Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park is the highlight attraction of the entire region. It is at the same time an 1100 square mile playground and classroom. The 800,000-acre national park contains three basic habitats: river, desert, and mountains. Big Bend National Park encompasses the largest protected area of the Chihuahuan Desert in the United States.

The Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River forms its southern boundary, and it’s the only park in the United States that contains a complete mountain range – the Chisos. BBNP is one of the United States’ biggest outdoor parks but relative to its size has a small annual visitation, which is one of its major appeals – it offers great solitude, and peace and quiet in a natural surrounding.

Within the park, The Chisos Mountain Lodge has 72 hotel rooms, a restaurant, post office and convenience store. There is one service station in BBNP, a Chevron station next to Panther Junction park headquarters. There is a convenience store on the west side of the park at Castolon (no gas) and one on east side at Rio Grande Village (gas available).

Weekly Entrance fees:

Private Vehicle $30

per vehicle
Bicycles or Pedestrians $15

per person
Motorcycles $25

per motorcycle
Non-commercial groups $10

(Boy Scouts, church groups, etc) per person

Visitor Center

On May 1, 2008, a group of excited supporters attended the formal opening of the new Visitor Center for Big Bend National Park. The existing facility had been designed to serve annual visitation of well under 100,000 guests. Park attendance has increased to between 350,000 and 400,000 visitors per year during the current decade.

The facility features several new interpretive exhibits, many of them interactive and exciting for youngsters of all ages. The existing large 3-d relief map as well as the full size model of the 18′ wing of Quetzalcoatlus northroppi, the famous Big Bend Pterosaur, both remain as all-time favorites. In addition, in spring of 2013, an auditorium was completed to showcase the new video about Big Bend National Park. During busy seasons, this video will be played continuously during visitor hours. IN slower seasons, it will be played upon demand. click here for a selection of Big Bend videos

The new visitor center has been a long time dream of many people, and it took a remarkable cooperative effort of the National Park Service, Big Bend National History Association, Friends of the Big Bend National Park, and support of the citizens of Brewster County to achieve this this long anticipated result.