Al Braden Photographer

As the first superintendent of Big Bend National Park, Ross Maxwell laid out the 30 mile scenic highway to Castellon and Santa Elena Canyon that would ultimately bear his name. Its meanders connect many of the most iconic and historic landscapes in the park including Sotol Vista, Burro Mesa, Mule Ear Peaks, Cerro Castellan, Castelon Historic District and ending dramatically at Santa Elena Canyon. These photos highlight some of the dramatic views of the Chisos Mountains along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Highway.

Light is everything in landscape photography - and the light at Santa Elena Canyon became my obsession for a spell back in 2006 when I was still using 4 x 5 film. One particular day in May, I set out to find out what Santa Elena Canyon looked like at all times of day and night. I set up my camera and took pictures of the light changing through 24 hours. Most people visit the canyon during mid-day when the lighting is fairly flat. It's impressive, to be sure, but the magic happens in the few minutes of dawn - and at sunset - and through the night. This sequence features my best 18 photos taken through a night I will never forget. I also know that every day will be a bit different.

One of the most iconic landscapes of Texas, majestic Santa Elena Canyon rises 1,500 feet above the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo del Norte. The canyon's left face is the Sierra Ponce in Chihuahua, Mexico while the right face marks the edge of Mesa de Anguila in Texas. A dramatic hiking trail follows the canyon in about about 8/10 of a mile, offering dramatic views of both the canyon interior and desert window beyond. Crossing the Terlingua Creek bed to get to the trail is generally dry - unless recent rains have flashed the creek. The gallery includes a range of photos inside and outside Santa Elena Canyon.

The final stretch of the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive follows the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo del Norte from the Castelon Historic District to the base of Santa Elena Canyon. Along the way are some great river overlooks, historic burial sites and a paved access point for boaters on the river. Photos of the River Road show long ago burial sites and river access points.

Rising high in the southwestern park area are the pair of volcanic remnants known as Mule Ear Peaks. A turnoff from the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive gives an easy overlook of the peaks and provides access for the trailhead that leads to Mule Ear Spring and the eastern side of the peaks. It's a popular open desert hike best made in spring or fall when the temperatures are tolerable. A collection of photos including the peaks and also the Mule Ear Spring along the trail.

Sharp chards of rhyolite lay strewn over layers of slowly eroding volcanic tuff - while volcanic vents pierce the landscape. Clearly the area at the base of Cerro Castellan Peak was a violent area of volcanic activity nearly 30 million years ago. This photo gallery shows some of the evidence. Forty one of my best photos show dramatic views of the area.

The Upper Burro Mesa Trail leads through about two miles of drops and washes till it reaches the top of Burro Mesa Pouroff. From there, Javelina Creek drops an impassible hundred feet into the lower drainage. It does not connect with the Burro Mesa Pouroff trail below. Be ready for some rock scrambles and don't attempt any that you can't climb.

Take a geologist along on this hike where Burro Meso exposes a hard top layer of volcanic rhyolite over a thick yellow segment of Wasp Spring Breccia underlaid with a massive conglomerate. You get the sense that the earth has been busy here building Big Bend. An easy stream bed trail leads to the base of the 100 foot Burro Mesa Pouroff - which is usually dry. Hiking in for the canyon views shown in these photos is well worth it.

"Meet at the tie-down tree." The Oak Spring Trail leads to a well known 'tie-down tree'. According to legend, this was created by the Comanches, or other tribe, to identify a meeting location. The trail splits at the tree near the outflow of Oak Spring, the left fork rising past the Chisos pouroff and joining the Window Pouroff Trail. The right fork leads to Cattail Falls, and intermittent waterfall flowing from the Chisos Mountains. Both choices make great hikes in the spring and fall. Here are 20 photos of the Window Pouroff from below and of the beautiful and remote Cattail Falls.

Location near springs and creeks was essential to survival as these historic ranches demonstrate. Sam Nail and his wife Nena built a life in the desert raising horses, cattle and chickens in a desert oasis.

Hike into the past! The Homer Wilson Blue Creek Ranch along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive provide silent testament to Big Bend's early ranching days. It also provides the trail head for the Blue Creek Trail leading up to the South Rim. Thirteen photos show old ranches along the scenic drive.

Goat Mountain is a geologist's kind of landscape. Base layers of limestone covered with white tuft from volcanos in Mexico, followed by many layers of volcanic mountain building on top - it's all laid bare in the Big Bend area.

Just off the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive you'll find the vast views of southwestern Big Bend at Sotol Vista Overlook. In the distance is Santa Elena Canyon and to the west, mountains extending into Mexico and far west Texas.

The Chimneys are a clear landmark on Big Bend's western desert, visible for miles around and accessible to the waters of the Rio Grande. Petroglyphs and rock shelters silently remind us that this area has been inhabited for thousands of years. Very little research is published on these artifacts - a fertile field for future archeologists! Here is the NPS estimate of the number of sites in Big Bend National Park - dating back to 10,000 years BCE. Here are 48 photos, showing the ancient art and dwellings at the Chimneys. I hope to learn more about the people who lived here. https://www.nps.gov/bibe/learn/historyculture/archaeology-in-big-bend.htm

The erosion at Tuff Canyon offers an accessible overlook and comfortable hike into the thick layer of volcanic tuff from from eruptions in Mexico about 29 million years ago. Photos of Tuff Canyon show the depth of these deposits in the Big Bend landscape.

Castelon is the hub of Big Bend's southwestern region - ranger station, store and many historic buildings dating back to the days when the area was a remote cross-border farming community. Tragedy struck May 22, 2019 when a raging grass fire jumped the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo and burned the historic Castelon Store and Visitor Center and did extensive damage around Cottonwood Campground. While the campground is recovering and now re-opened, the store has been replaced by a small temporary structure while plans are being made to re-build the historic structure that was originally a fort. Other historic structures in the area were saved, including the La Harmonia store which was once community's center. Here are 32 photos detailing the area.

Cottonwood Campground is the quiet oasis on Big Bend National Parks western flank. It's near so many iconic landscapes like Santa Elena Canyon, Cerro Castellan and Mule Ear Peaks, making it a great staging area for dawn and dusk photography. It's also a popular camp location for bird watching in the riparian habitat of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo del Norte. Here are over a dozen views of the campground and surrounding area.

One of my favorite locations for Big Bend sunrises and sunsets is the Old Maverick road on Big Bend's western edge. Leading from Santa Elena Canyon to the western park entrance, the gravely road generally follows a ridge line starting above Terlingua Creek and then over to Javelina Wash and then northwest. It offers vast open landscapes often bathed in the orange glow of dawn and dusk at Big Bend National Park.

Terlingua Abajo incorporates the ruins of a farming community that spanned both sides of Terlingua Creek during the early part of the 20th Century, growing livestock and produce for the miners working in Terlingua.

Gilberto Luna's dugout home stands in testament to the challenging life in the Big Bend region. Luna lived to 108, supporting a large family in this one room shelter with goat herding and faming. Its roof consists of precious wood beams supporting a roof of ocotillo covered with mud and stone. Over a dozen photos capture the details of early life in the Big Bend area.