May 07, 2021
Join Chris, Heather and Erik for a discussion of some of the many fantastic scenic drives around the Big Bend region from your home base in Alpine, Texas. Also: sights and attractions along the way, and some Big Bend travel tips!
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Transcript for “Big Bend Day Trips from Alpine”:
Chris Ruggia
Hello everybody. I’m Chris Ruggia, the Tourism Director for the City of Alpine, Texas. And this is the Heart of the Big Bend, a bi-weekly podcast and radio show about visiting the beautiful Big Bend of Texas. Specifically we’ll cover what’s happening in Alpine, an incredibly friendly, small town, nestled in a desert mountain valley at the heart of the Big Bend region. With easy day trips from Alpine, you can take in everything this amazing region has to offer.
Today again, I’m very grateful to be joined by Heather Yadon, our Tourism Coordinator at the Alpine Visitor Center and Erik Zimmer, our incredibly capable city manager. Thank you both for being here today to talk with me. Today we’re going to be covering some of the day trip opportunities that are available from Alpine as your home base exploring the Big Bend region. I thought we would start with the nearby, shorter day trips you could accomplish in a half day and that’s going to be our neighboring communities at the northern edge of the Big Bend region.
Heather! Do you want to start?
Heather Yadon
Sure. I think that what’s so great is that you have our little triangle: Alpine to Fort Davis to Marfa and it gets you into each of the three counties that make up the tri-county area. We all have beautiful courthouses that are my first stop to see because I love them. I just think they’re so pretty. That’s something that makes Texas special as a whole. Along the way, there’s so much to see and it’s different every leg of the triangle, it’s the landscape changes as you head over to Fort Davis. One of the popular spots is the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center, which I know is a favorite of yours, Chris.
Chris R
Oh yeah, it absolutely is my wife Ellen and I. There’s a canyon hike. It’s not an easy hike, but it’s also not long. It’s a little bit rough walking. So you might, if your mobility is a little challenged, you might consider that before you head down there, but it’s not a long hike and you get down quickly into cool, shady. There’s usually a little water at the base of the Modesta Canyon there. But yeah, the Nature Center is a really beautiful land site that they have, great interpretation with their staff and volunteers. Erik, is there anything you have – any thoughts about that spot?
Erik Zimmer
Yeah, I’ve always really enjoyed the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center. Like you pointed out, Chris, the staff there is just wonderful, very informative, the hikes in and around the area are fantastic. It’s a great stop for families – kids of all ages. There’s stuff to do for the younger kids, or when they get into teenage years and close to adulthood they might want to do a little bit more of the aggressive hikes that you and Ellen go on. Certainly something to do for everybody there and just wonderful staff representation. And that is between Alpine and Fort Davis.
Yes and a couple quick other things – they have a great native plant arboretum you can walk through. That’s a really easy short walk. And they have some new bird blinds too that, well, over the last couple of years new, that you can investigate the birds that are visiting.
Heather Y
The feedback I get from families is that kids love the mining exhibit.
Chris R
Oh, that’s right.
Heather Y
That’s one their favorite spots and that’s definitely something that they haven’t seen before.
Chris R
Yeah, it’s not hands-on exactly, but there’s a lot of weird, old stuff for kids to wonder what the heck did they do with that object?
And then they’ll tell you. Moving on from the Nature Center, that’s about a 20-minute drive roughly from Alpine. And in Fort Davis is just a hop farther.
Erik, what’s your favorite thing about Fort Davis?
Erik Z
I will tell you the namesake for Fort Davis, the Fort itself. We have been taking our kids there ever since they were small. I remember throwing the boys up on the shoulders and hiking up to overlook the Fort. The staff there, once again, is always fantastic. Most of them are presented in some sort of uniform representing the era of time when the Fort was was an active Fort. The videos are just absolutely wonderful there. I think there’s a lot to do whether you’ve got smaller kids, or teens, or adults. It’s just certainly a lot to do at the Fort. Every year they do an evening presentation and at night, I walk through the Fort which is just absolutely gorgeous. So when I go to Fort Davis, I just always make it a point to go to the Fort.
Heather Y
That’s how we’re different. I go to the drugstore for ice cream.
Chris R
I was going to mention the lunch if you’re making a day trip, starting at Fort Davis, the old drugstore is a great stop for lunch though, one thing you’ll want to think about when you’re traveling around the Big Bend region these days: it’s a lot busier than it was years ago and so right at the lunch time you might have a hard time getting a quick meal. You might think about planning your lunch a little early or a little late but not too late because they’re gonna close between lunch and dinner.
Another great stop besides the drug store that my wife and I love is the Stone Village Market has the deli counter. We’ll go, get a sandwich from the Stone Village Market and then we head to the State Park, which is another 15 miles or so past Fort Davis, and have a picnic there.
Heather Y
Yeah, and if you want to continue on, then you have the scenic loop that goes all the way around the Davis Mountains, that’s the 75-mile, 2 hour Scenic Loop. That makes for a longer day trip, but is beautiful scenes all around. You have Sawtooth Mountain, which a bunch of artists in this area paint Sawtooth Mountain. I know that you can see Nancy Whitlock’s Gallery in downtown Alpine, that’s one of her favorites to paint. Then you have the highest peak in the area, right there is Mount Livermore at almost 8200 feet. So you really see a lot when you take that Scenic Loop, that goes all the way around the mountain.
Chris R
Erik, you were mentioning of favorite stop along that Scenic Loop.
Erik Z
Right, the Madera hiking point. As you’re driving up through the Loop and you have to keep your eyes open for it, it’s a little picnic stop. And then, they’ve got a great sign representation. I think Chris, you helped develop that sign too.
Chris R
Yeah, I also want to mention your mobile map. It’s probably going to be the Lawrence Woods parking stop or something. That’s the rest area name that you’ll be looking for at that trailhead.
Erik Z
Stopping there and it’s not a tough Loop to hike. In fact, as we’ve been out there many a times, we’ve seen kids as small as seven or eight years old hiking around that Loop. It’s just a wonderful stop and I think as Heather mentioned earlier, once you start getting up in elevation, especially in the summer, the temperatures get a little bit cooler up there, which is –
Heather Y
Why they have the coolest Fourth of July in Texas, in Fort Davis.
Chris R
That’s right. Yeah, the one thing that’s really nice about the trail you’re talking about, the Madera Canyon Trail, is that’s the only always-open access to the Davis Mountains Preserve of The Nature Conservancy. They’ll have some open times, open weekends that folks can sign up to visit, but you can always get there or near great views of Mount Livermore on that hike. That’s always open.
Erik Z
Yes.
Heather Y
Well, and instead of continuing on 118 on the loop, you have another option. If you stay and you go at the at the Y, go towards Balmorhea on 17, that’s a whole other park that’s within a day trip from Alpine as well.
Chris R
One thing I would really point out right now is that Balmorhea is a state park, which is an amazing facility, but it’s closed right now, and we don’t know when it’s going to reopen. It’s closed for renovations, but I will say, if you feel like driving, if driving is the thing that you’re here to do, the Wild Rose Pass Drive between Fort Davis and Balmorhea for my money is the prettiest drive out here. It’s just my favorite, the views. The way the the mountains reveal themselves as you drive through. It is so beautiful, but be advised: you’re just going to turn around and come back because the park is closed right now. Check the Texas Parks and Wildlife website for the dates when they reopen that pool at Balmorhea, but right now that’s where we’re at.
And so after Fort Davis, I guess the next place to go in that triangle is Marfa.
Heather Y
Absolutely Marfa is, as everyone knows, it draws people from all over the world with their renowned galleries. Some of those are still not open, definitely check the Visit Marfa website and then follow the galleries and see if they are open. But there is always the Paisano Hotel where you can see the Giant memorabilia. And that’s one of the most exciting things I think in Marfa, that’s where I like to go there shopping in a movie all at the same time.
Erik Z
I’ll tell you a funny story about Marfa real quick. My younger son, who’s in college, his girlfriend was questioning him the other day, “hey, have you ever heard of that place called Marfa? Because there’s this artist…” She’s an art major. “Yeah, there’s this artist I’ve been studying about, he’s got a whole bunch of stuff out in Marfa.” Really, really a small world. It is a very neat experience in Marfa.
Chris R
I will say that Marfa is a very unusual place because it’s built on its current reputation is built on somebody who – Donald Judd – who truly does show up. You take an art history survey in college, and you’re going to hear about this guy.
He’s a giant in what they call minimalist art and that contemporary art community that’s built around what he did there is unique in the world. It really is. It brings art lovers from around the world. Now if folks aren’t into that particular style of art that kind of doesn’t meet you halfway, you got to do the work there, some folks don’t really know what to do with that. It’s not their thing and so they don’t really enjoy that thing. Marfa has more to offer than that, but you might be aware that it’s kind of the rarefied air of the art world that you’re that you’re entering in some of those galleries.
Erik Z
Yeah, and I think what Heather had touched on earlier; the communities have these beautiful courthouses and I always think about going over to Marfa and stopping at the courthouse and walking around and just touring the shops and the hotels in the area. Honestly the Visitor Center’s not too far. You can pop back over on the highway to the Visitor Center and gather some more information on the area. Marfa – what a great day trip over there. Walk around, have a nice lunch, and see some of the galleries and some of the art.
Heather Y
If you want to continue with more information and memorabilia about Giant, then you head out of Marfa on 90 a little bit further, it’s like 25 miles out of town, I think.
Chris R
Even a little less.
Heather Y
Yeah, Giant movie set is out there and that’s where there’s the big huge cut outs of Liz Taylor and James Dean. So that’s always worth seeing. And then if you want to go even further all the way past Valentine, I think the name is obviously Prada Marfa, but it’s kind of confusing for people. They’re expecting it to be in Marfa, but the famous Prada store, the art piece that sits in the middle of the desert is actually on the west side of Valentine on 90. A lot of people just love to have that picture.
Chris R
If you make that drive out to Valentine, instead of going to Fort Davis first, if you go to Marfa first and onto Prada Marfa, get your photo op there, do your Beyonce jump, whatever you need to do. There’s a road back to Fort Davis right near there, so you can make that into a loop really easily.
Heather Y
Yes. The 505 will take you right back onto that Fort Davis Scenic Loop that we talked about earlier.
Chris R
That really covers the northern part of the Big Bend I think pretty well for the first time visitor. You got a lot to do and you could spend several days exploring that, but of course the big attraction of our region, the crown jewel, is Big Bend National Park. And there’s so much in the southern area of Brewster and Presidio counties. These are a little bit longer drives. You can do them in a day and get back to Alpine for a dinner and decompression after your your adventure, but let’s talk a little bit about that experience going south from Alpine.
Heather Y
If you were going to go south from Alpine, Chris, where you headed into the park, what’s your day trip?
Chris R
Well you got two choices. You can either go through Marathon and into the National Park at Persimmon Gap. There’s two entrances or you go straight south to Terlingua and hit Study Butte and Terlingua first, and then enter the park at the Maverick Junction. We just flip a coin, you know, we alternate. Depending if you want to if you want to experience the South County communities which are so worth being in. The Terlingua area is amazing, you’re going to hit that first if you go 118 South but the drive through Marathon and then south to the park is gorgeous as well.
Also along the routes, you’re going to see pull-offs on the highway that the county has done. There’s interpretive signs about the history, the geology, so keep your eyes out on the drive. There’s also a mobile app, Just In Time, it’s called. Brewster County put together that will give you a GPS driven tour of the trip as you’re driving around South Brewster county, it’s a great resource.
Heather Y
I think that my favorite route is actually the longer one. I love taking River Road to get over to Big Bend National Park. So I will always go through Marfa to Presidio and then across it takes longer, but it is so worth it to me. And my kid is a little river rat. She’s almost three but she will jump in that river and I have to tell her to hold back, but the River Road is my favorite spot. I love that loop. I can actually do that and come back through Lajitas and up through Terlingua and not going into the national park. That makes for kind of a long day with a toddler so we’ll split it up.
Chris R
We should have warned folks to get their map in front of them as we’re talking, throwing all these names at them, but Presidio is south about an hour roughly south of Marfa. It’s about an hour and a half from Alpine, and then you can drive across along the River from Presidio to Terlingua, past Lajitas to Terlingua.
Erik, what’s your thoughts on the River Road? That’s just stunning.
Erik Z
Well, what I would tell you is the picture on my phone is of my wife and I standing at the top, overlooking the river from the River Road.
Heather Y
That big hill? Scenic Outlook?
Erik Z
Just absolutely love it. It’s gorgeous. We took a great selfie up there and I keep it on my phone, had it on there for a few years. So I am very partial to that. The views are gorgeous.
I will tell you though, it’s important that you drive slow because there’s so much to look around.
Heather Y
Yes.
Erik Z
It’s a very windy road and sometimes if you have time and you want to do it both ways forward and backward, one person drive, the other person look and flip around, and the other person drive back.
Heather Y
It’s also important to remind people that if they want to get off at the scenic outlook for the picnic areas, you can do that, just driving the road. But if you want to get off at any of the hikes or the river access points to stop at Fort Leaton at Presidio, and you can get your state park pass there, or if you’re going to do it from the opposite way, which is doable too, to go down 118 first. There’s the Barton Warnock visitor center right outside of Lajitas where you can get that state park pass. You can, of course, do it online too. Everybody’s gotten very well versed in doing everything online in the last year with COVID, but if you want to do any of the hikes and there’s a couple of shorter hikes on River Road that are quick – Close Canyon is a great one.
Chris R
Oh, Close Canyon – this is a hike that pays off immediately. I’m used to going on a desert hike and then you get to a canyon after you’ve invested hours of sweat and effort and toil, but this is like two hundred feet or so off the highway and you’re in the canyon. Don’t go too far because in Close Canyon, you start to get these pour off rocks, so just be careful not to go too deep into the canyon because you can have a little trouble getting back.
Erik Z
Yeah. Good point Chris. Very good point.
Chris R
I wanted to mention a little bit about food, too. We’re going to have to wrap up quickly. We haven’t even talked about Big Bend National Park. We might have to do another show, but for now, we’re going to talk about the drives. When you’re taking that trip around Presidio, Terlingua, Alpine – thoughts about food.
Presidio has a couple – several good places for lunch – and I would recommend the Bean or El Patio are good choices.
In Terlingua, this south of Brewster County is very busy and I want to talk for a second about the challenges of getting services because you’re competing with a lot of other visitors. My personal favorite place to eat lunch and breakfast in Terlingua is Espresso y Poco Mas, but it’s popular. So you want to get there early.
Heather Y
Well my favorite place the Starlite. Chris and I are on our own different kinds of schedules here. I’m going to get dinner because I’m not an early riser where Chris is, but the Starlite is my favorite place for dinner.
Chris R
It’s wonderful. That’s going to be a challenge though to get in.
Heather Y
Yeah, you have to get there at like 3:00 and hang out on the patio till they open at 5:00.
Erik Z
I would tell you my favorite place is wherever I can get in. Last time it was Chili Pepper Cafe. Stuart and I were down there and I think it was an hour wait at the Starlite, but we were able to get in the Chili Pepper Cafe.
Chris R
That’s something you might consider on any of these day trips is if you can pack yourself a picnic, you’re not going to have to wait in order to eat it.
Heather Y
We have a couple places in Alpine that are more than happy to help people with getting a picnic packed, especially because ypretty much all hotel rooms and definitely Airbnb’s have some place for refrigeration overnight. So if you’re planning your trip, stop by Taste and See Bakery the day before, get some sandwiches, cheeses, sausages. She’s got all of that kind of stuff. She’ll help you get a picnic lunch together, that’ll be wonderful – promise – wonderful, because their bread is amazing.
We’ve also got Judy’s Bread and Breakfast that can get you something packed. You could even get Alicia’s burritos in the morning and then hit the road. Those are all things that are here in Alpine. We’ve got a grocery stores that have great options for packing sack lunches as well.
Chris R
One thing to think about not only with the restaurants but of course, we want you to come and stay with us in Alpine. We do usually have room availability, but especially if you’re going South County around Big Bend National Park, do not wing it. Don’t expect to be able to get a room. Don’t expect to be able to get a meal in a timely way. Try to plan ahead, try and reach out and do your research before you’re making your trip down south.
Heather Y
Yes, I’ve had several visitors in the last couple weeks come to the Visitor Center, and they’re like, “oh we’re just going to find something when we get down there,” and I’m like, whoa! You’re gonna have to start calling somebody right now. Don’t leave Alpine until you know you have something closer to the park. Usually they’re wanting to have one day where they’re closer to the park so they can get started on hikes earlier and stuff like that especially with some of the construction going on in the national park right now. A good rule of thumb with all of it is to plan ahead check websites right now. Check for any closures that are still going on. Right now we have construction in the Big Bend, so I think that’s important messages in planning.
Yeah. Planning your lodging, plan your your day trips and make sure things are open on those days. Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center’s closed on Wednesdays in the middle of the week so they can be open on Saturday. So those are things that you need to check before you decide what you’re going to do on those days. And we’re more than happy to help with all of that at the Visitor Center.
Chris R
Erik, what would you leave us with in terms of the day trip experience in the Big Bend area?
Erik Z
What I would say is that wow, there are just so many different, exciting adventures that you could take any day and it just makes you want to keep coming back for more. I think that’s what what I hear most from people that tour the areas, “Wow. I had a wonderful three days. I could have spent 30 days here. I’m coming back.”
Chris R
Absolutely. Every single road is beautiful in a different way. And they’re all worth it.
Erik Z
Yeah, very much so.
Chris R
Well, that’s about all the time we have for today. But thanks all of you for for bearing with us as we learn how this whole podcast radio thing works. We’re going to keep coming back for more punishment, next time in a couple of weeks.
Erik Z
Awesome, thank you Chris.
Heather Y
Thank you!