The Big Bend of the Rio Grande - what a land of contrast! Desolate badlands, forested mountains, a long island of green supported by the river"s flow, sun-baked hillsides, and canyons so deep the direct sunlight barely penetrates - these are desert lands burgeoning with life! Big Bend National Park, located on the Texas/Mexico border on the great bend of the Rio Grande, was established in 1944 to preserve the great canyons,mountains, and desert.