Size

• Big Bend National Park covers over 800,000 acres in southwest Texas.
  
  

Origin

• The Rio Grande River, separating the United States from Mexico, forms the southern border of the park, which gets its name from the "big bend" in the river itself.
  
  

Fun Fact

• When the shallow sea that covered Big Bend retreated about 100 million years ago, it became the Gulf of Mexico.
  
  

Time Frame

• Scientists believe that the oldest rocks found in Big Bend are about 500 million years old.
  
  

Giant Crocs

• Fossil remains of giant crocodiles have been found in Big Bend; at 40 to 50 feet long, they are the largest ever found.