Big Bend Day Trips – The Spring Break Edition

March 10, 2023

When you have one day – or four! – in the Big Bend, it’s hard to decide what to do, there’s so much to choose from! Heather and Chris lay out four different day trips from your home base in Alpine that can fill out a nice Spring Break visit, or you can pick just one or two if you have less time on your trip. This is definitely an episode to come back to each time you are thinking of coming out to Alpine and the Big Bend!

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Transcript for “Big Bend Day Trips – The Spring Break Edition”:

Intro
Welcome to the heart of the Big Bend. It’s time to kick back, put your feet up, grab your favorite beverage or snack as we discussed, declare, proclaim, publicize and articulate about the wonders, magic, beauty, music and happenings here in the area known as the Big Bend of Texas.

Chris Ruggia
Hello, welcome, and thank you for joining us again for heart of the Big Bend. This is a podcast and radio show coming to you every other week about visiting the beautiful Big Bend of Texas. Specifically, we will 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. 

I’m Chris Ruggia, Director of Tourism for the City of Alpine, and with me today is Heather Yadon of the Alpine Visitor Center.

Heather Yadon
Hello. Welcome, everyone.

Chris R
And so today we’re going to talk about Spring Break. Spring Break is coming up. It’s upon us, really. But we’re going to focus on something that really, Heather deals with every single day. She’s guiding people who come into the visitor center and say, “okay, I’ve got a day. How should I spend it?” And so we’re thinking if spring break is a week, we’re imagining that you’ve got four days in the Big Bend area. You’re spending the night in Alpine, of course. And so here are four itineraries for days.

Heather Y
Right. That’s how we have this all laid out. So we’re just going to go over ideas. Obviously, people can adjust this itinerary to fit their schedule, to fit their hiking abilities, to fit what their interests are. But we’re going to give you some ideas of things to do. There is plenty of lodging throughout. There’s a lot of lodging through the Big Bend area now, but Alpine does have the only chain hotels, some familiarity, if people are looking for that stuff.

Chris R
Or they want to use points.

Heather Y
Yeah, yeah. Points to stay, things like that. We definitely do that. My husband, Charles, works every time we go. We stay where we can use points. But that is… So we’re using Alpine is our home base. But Alpine has our hotels. We have lots of short-term rentals now, RV parks that offer RV sites and camping spots. So there’s lots of places to stay in Alpine. And I think that, so I’m assuming that you get here on a Tuesday.

Chris R
Well, yeah. And another thing I want to point out, too, is the caveats. This doesn’t have to be a spring break trip. This is just four-

Heather Y
Any time.

Chris R
Yeah, four different days that you could spend here. And another thing just to toss out there is that the locals listening on the radio live right now, think about these days and think about what was the last time you went to some of these places, and maybe take a day for yourself and pick one of these from the menu.

Heather Y
Definitely. There’s a lot of locals who haven’t experienced some of the things that tourists come here and do, and I think that’s a shame, because I came to Alpine for years before I ever went to the park. Thank you, my husband, again. But I was like, you didn’t take me to the Crown Jewel. That’s what I wanted to see once we moved here.

Chris R
So we’ll get started. We’ll give the table of contents. So there’s four days. The first day, you’re heading down to Big Bend National Park. And then on day two-

Heather Y
Day two, you’re spending the day in Alpine. That would be your day to enjoy all the things we have here. Great. And then day three-

Chris R
Marfa and Fort Davis. Yes. And then day four, head back to South County to see Big Bend Ranch State Park and River Road, Terlingua area. So that’s how we split it up. So, yeah, when you get in town, people either get here later in the evening, or they get here early in the morning because they’ve stayed someplace, another, say, Odessa or Fort Stockton, and didn’t do their entire drive here, because Alpine is far. So you can’t say like, Oh, well, when we get into Alpine, we’re I’m going to probably do something that day, if you’re doing the drive straight from most places, because it takes a while to get here. So get into town, check in your hotel. One thing I would tell people to think about, that we’re doing Big Bend on our first day. So one of the things they might consider when they first get here is packing a lunch. Because we have some…or there is some food in Big Bend National Park, but there’s not a lot. So if you’re taking a day to the park, I think it’s best to pack a picnic.

We have a great new renovated grocery store here that’s – they’ve got lots of grab and go options now. They’ve added a lot more of that, so it’s easier to pack a lunch from there. If you don’t have a cooler, don’t want to take the space of a cooler, they have like, styrofoam ones there that you can purchase. So do that, get a good night’s sleep, and get ready to head to the park first thing on day one.

Chris R
Especially depending on the time of year you’re going, we’re assuming it’s spring. But even during spring, the middle of the day gets warm. Yeah, water. And so really key for a trip, really the two South County trips is trying to start as early as you can.

Heather Y
Yeah, I think that that’s always best. The park technically never closes. If you’re really early riser, you can be in there and see the sunrise in Big Bend. So people can head down south. Always earlier is better. We have two podcasts that are completely devoted to the Big Bend, specifics about the park. So we’re just going to go briefly over driving tours. But if people want even more information, I would say to definitely listen to those because that’s with the… I don’t remember his name now. The Chief. I was on here with us.

Chris R
Yeah. And so you can find that at visitalpinetx.com/podcast or in the podcast feed. And we’ll give you that info again at the end of the show.

Heather Y
Yeah. But first, I would say to go through Marathon and enter the park on the north side. If you’re just coming into the park, that’s the Persimmon Gap entrance on the north side of the park. So Alpine to Marathon and then head south. And that is where you would pay to enter the park. Thirty dollars, get your car into the park, and the pass is good for seven days, so you can go back if you love the park and want to do more than one day.

Chris R
And you could. You could easily spend all seven days. You could go every day now.

Heather Y
Yeah, you could. You could, because it’s an 800,000 acre park. There’s lots to do. But yeah, I think that one of the, what do we call it, the pro-tips was to go to the restroom at Persimmon Gap when you get there, because there’s not going to be another opportunity for a while. So that’s always good to pay attention to where those spots are. And then as you go into the park, you’ll be heading towards Panther Junction, which is park headquarters.

Chris R
And remember to be patient on those roads, because when you’re in the park, speed limit’s 45 miles an hour. And think about that – it’s for the animals.

Heather Y
And there’s so much to see. You’re going to miss it if you’re going too fast. Don’t be in a rush to get anywhere. There’s all the little roadside interpretive displays and things that you can look at and learn about the plants and animals that are of the desert. One of the stops along that road heading to Panther Junction, Dagger Flats Auto Trail. I was down south just like 10 days ago, and some of the daggers are starting to bloom. So that’s really full bloom April, usually, right?

Chris R
Something like that, yeah.

Heather Y
But the Spanish Daggers are big.

Chris R
Yuccas, yeah. Giant yuccas.

Heather Y
They’re beautiful.

Chris R
Not a cactus. People might be surprised because they were so spiky.

Heather Y
They look like a cactus for sure. But it’s an auto trail that you can drive there at the park. That’s headed down there. So if you’re really to the flora, I would say to stop there. Another stop along there that I think is a must-see is the fossil exhibit.

Chris R
Especially if you got kids. But regardless, it’s a great exhibit.

Heather Y
It’s amazing. It’s an open air exhibit. The largest flying dinosaur ever discovered was found in Big Bend, so there’s a replica of that. There’s all kinds of information about how Big Bend came to be. So I would say definitely stop there. It does have a picnic area. The one thing that it cannot accommodate is RVs and large vehicles to turn around there. You have to be able to back up. There’s no way to turn around. So that’s something for people to think about. But when you get to Panthers Junction, that is park headquarters. That’s where you can do lots of things. You can watch a movie. That’s where you can get your official stamp, and your passport stamp. There’s a little trail back there that you can walk. And then there’s a new actual hiking trail.

Chris R
A brand new hiking trail. Yeah, we haven’t done that one yet.

Heather Y
I haven’t either, so I was hoping you had. Chris is a much better hiker than me. But I was just, I haven’t done it. I heard it’s gorgeous. It’s not a lot of elevation, because that part of the park doesn’t have the elevation. So that might be a good choice for somebody who wants to do a little hike. But It doesn’t want a lot of elevation. So that’s right across from the Panther Junction. There are restrooms there. There is gas there. That’s one of the first places in the park.

Chris R
Right. It’s a little bit away from the visitor center towards the Basin Road.

Heather Y
Basin, right. But there is gas in the park. That’s one of the spots.

Chris R
And there’s a post office, too.

Heather Y
Yes. If you want to mail something from Big Bend, you can.

Chris R
Mail something back to yourself in Alpine.

Heather Y
Right there. But that’s where you can get the most comprehensive information from rangers.

Chris R
Absolutely.

Heather Y
Right there at Panther Junction. And then at Panther Junction, that’s where I feel like you have a big choice to make. Like, are you going to see the east side of the park, or are you going to go on into the mountains and the west side of the park? That’s the choice. And if you’re wanting to do the east side of the park, that’s the Boquillas Crossing into Mexico, and that is the Hot Springs. And if you want to do that, I think that people need to take a whole day just for that. It’s hard to do the rest of the park in that day. So we’re not going to do that.

Chris R
Well, another thing to think about there is that is low elevation by the river. So the later in the year, you get it’s very, very hot. Yeah. And so early in the year is best time for that. Once you hit May, I would suggest maybe take a different.

Heather Y
Yes, exactly. So we’re going to head into the basin. Chisos Basin is the center of the park. That’s the high elevation. Some of the most popular trails are right there. On your way into the Basin is the Lost Mine Trail. The Window Trail is in the Basin. But you have to remember, there’s two different window trails. There’s the easy one, and then there’s the hard one. So the easy one is paved, and there’s benches, and you see an amazing view.

Chris R
So if you stay on pavement, you’re on the window view trail, which is the short one. If you’re on gravel, then you’re on the window trail, which takes you way down to the drop off of the window and it’s a great hike. It’s harder on the way back than the way down. So remember that.

Heather Y
And their visitor center has way more detail on the hiking trails that are specific to that area. And that’s not one of the visitor centers that ever closes. Well, I mean, like normal business hours.

Chris R
And the basin is great any time of year. It’s got a similar elevation to Alpine. So the temperatures are much cooler than down by the river. So that’s a great… If you can only go to one spot in the park in the summertime, don’t skip the park because you think it’s going to be hot. Just go into the basin. It’s so beautiful.

Heather Y
Go early and go into the basin and do hikes then. Absolutely. And then after we leave the basin, we’re going to be heading east and that’s where you’ll hit the Ross-Maxwell Scenic Drive. Yeah. Gorgeous drive that takes you down to the river. It takes you down to… It’s one of the places where you can see into all of the backcountry stuff that’s on the south rim of the park.

Chris R
So many great stops, little hikes. The Sam Nail Ranch Trail is a favorite of ours. There’s this grove of soapberry trees, and they’re just beautiful. They drop those leaves, and it’s like this carpet of yellow leaves, and the trunks are Aspen-y, they’re real pale. They’re just gorgeous.

Heather Y
They’re just gorgeous. Yes. And then you get the path at the end is Santa Elena Canyon.

Chris R
Exactly. Of Ross Maxwell. Not Sam Nail Ranch. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Heather Y
Yeah, yeah. At the end of Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, that’s where you can, if you want to do a hike, you can cross the river and you can do a little hike. I know that at one point last summer, the river was completely dry right there. Right now there is water. So if you’re wanting to hike there, just be prepared to get wet.

Chris R
And that really is one of the iconic sites in the National Park.

Heather Y
What is it, 150 foot walls or canyon walls?

Chris R
I wish I knew.

Heather Y
They’re the highest canyon walls in Texas. There’s some amazing video right now of the black bear climbing them. That’s just adorable. Yeah. So then we’re going to…after that, you can go back. You can get head out of the park on Old Maverick Road and do a loop, or you can just head back on Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. It’s really what people are comfortable with.

Chris R
Old Maverick Road is a lot – it’s unimproved, let’s say.

Heather Y
It’s dirt, but it can be passed by regular car if people drive slow. If it’s not passable by regular car, their park can help you there. That’s where you need to talk to rangers and just make sure that you’re taking the safest route. Most people go too fast down that road. If you’re in a rental car, don’t try that road. Just turn around and head back on Ross Maxwell.

Chris R
And I’d say most of the time you’re better off probably heading back on Ross Maxwell.

Heather Y
Yeah, I agree. I don’t want anything to happen to my car. But then you exit the park on the west side. You’re going to be right there at Study Butte, Terlingua, the area that sits just outside the park. But we’re going to save that trip for another day and head back north up to Alpine. That’s itself another gorgeous drive up 118.

Chris R
Every road out here is pretty. It is.

Heather Y
It’s hard to pick your favorite. And they’re all different. That’s exactly right. You get to the top of what the big hill on 118.

Chris R
And you’re almost to Alpine?

Heather Y
Almost to Alpine. Amazing views coming into the city.

Chris R
So, yeah, there’s a lot of great photos from there because you really see the whole valley. You can see all of Alpine in the distance. Yes.

Heather Y
Yes. And it’s great. So back in Alpine, we’ve got restaurant choices. We have a restaurant group called Alpine Texas Eats. It gives you lots of ideas.

Chris R
On Facebook.

Heather Y
Yeah, on Facebook. And we try to share specials for the day and things like that there. So I tell people to look at that. I have a restaurant guide at the visitor center. We have all the events listed on our website. So when you get back into Alpine, after you’ve been to the park, if you want to take in some of our music or nightlife scenes, you can check those out on our website, too.

Chris R
Absolutely.

Heather Y
We probably need to move faster, don’t we?

Chris R
Let’s just keep going.

Heather Y
Okay, day two, we’re going to spend the day at Alpine. Highlights: Hancock Hill is, I would say, it won Best Hike in Texas last year because it’s the story. It’s the story of the desk. The desk sits on the top of Hancock Hill, which is at Sul Ross State University. Go to entrance four of the university and follow it, basically, until you can’t go anymore.

Chris R
And there’s a sign there. You’ll get the story of the desk and the map of the trails.

Heather Y
Don’t get caught up on what trail you’re on, because once you’re up on the mountain, there’s no colors. It’s just you’re following the most worn down trail, basically.

Chris R
Enjoy the walking.

Heather Y
Exactly. Also, at the University, I would say a must-see in Alpine is Museum of the Big Bend.

Chris R
For sure.

Heather Y
It is an amazing state-of-the-art museum that’s been named one of the top Western museums in the country. It’s a two-time winner of Best Small Museum in Texas, and it’s open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 to 4:00. So it’s a must-stop in Alpine. It’s a new addition that’s getting.

Chris R
The Grand Opening was postponed briefly. We don’t have a date yet, but very soon we’re going to get access to that great new building.

Heather Y
And then to enjoy downtown Alpine, we have walking tours that are perfect for that. The mural tour or the historic tour. Yeah, do them both at once if you want. Do them at once because they cover the same area, we have tons of historic buildings to also have murals. Usually, the murals relate to the history of the building. It’s all intermingled. And that takes you right in the middle of all the shops and the galleries. We have our Alley art section that is super cool, added to all the time by local artists. And then they show mostly in the galleries right around there. So you can see even more work by the artists. And that is self-guided. So you can stop, and you can shop, and you can eat in our downtown area, and really enjoy the downtown of Alpine, our historic buildings. We have the Holland Hotel is one of the famous ones downtown. We have the Old Ritchey Hotel that’s about to reopen. It’s being renovated. A massive restoration project there. So lots of history right in downtown.

Chris R
Yeah. And you can pick up the guides there at the Visitor Center for both of those tours.

Heather Y
They’re easy to follow from the visitor center, so everyone can enjoy those. And then also in Alpine, I think it’s super unique. We have Wasserman’s Wranch. If you have kids, I would say that is a must stop. It is not like a petting zoo or a regular zoo. It’s like going and just getting to visit with their animals, which are not regular animals. It’s alpaca, kangaroos, donkeys. They have miniature horses. They have a new camel named Carl.

Chris R
Yeah, it’s like a home visit to this family of animals.

Heather Y
And you’re scheduling your time. So it’s not like you have to go. The tours aren’t like 10:00 and 2:00. It’s you talk to them, and you set up what time works best for you, and you get a really private tour of their ranch, and they’re just lovely people to go visit with.

Chris R
So that was a full day in Alpine?

Heather Y
It is a full day in Alpine. And then again, check out the events for the evening, because there’s always stuff going on. That’s one thing that most people come in, are expecting this small, sleepy little town. And we are very quaint, but there are still lots of things to do here at night, and things to see. So check out the events page for that. And then day three, I would say after being in Alpine, Hancock Hill isn’t a super hard hike. So you haven’t done serious hiking, you had a day of rest from hiking.

So then day three, heading to Marfa and Fort Davis, I think is a good choice because there is really good hiking in Fort Davis. I would take this trip going to Marfa first. Marfa has the Paisano Hotel, which is done by the same architecture firm that did the Holland. That’s a great place to start.

Chris R
And it’s on Highland Avenue, which has so many boutiques and interesting shops and galleries all along there.

Heather Y
The Pink Courthouse. I mean, where else do you see that in Texas? But the Paisano Hotel is where they stay when they film the movie The Giant. There’s a giant memorabilia room. They play the movie all the time. So that’s a good place to start your tour of Marfa. And the Chinati Foundation is there as well, which is what put Marfa on the map, Donald Judd and his work. But that is only open Thursday through Sunday, I believe, for tours. And you have to, you should book in advance for that. And they always suggest a guided tour. You can do an unguided tour, but you do not get access to nearly as much as the Chinati Foundation. So it’s always suggested to do the guided tour. And then there is also their Visitors Center right downtown. Stop in with them. They put out a really good gallery guide at their Visitor Center because art is what made Marfa is so famous, so you can get that from them. And then when you leave Marfa, you can head north to Fort Davis. All of our towns are about 25, 30 minutes apart, so it’s not going to take you long to travel between them.

So, yeah, you can head north on 17 to Fort Davis. The Fort Davis National Historic site, I think, is a must see in Fort Davis. It is really good. They have great interpretive programs for spring break. They’re doing all kinds of special programs. But it’s always worth a stop, no matter what time of year. And it obviously is the namesake of the town. The town is named after the Fort. So it was a super important Fort for protecting the West, and they teach you all about that. It’s open daily. So if you can’t do it, this would put you on your trip being there on Friday. But if you’re here in the beginning of the week in this area, I would say the Fort and Parks are a great option those days because they’re open seven days a week. So the Fort is open seven days a week from 8:00 to 5:00. And then if you leave the Fort, you can actually do a hike.

Chris R
I was about to say, yeah.

Heather Y
You can do a hike that goes from the Fort up to the Davis Mountains. But you can also leave the Fort completely and drive into the Davis Mountain State Park, which is a small state park that sits up in the Davis Mountains. People might say, oh, we just went and hiked the mountains in Big Bend. The Davis Mountains look completely different.

Chris R
They do. They really do.

Heather Y
They are so different. They’re gorgeous. The elevation is higher. The trees are bigger. It’s called the Sky Islands because of the climate.

Chris R
Yeah. Well, the Chisos Mountains are also a sky island, but it’s a wooded area surrounded by lower elevation scrubs. So it’s like an ecologically isolated.

Heather Y
And it really is gorgeous. The trees up there are different. The cottonwood trees at the Fort are, I don’t know how old they are, but they’re amazing, too. It’s beautiful. So I would say, even if you’ve done Big Bend, try to hit Fort Davis as well, because it does look completely different. There’s lots of hiking trails. It’s more dog-friendly. The state parks are always more dog-friendly, because the National Park, you can’t do animals there unless they’re in your car only. And then the Davis Mountains State Park is the beginning of this 75 miles scenic loop that goes around the entire mountains. Another stop on there is the McDonald Observatory. That is by reservation for any of the daytime tours, the solar daytime viewing or the nighttime star parties.

Chris R
You can stop in at the visitor center and see the exhibits there, but if you really want the guided programs, which are excellent. Get a ticket and get it before you leave home.

Heather Y
Yeah. Book it in as far advance as you can. And they also add extra shows during spring break because they know there’s more people here. There’s more added for next week for sure. And if whatever day you can get that one, plan the rest of your trip around it, because it’s definitely, I think, worth it and a must-see. But then that 75-mile scenic loop continues around the Davis Mountains. It’s a great way to see the highest elevation. The second highest peak in Texas is Mount Livermore, in the middle of the Davis Mountains at almost 8,200 feet. And that’s also you’ll see Sawtooth Mountain along that drive, which is painted by a lot of artists in the area because it’s very pretty. So that is a drive that is definitely worth doing. Now, if you don’t want to do that scenic loop and you want to head out of Fort Davis, you can do 17 North out of Fort Davis, which is –

Chris R
You’re skipping the Observatory and you’re headed towards Balmorhea State Park. But let me tell you, if your primary thing is you like scenic drives, that is the prettiest road I have almost ever driven.

Heather Y
I agree. I just did it Monday, and it is gorgeous And it almost looks like people, all standing next to each other. And the rocks are just… It’s amazing. They’re huge. And it’s very isolated. There’s not a lot out there. It’s a lot of big open spaces. There’s some ranches. There’s a Boy Scout camp out there. But Wild Rose Pass leads you to Balmorhea State Park, which is where there is a super cool swimming pool.

Chris R
The largest spring-fed pool in the world, I understand.

Heather Y
Yes, in the world. And it stays between 72 and 76 degrees.

Chris R
It feels cold. But in the winter, it feels warm.

Heather Y
And then you get out and you’re freezing cold. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, so it doesn’t close. So that is something that is a very unique experience. The Balmorhea State Park is only open for day use with the pool. They don’t have any of the rest of it. Just because there used to be some lodging there and stuff like that. Now, as you head back, if you do Balmorhea, I would say you’re definitely going to miss one of our other favorite stops on your way between Alpine and Fort Davis, which is –

Chris R
You’re headed back to Alpine, leaving Fort Davis.

Heather Y
Yeah, that would be the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center. But if you do Balmorhea, you’d be heading there too late. It is a gorgeous facility between Alpine and Fort Davis.

Chris R
And that’s something, too, where if you only have a little bit of part of a day, that’s great. From Alpine, you go straight to the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center at CDRI. Because it’s like 20 minutes drive from Alpine.

Heather Y
It is. It’s 20 minutes from Alpine. It’s open every day, but Sunday. And so, again, a great option on Mondays and Tuesdays, when a lot of the downtown area in these small the downtown stores and stuff in these small towns are not open.

Chris R
And we have a whole podcast episode just on them.

Heather Y
Just on them. So I definitely tell people to listen to that. So we’re coming to the end of our days and to explore the area.

Chris R
Right, last day.

Heather Y
Last day, day four. I would head back south to Terlingua. We didn’t experience Terlingua, which is an experience in itself.

Chris R
Yeah. It is a special place.

Heather Y
Yes. Whenever we left the National Park, we just headed back to Alpine because of a day in the park. But if you head into 118, there’s a great app you can download that gives you all this information about –

Chris R
Courtesy of Visit Big Bend.

Heather Y
So you can get it on their website, and you can hear all about the mountains as you head south and different points of interest. But when you get to Terlingua, I mean, I think that most people are going to want to go into the Ghost Town and see that. There’s the Terlingua Trading Post, there’s galleries, there’s restaurants. I have a really, really good map of Terlingua that their chamber of commerce did that shows you where everything is. It’s at the Visitor Center. It folds out. It’s got the Terlingua area highlighted on one side.

And then on the flip side, it’s got what we’re talking about next, which is continuing on to River Road. So that is route 170 that runs, you leave Terlingua, head towards Lajitas, which is a tiny, it’s a tiny little town. It’s mostly the resort. And you can visit the mayor of Lajitas if you want to. That’s Clay Henry, the beer drinking goat that sits in a pen outside the gas station. We said this is a unique place – we weren’t kidding. But that’s the…Right across from that, just down from that, is the Barton Warnock Visitor Center. And that’s the entrance to Big Bend Ranch State Park. Some people don’t even realize there’s a whole state park right next to our National Park, but there is.

Chris R
And we have a whole other podcast episode all about Big Bend Ranch.

Heather Y
And the River Road is the highlight of that. If you are, unless you’re really into mountain biking and want to do, or you have high clearance four wheel drive vehicle and want to really go on some primitive roads.

Chris R
Which is worth doing, by the way. But if that’s not this day, then that’s fine.

Heather Y
I would say that is not in the same day. I would say you save that just for one day. But River Road can be done by a regular car. It is completely paved, and it is, again, another gorgeous drive – we keep saying it. That one has actually been designated by National Geographic as the most scenic route in Texas.

Chris R
And especially, if you’re a motorcyclist, that’s one of the favorite rides, is between Terlingua and Presidio on 170.

Heather Y
And there is river access along there. There is hikes. Closed Canyon is a great hike.

Chris R
It is. And Closed Canyon is a short hike. It’s like it’s fairly easy. Don’t go too far because it feels like, oh, I could keep going. There’s a sign that says, stop, stop there because you can get stuck if you go a little farther.

Heather Y
Well, and all of those, you just have to get the five dollar a day state park pass to do that. But you can drive the road and just look at it without the state park pass. And there’s scenic outlooks and places you can stop without the park pass. But I think the park pass is worth it to be able to get off wherever you want. There are gorgeous blue bonnets in bloom right now. Our blue bonnets in the Big Bend are big. They’re really pretty.

Chris R
It’s its own variety. Yes.

Heather Y
And I would say a pro-tip there is don’t brake hard when you see them. Wait till there’s a scenic outlook. There’ll be some there, too, because we just went, and I was like, tell them I just said, Stop, stop. I want to get pictures here. And it was like, we could have waited till we had a safer place to stop. There is also some places where that road is down to one lane because of construction right now. It is after Big Hill. Big Hill is the steepest graded hill in Texas.

Chris R
We have two big hills, by the way. One that’s down here on River Road and one on 118.

Heather Y
But the one on 170, if you don’t want to deal with the construction and go all the way across 170 to Presidio, you could definitely just turn around, switch drivers at Big Hill and have the other drive back towards Terlingua. And you’d avoid both those one-lane-

Chris R
So you have some one-lane stretches, but you don’t wait very long. The whole road really is worth the experience.

Heather Y
It is. And then you get to the tiny little town of Redford. There’s not much left there. Don’t break hard for the Starbucks sign. It’s not real. It’s art. So, yeah, just keep going there. But you end up at Presidio, which is, again, another of the Big Bend towns. It’s large, and it looks really big when you come up on it, but a lot of it is actually across the border, because that’s a major international border crossing.

Chris R
Which, Ojinaga is the size of all of of our little towns put together.

Heather Y
Together, yeah. So it looks like you’re coming up on someplace super big, but a lot of it is across the international bridge there at Presidio.

Chris R
But of course, you’re going to hit Fort Leaton first, which is worth a stop. You will.

Heather Y
I just get Fort Leaton. Yeah, it’s the other side of the Big Bend Ranch State Park.

Chris R
Yeah, part of that complex.

Heather Y
Yeah. If you went instead and went through Terlingua first and you could get your five dollar park pass there at Fort Leaton and then do River Road and end up at Terlingua. And I would say if somebody’s really into music and nightlife, that would be a good way to do River Road because you end up in Terlingua for the Starlite Lounge and all the music that’s-

Chris R
Yeah, and they’re really, right now, there is so much music happening in South County. And Alpine has had a, we lost a venue recently. And so we still have some great music happening, but just the sheer density of band groups playing every night in the Terlingua area.

Heather Y
Well, and there’s a recording studio down there, and there’s a lot of artists that go there for the solitude of recording their albums and things. So that would be a good way to do River Road in reverse and end up at Terlingua instead of ending up at Presidio. But on the Presidio side, you end at Fort Leaton. It is the largest fortified adobe structure in the state of Texas. There is tons of information there about the history of the area and how it all came to be. And then Presidio has some really good, authentic restaurants. It is not like super touristy or easy to find at all, but that’s what is part of Presidio’s charm.

Chris R
It is. Check out the Buddha Bakery while you go.

Heather Y
Yes. That’s a new one that just started down there, and they do some pop-ups in Marfa, too. So when you leave Presidio, you’d be heading back towards Marfa on 67. And there’s some really cool rock structures along that way. There’s another Shafter, which is- Shafter, yeah.

Chris R
Shafter is like a ghost town. Which is a Silver mine town, which not that long ago, it was a working Silver mine where they were trying. They tried to revive this mine a bunch of times, but the historic equipment and stuff is still there.

Heather Y
And that’s just on the road. I mean, you can see it all from 67. But when you end up, Marfa Marfa. Marfa has some… If you’re getting there late at night, they have good dinner options.

Chris R
They really do. They do. Marfa has some world-class restaurants.

Heather Y
And they have the new cool distillery, Marfa Spirit Company, which is really neat, making their own liquor. And they do some music things, too. And if you’re heading back to Alpine after you’ve been in Marfa, and you hit it just right, you can hit the Marfa Lights viewing area for the famous Marfa Lights, unexplained phenomenon that most people actually go too late. It’s dusk is what they say is the best viewing time for that. So keep that in mind. If you really are wanting to see it, I would say plan on trying to get there every night because they are not seen every night. There is no rhyme or reason to when they’re seen. So people who say they go and see them every time probably aren’t seeing the real Marfa Lights, would be my guess.

Chris R
They just rub their eyes really hard.

Heather Y
I don’t know. They say to have a couple of drinks at dinner, and then you might have a better chance, right?

Chris R
Maybe so. So then you’ve made it back to Alpine. You’re exhausted after four great days.

Heather Y
In the Big Bend area, yeah. I mean, I think that we’re really the perfect distance to get to everything. Very centrally located and have lots to do every night when you get back here and have a nice comfy hotel or Airbnb to stay in and explore.

Chris
Excellent. So that was a long one. So go back to the podcast feed and listen again. And that way you can pick up, decide what days. If you only have one day, you can pick one of these or pick and choose from that menu of stuff. Hey, but thanks, Heather, for sharing your expertise.

Heather Y
And I’ll be happy to go over with you at the Visitor Center. Because I do this on repeat about three times a day.

Chris R
All right, well thank all of you for joining us again for a pretty long show this time. 

You can get more information about Heart of the Big Bend at visitalpinetx.com/podcast or search for Heart of the Big Bend on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and most other podcast apps. And for everyone listening on KALP/KVLF radio in Alpine, we’ll be back in two Fridays. Thanks, everybody.

Outro
You’ve been listening to the heart of the Big Bend. Hope you liked what you heard and that you’ll find the time to experience all that the Big Ben has to offer. See you soon, partner.

View all episodes of the Heart of the Big Bend Podcast