Vernon Bailey Peak is a 6,672-foot summit in the Chisos Mountains of far West Texas within Big Bend National Park. Ranked as the park’s 12th-highest peak and the 77th-highest in Texas, it is composed of intrusive rock formed in the Oligocene period. Its terrain is especially steep, rising 2,070 feet above Oak Canyon in only half a mile. In the region’s hot, arid climate, runoff from its slopes drains into Oak Creek, part of the Rio Grande watershed, while the lower slopes support juniper, oak, and piñon. The peak received its official name in 1945 to honor naturalist and mammalogist Vernon Orlando Bailey for his biological surveys in Texas and other western states.