Big Bend National Park News

In this May 11, 2012 photo, the view from Beetle Rock in Sequoia National Park, Calif., is seen.

Exciting moves have been revealed to create what would be the third largest area of protected starry dark sky in the world in deepest Northumberland.

Efforts to cut a multiple-use trail for hikers and mountain bikers at Big Bend National Park have generated ongoing debates over whether creating such trails for mountain bikers in national parks is a good thing.

Kielder Water & Forest Park Development Trust and Northumberland National Park Authority are consulting on securing dark sky status for nearly 400 square miles of countryside.

Brewster County is seeing a spike in tourism. The Alpine Avalanche reports tourism in Brewster County is up 4 percent in 2012 -- as more people visit places like Alpine, Terlingua and the Big Bend National Park.

ADVANCE FOR MONDAY APRIL 30 - In this April 23, 2012 photo, Joe Sirotnak, a botanist at Big Bend National Park holds a piece of prickly pear cactus near the park's headquarters killed by the recent deep freeze in Big Bend, Texas.