Photo Journal: Big Bend National Park

From the archives: a backpacking trip to Big Bend over Easter in 2010. We visited Santa Elena Canyon and camped in the Chisos Basin before beginning our backpacking journey in the Chisos Mountains. We visited the South Rim and Emory Peak along our journey and ended with Boquillas Canyon.

Big Bend is one of those places that will quickly remind you of the dangers of the wilderness - wildlife, rock scrambles, and extreme weather conditions—heat, in this case; we planned to backpack a different section of the park but were strongly encouraged to consider an alternate option by the Park Rangers due to heat and lack of water along the trail. The beauty, however, is spectacular in Big Bend and no picture could quite do it justice, so plan a visit yourself!

For more information about the park, visit the park website.

Happy exploring!