In July, typical afternoon highs at Big Bend run around 85°F (hot). Mid-afternoon sun stands about 74° high, and the sun is up from 7:03 AM to 8:53 PM. Shade depends on terrain and tree cover; open viewpoints are fully exposed.
See live sun & real shadows here →| January | 52°F |
| February | 69°F |
| March | 73°F |
| April | 81°F |
| May | 85°F |
| June | 89°F |
| July | 85°F |
| August | 87°F |
| September | 81°F |
| October | 78°F |
| November | 71°F |
| December | 65°F |
Shade depends on terrain and tree cover; open viewpoints are fully exposed. See real building shadows over satellite imagery for any time of day: https://isthereshade.com/?anywhere&at=29.25,-103.25
Around 8:53 PM local time in mid-July (it shifts through the year). Sunrise is about 7:03 AM.
Big Bend · Terlingua, TX. Data: exact sun position; climate normals from historical weather; live forecast on the interactive view.
Big Bend is vast, remote, and mostly open to the sky. The desert basins, the river canyons, and the trails that connect them run through terrain with little tree cover, and the West Texas sun sits nearly straight overhead at midday in summer. Out here, far from anything, being caught in the open with no shade and no water is the classic mistake, so a summer visit is planned around the sun and the heat above all else.
The numbers back that up. July afternoon highs at the desert elevations average about 85°F, with August near 87°F and June the hottest at 89°F. Those figures are for the lower country near Terlingua; the desert floor along the river can run considerably hotter than the high Chisos, and either way the exposure makes it feel intense.
In July the sun rises around 7:03 AM and sets near 8:53 PM, a long and bright day. The single most important fact for planning is how high the summer sun climbs here, about 74 degrees of altitude at 3 PM, sitting to the west-southwest, which is nearly overhead. That means shadows are short in the afternoon and the exposed trails offer almost no relief when the sun is up.
Early morning is the time to be out. Cooler air, low light across the desert, and long shadows off the rock make the first hours after sunrise the best window for hiking or driving to overlooks. The late-afternoon and evening hours cool off again as the sun drops west, but the middle of the day, roughly 11 AM to 5 PM, is when the exposed desert is at its harshest.
Big Bend's shade is uneven. The desert basins and open flats have very little, a scattering of low brush that does not cover you. The real relief is in the terrain: the deep river canyons like the walls along the Rio Grande hold shadow for much of the day, and the higher Chisos country carries more vegetation and cooler air than the desert floor. On an exposed trail, the only reliable shade is the sun-away side of a canyon wall or large outcrop, which in the afternoon means the east and northeast faces as the sun swings west.
To see how the canyons and ridgelines throw shadow across a given spot at your planned hour, the satellite shadow view maps the terrain shade for a chosen date and time.
This is genuine desert, and the remoteness raises the stakes. Carry far more water than you think you need, the dry air pulls moisture out of you without obvious sweat, and there is nowhere to refill in the backcountry. Start hikes at first light, wear a wide brim and sunscreen for the constant overhead sun, and turn back well before the afternoon peak. Closed shoes and a plan for where the next shade is matter more here than at almost any other landmark.
The season shifts everything. Spring and fall afternoons in the 70s and low 80s make the trails workable through more of the day, and winter is mild. From June through August, treat the sun and heat as the main hazard and let the canyons and the early hours give you your shade.