Q 01/05

Big Bend National Park takes its name from a great curve in which river?

A) The Rio Grande

B) The Pecos

C) The Brazos

D) The Colorado

Answer · why

A) The Rio Grande

For more than 1,000 miles the river forms the US–Mexico border; the park administers about 118 miles of it, including three deep limestone canyons.

Q 02/05

Big Bend is the largest US protected area of which of North America's deserts?

A) Sonoran

B) Chihuahuan

C) Mojave

D) Great Basin

Answer · why

B) Chihuahuan

The desert stretches deep into Mexico; south of the river the park is flanked by two Mexican protected areas.

Q 03/05

The Chisos Mountains hold what distinction among US mountain ranges?

A) The oldest range in North America

B) The most southerly range in the whole US

C) The only range entirely inside one national park

D) The only range with no recorded snowfall

Answer · why

C) The only range entirely inside one national park

They cover just 40 square miles and are the southernmost range in the mainland United States, but not the whole country.

Q 04/05

The whole park lies within which single Texas county?

A) Presidio

B) Jeff Davis

C) Terrell

D) Brewster

Answer · why

D) Brewster

At about 801,000 acres, the park alone is bigger than the state of Rhode Island; the county seat, Alpine, is 100 miles from park headquarters.

Q 05/05

What is the highest point in the park?

A) Casa Grande

B) Emory Peak

C) Mule Ears

D) Mariscal Mountain

Answer · why

B) Emory Peak

It rises to about 7,830 feet, roughly 6,000 feet above the park's low point on the water, and is named for the chief surveyor of the 1852 boundary sur...