The Atlas Obscura Guide To Big Bend National Park

2 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Big Bend National Park, Texas

Updated June 4, 2025

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Unusual Attractions in Big Bend National Park

Below the blast furnaces are some small buildings where miners, foremen and their families lived.

Big Bend National Park, Texas

Mariscal Mine

An abandoned mine where dreams of quicksilver trickled away over 75 years ago.

Reached via a relatively easy mile hike, Balanced Rock is a perfect adventure for those with just a short time in the park.

Big Bend National Park, Texas

Balanced Rock

This gravity-defying rock formation is one of Big Bend’s natural wonders.

Are we missing something unusual?

Postcard of the ghost town cemetery.

Terlingua, Texas

Terlingua Ghost Town

An abandoned quicksilver mining town surrounded by the Big Bend parks.

21 miles from Big Bend National Park

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Explore Big Bend National Park, Texas

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Stories About Big Bend National Park

The first photo of the “woolly devil” made a stir among botanists when Deb Manley uploaded it to iNaturalist in March 2024.

How the Woolly Devil, Member of a New Plant Genus, Was Discovered on a Hike in Big Bend

On an ordinary walk around Big Bend National Park, a park ranger and volunteer made a rare scientific discovery: an entirely new kind of plant.

by The Podcast Team, Atlas Obscura

The first photo of the woolly devil made a stir among botanists when Deb Manley uploaded it to iNaturalist in March 2024.

A Devilish New Species Discovered in Big Bend National Park

This tiny, fuzzy sunflower relative has been hiding in plain sight—it represents the first new genus identified in a U.S. national park in nearly 50 years.

by Andrew Coletti, Atlas Obscura