat lush. Ocotillo, yucca, century plant, creosote bush, lechuguilla (the indicator plant of the Chihuahuan Desert), and many kinds of cacti, including prickly pear and strawberry, thrive in the park. The mule deer, coyote, collared peccary, jackrabbit, roadrunner, kangaroo rat, and rattlesnake are typical wildlife. March and April, when the desert is in bloom, draw the greatest number of visitors to the park.

      The Rio Grande, forming a ribbonlike oasis, has carved a deep, often narrow canyon into the layered sandstone, limestone, and volcanic rock along its banks. Cottonwood, acacia, willow, and mesquite trees are found along the river, beavers and catfish inhabit its waters, and sandpipers, tanagers, cardinals, and cliff swallows fly above. Float trips (via canoe, kayak, or inflatable raft) through the Santa Elena, Mariscal, and Boquillas canyon portions of the Rio Grande are popular in the park.

      Rising toward the centre of the park are the Chisos Mountains, which reach an elevation of 7,825 feet (2,384 metres) at Emory Peak. Because of their height, these rugged mountains form a third environmental zone within the park. Annual precipitation in the high Chisos is about 25 inches (635 mm), and temperatures are usually 10 to 20 °F (6 to 11 °C) cooler than those in the desert below. Above 4,500 feet (1,400 metres) forests of juniper, oak, and piñon pine appear in the mountains. Douglas firs, quaking aspens, and Arizona cypresses are also found at these higher elevations, as are white-tailed deer and pumas (mountain lions).

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Big Bend National Park — Big Bend Nationalpark Typische Landschaft im Big Bend Nationalpark …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Big Bend National Park — Infobox protected area | name = Big Bend National Park iucn category = II caption = locator x = 103 locator y = 150 location = Brewster County, Texas, USA nearest city = Alpine lat degrees = 29 lat minutes = 15 lat seconds = 0 lat direction = N… …   Wikipedia

  • Big Bend National Park — Parc national de Big Bend Parc national de Big Bend Big Bend National Park Catégorie II de la CMAP (Parc national) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Big Bend National Park — Sp Didžiojo Vingio nacionãlinis párkas Ap Big Bend National Park L JAV (Teksasas) …   Pasaulio vietovardžiai. Internetinė duomenų bazė

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Big Bend National Park — This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Big Bend National Park. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Big Bend National Park, Texas,… …   Wikipedia

  • Big Bend National Park — Big′ Bend′ Na′tional Park′ n. geg a national park in W Texas on the Rio Grande. 1080 sq. mi. (2800 sq. km) …   From formal English to slang

  • Big Bend National Park — noun a large national park in Texas featuring mountains and desert and canyons and wildlife • Instance Hypernyms: ↑national park • Part Holonyms: ↑Texas, ↑Lone Star State, ↑TX …   Useful english dictionary

  • Big Bend National Park — Bịg Bẹnd National Park   [ næʃnl pɑːk], Nationalpark im Westen von Texas, USA, an einem großen Bogen des hier tief eingeschnittenen Rio Grande, 3 000 km2; eingerichtet 1935; bedeutende Funde von Fossilien und Resten prähistorischer… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Big-Bend-Nationalpark — Typische Landschaft im Big Bend Nationalpark …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • National Park Service — Arrowhead Agency overview Formed August 25, 1916 Jurisdiction …   Wikipedia

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