Hiking through Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, 1964. (Photo by Erich Andres/United Images via Getty Images) (United Archives / Erich Andres, Getty)
Located along a distinctive bend of the Rio Grande on the U.S.-Mexico border, the 801,832-acre wonderland of gorges, mountain peaks, canyons and mesas known as Big Bend National Park is often referred to as Texas’ Gift to the Nation.
Briefly a state park, Big Bend officially became Texas’s first national park on June 12, 1944. During the first year, it drew 1,409 visitors. The past few years have seen record attendance at the park. In 2021, more than 581,000 people visited Big Bend, a 25 percent increase since 2019 (464,000). In 2020, the park was shut down for more than three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a 49% increase since 2016 (390,000).
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Despite the increase in visitors, Big Bend remains one of the least-visited parks of the federal park system. The National Park Service dubs it “one of the last remaining wild corners of the United States.”
From the archival rabbit hole, we unearthed several vintage photos of this Texas treasure. Scroll below for a step back in time.
The entrance to Santa Elena Canyon in the Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, circa 1960. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images) (2014 Getty Images)
1964
Hiking through Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, 1964. (Photo by Erich Andres/United Images via Getty Images) (Getty)Hiking through Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, 1964. (Photo by Erich Andres/United Images via Getty Images) (Getty)Hiking through Big Bend National Park, Lookinf toward Mexico, Texas, USA, 1964. (Photo by Erich Andres/United Images via Getty Images) (Getty)
Hiking through Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, 1964. (Photo by Erich Andres/United Images via Getty Images) (Getty)Hiking through Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, 1964. (Photo by Erich Andres/United Images via Getty Images) (Getty)Hiking through Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, 1964. (Photo by Erich Andres/United Images via Getty Images) (Getty)
Hiking through Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, 1964. (Photo by Erich Andres/United Images via Getty Images) (Getty)Hiking through Big Bend National Park, Lookinf toward Mexico, Texas, USA, 1964. (Photo by Erich Andres/United Images via Getty Images) (Getty)Hiking through Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, 1964. (Photo by Erich Andres/United Images via Getty Images) (Getty)
This is an aerial view of the Rio Grande river flowing through Big Bend National Park, Texas, on June 17, 1969. (AP Photo) (AP1969)Yucca palm trees stand silhouetted against the sky, at Dagger Mountain in Big Bend National Park, Texas, on June 17, 1969. (AP Photo/Eddie Adams) (AP1969)This is a panoramic view looking south from the Chisos Mountains, at Big Bend National Park, Texas, across the Rio Grande into Mexico, on June 17, 1969. Next to the branches of a dead tree blooms the century plant, one of over 850 flowering plants in the area. (AP Photo/Eddie Adams) (AP1969)(Original Caption) Lady in the West. Big Bend National Park, Texas: "Roughing It" in the name of natural beautification are Lady Bird Johnson and interior secretary Stewart Udall (right). Accompanied by secret service men, the pair hiked along the lost mine trail on the first day of Mrs. Johnson's two-day visit to this rugged Texas country along the Mexican border. In the background are the beautiful Chisos Mountains. (Getty)This is a scene in Texas' Big Bend country, seen in 1969. (AP Photo) (AP2008)
1999
Haze distorts the view from the Chisos mountains at Big Bend National Park, Texas, Thursday, Sept. 1, 1999. The once-pristine park - 300 miles from El Paso, the nearest major city, and so remote that not a single FM radio station comes in clearly - today is as smoggy as some urban areas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) (AP1999)A turkey buzzard swoops in front of haze-distorted mountains at Big Bend National Park, Texas, Thursday, Sept. 2, 1999. The once-pristine park, 300 miles from El Paso, the nearest major city, and so remote that not a single FM radio station comes in clearly - today is as smoggy as some urban areas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) (Associated Press)Two border patrol agents on horseback on the lookout for illegal aliens at Big Bend National Park. (Photo by Steve Northup/Getty Images) (Steve Northup)A black bear eats the fruit off a prickly pear cactus, Sept. 2, 1999, in the Chisos mountains at Big Bend National Park, Texas. Although once nearly extinct in Texas, black bears, have migrated back into East Texas and the West Texas border area. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, file) (AP1999)
Have you ever visited Big Bend National Park? It’s truly a sight to behold. Share your stunning park pictures with us in the gallery below or at Click2Pins.
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Briana Zamora-Nipper joined the KPRC 2 digital team in 2019. When she’s not hard at work in the KPRC 2 newsroom, you can find Bri drinking away her hard earned wages at JuiceLand, running around Hermann Park, listening to crime podcasts or ransacking the magazine stand at Barnes & Noble.
