Big Bend National Park - Nearby Attractions (U.S. National Park Service)

Local Information Resources
Visit Big Bend . Com
Big Bend & Texas Mountains Travel Guide
Alpine, Texas Chamber of Commerce
Marathon, Texas Chamber of Commerce
Brewster County, Texas
Big Bend Chamber of Commerce
Texas Mountain Trail
Traveltex.com - Big Bend Region Information
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Park Partners
Big Bend Natural History Association
Friends of Big Bend National Park

The McDonald Observatory is located 140 miles northwest of Big Bend National Park on Hwy. 118. McDonald Observatory Visitors' Information Center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The Visitors' Center is the check-in point for all daytime and evening visitor activities. A one-hour guided tour of some of the telescopes is offered at various times. Star parties with night viewing through the telescopes are also offered.

The Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute is located 124 miles north of Big Bend National Park on Hwy. 118. The arboretum features a living collection of trees and shrubs from throughout the region, while the greenhouse houses over 240 species of Chihuahuan Desert cacti and succulents that are propagated for research and exhibition. The Visitors' Center contains exhibits on the natural diversity of the Chihuahuan Desert, as well as the Leapin' Lizard Nature Shop.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park, about 275 miles away from Big Bend, preserves the rugged spirit and remote wilderness of the American West. There, in the ancient mountains that tower so majestically into the Texas sky, a visitor can delight in grand views, diverse landscapes and small pleasures. Campgrounds and Visitor Centers are located at the Park Headquarters near Pine Springs, at McKittrick Canyon, and at Dog Canyon.

Davis Mountains State Park and Indian Lodge State Park are located 130 miles northwest of Big Bend on Hwy. 118. Facilities include camping for tents, full hookups for RVs and showers, as well as an interpretive center, trails for hiking, wildlife viewing areas, and picnic areas. Indian Lodge, located within Davis Mountains State Park, is a historic pueblo-style accommodation with a full-service restaurant and gift shop.

Fort Davis National Historic Site preserves one of the best surviving examples of an Indian Wars' frontier military post in the Southwest. From 1854 to 1891, Fort Davis was strategically located to protect emigrants, mail coaches, and freight wagons on the Trans-Pecos portion of the San Antonio-El Paso Road and on the Chihuahua Trail. Located 128 miles north of Big Bend National park, the historic site in located in the community of Fort Davis.

Big Bend Ranch State Park is located to the west of Big Bend National Park. Over 299,008.38 acres of Chihuahuan Desert wilderness, extends along the Rio Grande from near Lajitas to southeast of Presidio in both Brewster and Presidio Counties. It was purchased from private owners in 1988. Embracing some of the most remote and rugged terrain in the Southwest, it encompasses two mountain ranges containing ancient extinct volcanoes, precipitous canyons, and waterfalls. The Barton Warnock Environmental Education Center in Lajitas serves as the eastern gateway to the state park; the western gateway is Fort Leaton State Historic Site, just outside of Presidio.