Vertical Scenery Exhibit

Overview

About Vertical Scenery Exhibit

Why stop

A wide Chisos view backs up the habitat lesson.

Heads up

It’s a brief wayside, not a longer park outing.

Map

Where it is

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Full map

Scenic pulloutVertical Scenery Exhibit29.30760, -103.47788

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Plan your stop

Before you go

Parking and the view

Auto parking is listed at the wayside, which is marked wheelchair accessible; the exact surface and route from the parking area aren’t described. For a photo, put some of the low desert growth in the foreground beneath the rocky Chisos skyline. That foreground-to-peaks contrast makes the elevation story visible.

2 active Big Bend alerts

ClosureWeather-related road closuresDo not use these closed roads; NPS lists the closures as in effect until further notice.Official details
InfoBoquillas Crossing schedule changeBoquillas Crossing is open Friday through Monday, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.; NPS says it will not change to winter hours at this time. Check current park conditions before planning a crossing.Official details

Big Bend alerts

A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone — Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Big Bend Tour Guide

Your drive to Vertical Scenery Exhibit, narrated.

Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Big Bend National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.

See the Big Bend audio tour

Recorded for this area

Where the Mountain Pieces Go

0:00 / 0:30

“A broad, gentle slope below a desert mountain can be a pile of rock carried out of a canyon. It's called an alluvial fan.”

Plays on the road 0.2 mi from Vertical Scenery Exhibit in the Parkwolf Big Bend Tour Guide.

More about Vertical Scenery Exhibit

A quick stop for the big pictureVertical Scenery is a roadside exhibit and viewpoint 1.

Vertical Scenery is a roadside exhibit and viewpoint 1.5 miles east of Maverick Entrance Station. It’s a worthwhile pause for the Chisos backdrop and a quick explanation of why the park shifts so dramatically from river country to desert and mountains. Think of it as a short scenic stop, not a longer outing.

How elevation shapes the parkThe exhibit connects roughly 6,000 feet of elevation between the Rio Grande and Emory Peak with…

The exhibit connects roughly 6,000 feet of elevation between the Rio Grande and Emory Peak with Big Bend’s range of plant and animal habitats. The park has more than 1,200 plant species; the river corridor, desert and Chisos show how much life changes across that vertical span.

Wildlife

Wildlife in Big Bend

All Big Bend wildlife maps

377 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map

329 sightingsCollared PeccaryMost seen around 7 PMSighting map

500 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map

985 sightingsRoadrunnerMost seen around 8 AMSighting map

228 sightingsRavenMost seen around 5 PMSighting map

264 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around noonSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Big Bend. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.