Rio Grande and Sierra del Carmen range in Big Bend National Park, Texas
© Grant Ordelheide/Tandem Stills + Motio
This national park turns 75. A big birthday for Big Bend
Seventy-five years ago today, on June 12, 1944, Big Bend officially became a US national park. The park covers more than 800,000 acres in West Texas along the Mexico border. The vast protected area contains mountain, river, and desert ecosystems, including the largest protected area of the Chihuahuan Desert in the United States. But the ‘big’ doesn't stop there. Big Bend is home to 1,200 species of plants, over 450 species of birds, 75 species of mammals, and 56 species of reptiles. (We're not sure how many of those are snakes, if you're wondering.) Because of its remote location, Big Bend also has among the darkest skies ever measured in the contiguous US. So tonight, the only light you'll likely see is the glow from 75 birthday candles—and a few million stars.
Related Images
An old farm in the Shetland Islands, Scotland
Mount Fanjing, the highest peak of the Wuling Mountains, in southwest China
Prairie and pinnacles near Castle Trail in Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Hope Valley, Peak District, England
Glastonbury Tor and St. Michael's Tower in England for the start of the Glastonbury Festival
Rajgad Fort near Pune, India
Vinicunca Mountain in the Cusco Region of Peru
Yukon River viewed from the Midnight Dome, Dawson City, Yukon, Canada
Bing Today Images
