Big Bend is a small hamlet of a few dozen houses, with a small grocery store that's essential for locals and resupply for hikers, a campground, and a hot spring that's currently closed for renovation. It was the heart of the territory of the Madesi tribe of Pit River Native Americans. The Madesi band's territorial region included Big Bend and the surrounding area of the Lower Pit River, and several of its tributaries, such as Kosk Creek. The main village of the Madesi was on the north bank of the Pit River, east of Kosk Creek, and was called Mah-dess', directly across the river from the smaller villages that surrounded the hot springs on the river's south bank.