National Park Service National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Department of the Interior

Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park PO Box 129 Big Bend National Park, TX 79834 http://www.nps .gov/bibe/

Big Bend Natural History Association PO Box 196 Big Bend National Park, TX 79834 http://www.bigbendbookstore.org/

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E X P E R I E N C E Y O U R A M E R I C A TM Trail Ba • 't'hi.!t rnll is l0t 1g li i.!1' 1111111 Ii lookH;t lii.' 1·v 1,1111 The Window Trail limb is ve1·y sleep. Know your limits n11d Of all the trails in Big Bend, the Window Trail allow eno ugb time to cornpleLc Lhe hik is the most popular and is considered a must by visitors wishing to enjoy the complete • Du e to the risk of fire, smoking is Big Bend experience. Beginning at the main prohibited on all trails in Big Bend . Chisos Basin trailhead located behind the Basin Store, the Window Trail descends • The stone steps along the lower section 980' over 2.8 miles one way. Due to its steep of the trail leading to the pour -off can be descent into the Oak Creek drainage, the trail slippery when water is present . Exerci se Few other trails in Big Bend National Park showcase as much diversity is considered to be moderately difficult and is caution on all slick surfaces. best completed as a morning hike to beat the of habitat and scenery in such a short distance. In just over two miles, the heat of the day. A second Window Trailhead • Wearing good hiking shoes or boot s will Window Trail drops from open chaparral slopes into a shady creek bed is located near the 'No Generator' section in support your feet and ankles over rough terrain; long pants and long sleeves will dominated by towering cliffs. It ends at the famous "Window," a narrow the Chisos Basin Campground. This access point shortens the one-way length to 2.2 miles protect your skin from thorny shrubs and slot canyon providing a glimpse of the desert jar below. with a descent of 500' . Parking for this lower intense sunlight; and always wear a hat to trailhead is at the Amphitheater parking lot shade your head and neck. across from the entrance to the campground. • Minimum impact hiking is encouraged - The Window Trail follows the Oak Creek help to keep that trail clean by packing out all Canyon drainage westward to the Window your trash (this includes your toilet pap er!) pour-off. Near the end of the trail a small sign marks the junction with the Oak Spring Trail, Wildlife Encounters: which descends to the desert. Following this side trail .25 miles will lead you to a scenic • Big Bend is a wild national park and overlook above the Window with sweeping along the trail you may encounter a variety views of the mountains, desert, and Oak of wildlife. Remember that all wildlife is Creek Canyon. protected in the national park.

Near the end of the Window Trail, stone steps • Large predators such as black bear s and skirt pools of water. The Window channels all mountain lions can be seen along th e trail. rainwater from the Basin to the desert below, Avoid behavior that may attract atten tion - and this water forms pools in the smooth do not allow children to run ahead on tra ils, stone of the creek bed before falling 200 feet. avoid hiking alone or at dusk and aft er dark, Your hike will take you to the very top of this do not jog on trails. Should you encount er .i pour-off. bear or a mountain lion, remain calm, enjoy the rare sighting, slowly depart the area. J f' Window Trail Hiking Safety Tips: a large preda tor is approaching you - make yourself appear large, shout, hold your f\ • Always carry enough water to complete ground, wave your arms, throw rock s at ill your hike - the steep return, the lack of shade, and mid-day heat can hasten the effects of • Snakes and other reptiles can be seen al0J1)1 Round Trip dehydration. Drink at least a gallon of water the trail. While most snakes are har mless (miikm? (avg. a day to keep hydrated in Big Bends arid several species of rattlesnakes may be 4'.houf;s environment. encountered. Snakebites are rare in Big BetHI 3hou r;s and can best be avoided by watchin g wherl' you sit, step, and place your hand s. Do 110 1 pick up, touch or bother snakes .

Big Bend National l', 11~ Volcanic Origins From Forest to Desort Mount ain Animal The Chisos Basin appears at first to be the After the end of the mosLr ecent glacial Because il follows the wooded drainage remains of a large volcanic crater. However, period, the climate gradually became warmer of Oak Creek Canyon, the Window Trail while all of the mountain peaks forming the and drier. Fossilized evidence in packrat provides excellent wildlife habitat. Walk rim of the Basin are of igneous origin, there middens near the Rio Grande tells us that quietly, and you may encounter numerous apparently was no volcano in the Basin. oaks and junipers grew there about 10,000 types of animals. Carmen Mountains white­ years ago. As the climate changed, these tailed deer and javelina, or collared peccary, Current theories regarding the creation of plants could survive only in the higher, cooler, are both active throughout the day. You may the Chisos Mountains hold that beginning and wetter parts of the mountains, leaving also see rock squirrels scampering across about 38 million years ago, two volcanoes to the lowlands to the more heat- and drought­ the rocky slopes, or hear spotted towhees the south and east of what are now the Chisos tolerant species that we see throughout the scratching in tlie leaf litter for insects. Listen Mountains spewed ash and lava to the desert today. Had you hiked to the Window 'I for the descending melody of the canyon

surface, while a non-erupting source 10,000 to 15,000 years ago, you might have ~ wren and the loud squawks of the cactus squeezed molten rock into the bedrock from passed through stands of quaking aspen, a wren and Mexican jay. Hike in the early below. After eons of erosion, the resistant tree that in Big Bend is now found only high morning or late evening, and you may be rhyolite magma intrusions remain as the on the slopes of Emory Peak. Your walk might fortunate enough to see a gray fox, ringtail, mountains surrounding the Window. have taken you through a woodland of or mountain lion; look along the trail for Arizona cypress, ponderosa pine, and evidence of their passing. Ongoing research by geologists is beginning Douglas fir, trees whose populations in to change the way we think about the Basin. this region are now limited to the shelter In the late summer and fall, you may see black Instead of classic intrusions, the canyon walls of canyons high in the Chisos Mountains. bears along the Window Trail, foraging on the above you may be lava domes formed at the These plants, and the animals that are nuts and berries they find on oaks, madrone end of an eruptive cycle. Volcanic vents in similarly "trapped" in this mountain island by trees, and evergreen sumac bushes. Don't the area of Casa Grande and Toll Mountain unsuitable habitat in the surrounding desert, try to approach them or feed them; let them At the Window - The end of the trail to the edge of the pour-off is slickrock, and can be hazardous when appear to be the source for lava flows are called "relict species." know of your presence so they can leave the water is present. Use caution if you choose to spreading over a great distance. Sampling area. Check at a visitor center to learn what to approach the edge. and geochemical analysis suggest that there As you hike the Window Trail, look for some do if you encounter a bear. were two distinct magmas providing the of these remnants from the past, including "The Window" sources of igneous rock in the high Chisos . the Mexican drooping juniper, Mexican Rusty-rumped whiptail lizards are common Providing one of the most famous views in Additional research over the next several pifion pine, and numerous types of oaks. in the Chisos Mountains, but few people the park, the Window has become a symbol years will further redefine what we know of Other distinctive plants seen along this trail see the Texas alligator lizard, a heavy-bodied of Big Bend National Park. Thousands of the formation of the Chisos Mountains. are mountain laurel, Mexican buckeye, and relict lizard species. Near the end of the hikers explore this trail every year, marveling vauquelinia. Note the mix of mountain trail, look for garter snakes in the pools of at the geology, the tranquility , the wildlife Ward Mountain looms to the left as you species with desert plants. Throughout the water. You may also see invertebrates such as along the way, and the view of the desert descend the Window Trail. Amon Carter Chisos Mountains , it is common to see trees horsehair worms and water beetles swimming seen through the Window itself. By linking Peak forms the sharp spire on the left of the and cacti growing side by side, evidence of in these pools. Perhaps the most commonly mountain and lowland, forest and desert, and Window, while Vernon Bailey Peak is the continued climatic warming. seen snake in the Chisos Mountains is the water and aridity, the Window Trail provides rounded dome to the right of the Window . patchnose snal

2 The Wind ow Trail Big Bend National Park 3 The National Park Service was established on August The Big Bend Natural History Association, estab lished in 25, 1916 . .. "to conserve the scenery and the natural 1956 as a pr ivate, non-profit organization, champions and historic objects and the wildlife . . . and to provide the mission of the National Park Service in facilitating for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and popular interpretation of the scenic, scientific, and by such means as will /eave them unimpaired for the historic values of Big Bend and encourages research enjoyment of future generations." related to those values. The Association conducts seminars and publishes, prints, or otherwise provides Authorized by congress in 1935, and established in books, maps, and interpretive materials on the Big June 1944, Big Bend National Park preserves the most Bend region. Proceeds fund exhibits, films, interpretive representative example of the Chihuahuan Desert programs, seminars, museum activities, and research. ecosystem in the United States.

As conservation educators, the park's Division of Interpretation and Visitor Services provides guided walks, talks, evening slide programs, workshops, and other educational activit ies as we ll as written materials such as this trai l guide.

Written by Park Ranger Ma ry Kay Manning Designed by Park Ranger Eric Leonard Produced by the Division of Int erpretation and Visitor Services. Printed with funds provided by the Big Bend Natural History Association. Reprinted September, 2010 Casa Grande looms over the Window Trail, heralding the long and often hot return hike to the Basin. - 4 The Window Trail