The Big Bend is bizarre, mountainous, stark, dramatic, full of exotic shapes and colors, unlike anything else in Texas.

This is Patricia Clothier's story of growing up in the 1930s and 1940s on a vast ranch in the mountains and desert hugging the Mexican border in the Big Bend country of Texas, Before it became a national park. Her family weathered rattlesnakes and drought, accidents, loneliness and financial hardships of the Great Depression with fortitude, ingenuity, and grace. Like their scattered neighbors ? miles away over rugged roads ? it was the love of the land that gripped and held them there. Clothier paints a picture of this cast and glorious territory with words as vivid as any artist with a pallet of paints. A joy to read ? an adventure of Western life you'll never forget.' Jean Bradfish (award winning author and editor)

Fully updated and revised, this comprehensive guide features forty-seven trails in Big Bend National Park.

Big Bend National Park is a location all Americans can enjoy. Find out why this place is so special.