Topography
Big Bend National Park has looming mountains, stark desert landscapes (due to the long droughts) and the Rio Grande going through all 801,163 acres of it. Its elevations and and different (mostly alkaline soils) allow different vegetation to live. Elevations raise from south to north and east to west. Its highest point is at Emory Peak on the Chisos Mountains whilst its lowest peak is the Rio Grande at 1800 ft.
Water is truly the "architect" of the desert because it determines the way the desert looks, it's plant and animal life and the way humans have been able to use it over time. Big Bend National Park is a diverse natural area of river, desert, mountains, and lands of extreme hot and cold, wet and dry, and high and lows.
Water is truly the "architect" of the desert because it determines the way the desert looks, it's plant and animal life and the way humans have been able to use it over time. Big Bend National Park is a diverse natural area of river, desert, mountains, and lands of extreme hot and cold, wet and dry, and high and lows.
![Picture](/uploads/2/9/3/0/29305163/3528470.jpg?699)
A topographic map of Big Bend National Park.