Big Bend Ranch State Park

Not to be confused with Big Bend National Park or Big Bend of the Colorado State Recreation Area.

Big Bend Ranch
Solitario Peak (4786 ft), a prominent geologic feature of The Solitario, a collapsed laccolith
Big Bend Ranch
Location	Presidio / Brewster counties
Nearest town	Presidio, Texas
Coordinates	29°31′50″N 104°09′16″W / 29.53056°N 104.15444°W / 29.53056; -104.15444Coordinates: 29°31′50″N 104°09′16″W / 29.53056°N 104.15444°W / 29.53056; -104.15444
Area	311,000 acres (125,857 ha)
Established	1988
Governing body	Texas Parks and Wildlife
Website	Texas Parks and Wildlife

Big Bend Ranch State Park is a 311,000-acre (126,000 ha) state park located on the Rio Grande in Brewster and Presidio counties, Texas. It is the largest state park in Texas. The closest major town is Presidio, Texas, where the state park's head office is located.^[1]

Contents

• 
  1 Features
  
  
  
  • 
    1.1 Flora
    
  
  
  • 
    1.2 Fauna
    
  
  
  • 
    1.3 Waterfalls
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  2 Park management
  
  
  
  • 
    2.1 Visitation
    
  
  
  • 
    2.2 Activities
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  3 Recent events
  


• 
  4 See also
  


• 
  5 References
  


• 
  6 External links
  

Features

Closed Canyon entrance

Big Bend Ranch is located adjacent to Big Bend National Park and shares the national park's Chihuahuan Desert ecosystem. However, in one significant aspect the state park is managed very differently from the nearby national park, as the state park encompasses a network of cattle ranches operated according to the principle of the open range. A herd of longhorn cattle is based here, and there is a semi-annual longhorn roundup.^[2]

The Big Bend Ranch manages 23 miles (37 km) of frontage along the Rio Grande, and river rafting is popular here. Away from the river, visitors can hike, backpack, go horseback riding or enjoy mountain biking in the Big Bend Ranch's substantial backcountry. The park is open year round and an admission fee is charged.^[1]

Flora

Desert vegetation dominates the park including lechuguilla and grama. Other common plants include sotol, ocotillo and mesquite. Along the Rio Grande and around some of the springs in the park are reeds, willows, and cottonwood and ash trees.^[3] The park contains most of the existing populations of the federally threatened Hinckley oak.^[4]

Fauna

Common animals in the park include gray fox, desert cottontail, two species of raven, mule deer, coyote, seven species of owl, kangaroo rat, six species of woodpecker, greater roadrunner, two species of vulture, jackrabbit, collared peccary and many species of lizard. Rarer animals include the cougar, golden eagle, bobcat, peregrine falcon, zone-tailed hawk and western mastiff bat.^[3] As of 2011, park management is attempting to re-establish a self-sustaining population of desert bighorn sheep.^[5]

Waterfalls

Madrid Falls, the second highest waterfall in Texas

The Big Bend Ranch is home to Madrid Falls, the second highest waterfall in Texas. The terrain around Madrid Falls makes it difficult to access.^[6]

Park management

Visitation

Big Bend Ranch State Park was expected to enjoy an estimated 2,500 visitors in 2008, a relatively low level of visitation for a park of its size.^[7]

Activities

Dark Canyon on the Rio Grande River

A number of companies in the area offer tours of the Rio Grande River, with most being based out of Terlingua, Texas. They offer guided rafting trips, canoe trips, guided hikes and backroad tours that are structured to provide education about the region's history, geology, wildlife and plant life.

Recent events

The Nature Conservancy of Texas announced in November 2008 that they had purchased the Fresno Ranch, a 7,000-acre (2,800 ha) inholding within the state park, for the purpose of planning the transfer of the land to the state park for integrated park management purposes and eventual public enjoyment. The price was said to be $2.6 million. The ranch, which occupied several comparatively well-watered parcels of land within the park's boundaries, was in the southeastern quadrant of the park.^[7]

In early 2011, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department oversaw the transport of 29 desert bighorn sheep to the Bofecillos Range. It was hoped that this herd would become the ancestral animals of a self-sustaining population of bighorns within the park. The last unmanaged population of Texas desert bighorn sheep was shot or died about 1958.^[5]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Big Bend Ranch State Park.

• 
  Texas portal
  

• Big Bend National Park


• List of Texas state parks


• Trans-Pecos


• Guadalupe Mountains


• McKittrick Canyon

References

1. 
   ^ ^ab "Big Bend Ranch State Park", Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
   


2. 
   ^ "Texas Longhorns in State Parks", Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
   


3. 
   ^ ^ab Parent, Laurence. Official Guide to Texas State Parks. University of Texas Press, Fourth Edition, 2005. pp 8-11.
   


4. 
   ^ Quercus hinckleyi. Center for Plant Conservation.
   


5. 
   ^ ^ab "Local Outdoors for 7/22", San Marcos Daily Record, 2011-07-23. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
   


6. 
   ^ "Big Bend's Madrid Falls are a rare sight", The Dallas Morning News' Retrieved February 10th, 2010.
   


7. 
   ^ ^ab "Big Bend state park expands boundaries". Houston Chronicle. 2008-11-23..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   

External links

• "Big Bend Ranch State Park," Texas Parks and Wildlife.

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Federal	National Parks Big Bend Guadalupe Mountains National Monuments and Memorials Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument Chamizal National Memorial Military Working Dog Teams National Monument Waco Mammoth National Monument National Historical Parks and Historic Sites Fort Davis NHS Lyndon B. Johnson NHP Palo Alto Battlefield NHP San Antonio Missions NHP National Historic Trails El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Recreation Areas Amistad Lake Meredith National Wildlife Refuges Anahuac Aransas Attwater Prairie Chicken Balcones Canyonlands Big Boggy Brazoria Buffalo Lake Caddo Lake Grulla Hagerman Laguna Atascosa Little Sandy Lower Rio Grande Valley McFaddin Muleshoe Neches River San Bernard Santa Ana Texas Point Trinity River National Forests Angelina Davy Crockett Sabine Sam Houston National Grasslands Caddo Lyndon B. Johnson McClellan Creek Rita Blanca Other Protected Areas Big Thicket National Preserve Padre Island National Seashore Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River
State	State Parks and Natural Areas Abilene Albert and Bessie Kronkosky State Natural Area Atlanta Balmorhea Barton Warnock Environmental Education Center Bastrop Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley Big Bend Ranch Big Spring Blanco Boca Chica Bonham Brazos Bend Buescher Caddo Lake Caprock Canyons Cedar Hill Chinati Mountains State Natural Area Choke Canyon Cleburne Colorado Bend Cooper Lake Copper Breaks Daingerfield Davis Hill Davis Mountains Devils River State Natural Area Devil's Sinkhole State Natural Area Dinosaur Valley Eisenhower Enchanted Rock State Natural Area Estero Llano Grande Fairfield Lake Falcon Fort Boggy Fort Parker State Park Fort Richardson State Park Franklin Mountains Galveston Island Garner Goliad Goose Island Government Canyon State Natural Area Guadalupe River Hill Country State Natural Area Honey Creek State Natural Area Huntsville Indian Lodge Inks Lake Kickapoo Cavern Lake Arrowhead Lake Bob Sandlin Lake Brownwood Lake Casa Blanca International Lake Colorado City Lake Corpus Christi Lake Livingston Lake Mineral Wells Lake Somerville Lake Tawakoni Lake Whitney Lockhart Longhorn Cavern Lost Maples State Natural Area Martin Creek Lake Martin Dies Jr. Matagorda Island McKinney Falls Meridian Mission Tejas Monahans Sandhills Mother Neff State Park Mustang Island Old Tunnel Palmetto Palo Duro Canyon Palo Pinto Mountains Pedernales Falls Possum Kingdom Purtis Creek Ray Roberts Lake Resaca de la Palma San Angelo Sea Rim Sheldon Lake South Llano River Stephen F. Austin Tyler Village Creek Walter Umphrey Wyler Aerial Tramway State Historic Sites Acton Admiral Nimitz Barrington Living History Farm at Washington-on-the-Brazos Battleship TEXAS Caddoan Mounds Casa Navarro Confederate Reunion Grounds Eisenhower Birthplace Fanthorp Inn Fannin Battleground Fort Griffin Fort Lancaster Fort Leaton Fort McKavett Fort Richardson State Park Fulton Mansion Goliad Hueco Tanks Kreische Brewery Landmark Inn Levi Jordan Plantation Lipantitlan Lyndon B. Johnson Magoffin Homestead Mission Espiritu Santo Mission Rosario Monument Hill Penn Farm Point Isabel Lighthouse Sabine Pass Battleground Sam Bell Maxey House Samuel T. Rayburn House San Felipe San Jacinto Battleground Sauer-Beckmann Farm Seminole Canyon Starr Family Home Varner–Hogg Plantation Washington-on-the-Brazos Zaragoza Birthplace State Forests and Arboretums E.O. Siecke I.D. Fairchild John Henry Kirby Masterson W. Goodrich Jones Ruth Bowling Nichols Arboretum Olive Scott Petty Arboretum State Wildlife Trails Great Texas Coastal Heart of Texas Panhandle Plains Prairies and Pineywoods
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