We spent the day exploring Big Bend National Park. While neither of us had any preconceived notions of what to expect we were both blown away by the park’s size as well as its widely varying terrain, fauna and history. The park is over 800,000 acres, borders the Rio Grande for 118 miles and has elevations ranging from 2,000′ along the Rio Grande to early 8,000′ in the Chisos Mountains in the center of the park.
The trip to the park was over 100 miles, during which we saw a mule deer and hawk but did not have a camera at the ready.
There are beautiful cactus and other flowers in bloom … 
Spectacular rock formations …
Rugged mountains …
Barren desert areas …
Stark contrasts of lava flows and volcanic ejected rocks …
Remnants of times when the plains along the Rio were farmed …
Towering cliffs on part of the Mexican side of the Rio Grand near Santa Elena …
And, of course, the Rio Grande, itself.
We were disappointed that we did not see more wildlife, particularly as there had been recent bear and cougar sightings … although Debbie spotted a Roadrunner and small lizard.
There is so much to see that you could spend weeks there and still miss things.