Travel Itineraries

Just across the Rio Grande from Juárez, Mexico, El Paso is a heady mix of many cultures: Spanish, Indian, Mexican, and Anglo. It’s a city that celebrates its uniqueness with nods to all cultures in its attractions, shopping, and dining.

Start at the El Paso Museum of History, with its fabulous new building. Then take the museum tour at the El Paso Museum of Art, which features more than 5,000 diverse works from the Baroque, contemporary, Southwestern, and many other periods.

Stop for lunch at Carlos and Mickey’s (1310 Magruder), a family-owned restaurant that has been serving authentic Mexican dishes here for 20 years. Then head downtown to the recently restored Plaza Theatre, originally built in the 1930s and nearly destroyed in 1986 to create a parking lot. The community rallied, and the theater was saved.

Don’t miss the unique view of El Paso and the east side of the Franklin Mountains on the Wyler Aerial Tramway. It’ll give you a little taste of what to expect in Big Bend.

Make time for Hueco Tanks State Historic Site–natural rock basins (huecos) that hold water. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the park is the pictographs that greet visitors– more than 200 face designs, or “masks,” left by the prehistoric Jornada Mogollon Indian culture.

Next stop is Van Horn, just a hop, skip, and jump away. Explore the trails of cowboys past with guided hiking trips to the Guadalupe Mountains, Sierra Blanca, and Sierra Diablo. Classic car fans will enjoy the Smokehouse Auto Museum–the only such museum in far West Texas. The Smokehouse Restaurant (905 W. Business Loop 10), next door to the museum, is a good bet for some barbecue.

At Balmorhea, often referred to as the “Oasis of West Texas,” you’ll see the natural springs that are the highlight of Balmorhea State Park. The springs have created one of the country’s largest man-made pools–perfect for a cool respite in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert.

In Fort Davis, the highest-altitude city in Texas, you’ll find yourself starstruck–the main attraction here is the McDonald Observatory, with one of the most powerful telescopes in the world. It’s wise to take a sweater, since temperatures can get cool. Shake off the chill with dinner at the historic Hotel Limpia (on the town square).

After dinner succumb to a treat at the Caboose (across from the Fort Davis Historic Site), a family-owned ice cream shop housed in–of course–an old caboose.

Marfa is perhaps best known for its odd Marfa Lights–ghostlike lights, with no clear source, that often appear in the night sky. The annual Marfa Festival celebrates this phenomenon over Labor Day weekend. It’s just one of the attractions in this quaint West Texas town where the movie Giant was filmed.

Explore the Marfa Courthouse, built in 1886–1887 and a wonderful example of the Second Empire style that was the architectural rage in mid-19th-century Europe. A fun lunch spot is FoodShark Marfa, a funky mobile café specializing in Mediterranean food (a Marfalafel, anyone?) that’s usually parked across from the Marfa Book Co. (on Highland Avenue).

Reserve a room at the Hotel Paisano and have dinner at its Jett Grill, which offers a selection of seafood, chicken, and pasta dishes. In the morning, enjoy coffee and the newspaper in the courtyard, with its stunning fountain.

Next it’s off to Alpine. Learn about your final destination in the region, Big Bend National Park, at the Museum of the Big Bend. Get lunch or dinner at Reata, the original location of the famous restaurant named after the ranch in Giant and notable for its “cowboy cuisine,” and check out the live music at Railroad Blues. Visit Alpine’s Apache Trading Post for books and souvenirs before heading to Marathon.

Marathon is known for the historic Gage Hotel, but don’t miss the opportunity to spend a night at Eve’s Garden Organic Bed and Breakfast and Ecology Resource Center, where you’ll find healthy meals made with local and organic ingredients and you’ll stay in a straw-bale adobe house that’s available for groups and families–a classic example of modern living in the Old West.

Before heading off to the park, create your own picnic-to-go at the French Company Grocer (206 N. Avenue D). Established in 1900 as Marathon’s first general store, this place has all sorts of goodies, as well as a covered eating area with wireless Internet access if you want to hang out for a while.

Majestic canyons and towering cliffs make Big Bend National Park an absolute must for hikers, bikers, birders, and all-around adventurers. This is Texas at its most rugged; it’s not surprising that the area attracts so many visitors each year, most of them filled with awe at this incredible landscape.

The park itself covers more than 800,000 acres, so it will take you a few days to explore it. Tune in to the serenity of the Chisos Mountains (the only complete mountain range within a U.S. national park) at the Chisos Mountain Lodge, located right in the park.

Have dinner at the Chisos Mountain Lodge Restaurant, which features Tex-Mex food and a selection of wines. It also opens at 7 a.m. for breakfast. In a hurry to tour Big Bend? Pick up a breakfast-in-a-box to take with you.

Terlingua, which celebrates the “three languages,” or “tres linguas” –of the Indians, Mexicans, and Anglos–that once dominated the area, is known for its prestigious chili cookoffs. If you’ve earned a showing at Terlingua, you’ve got some good chili in that pot. Pick up gems, rocks, and fossils at Many Stones Gifts. Stay overnight at the Terlingua Ranch Lodge, located at the foot of the Corazones Peaks and the Christmas Mountains, and enjoy lunch or dinner at the ranch’s Bad Rabbit Café.

Or if that scenario doesn’t suit, hold out for ultimate Western luxury at the Lajitas Resort on the Rio Grande. It’s called “the ultimate hideout” for good reason. This luxe resort attracts both celebrities and tourists for its gorgeous setting, spa, top-notch equestrian center, gourmet cuisine, and golf course–which includes an optional par one in Mexico, Hole 11A. Explore the desert on horseback with an hour-long ride, an overnight excursion, or a one- to two-day horseback/rafting trip.

It’s easy to pretend you’re touring Italy’s Amalfi Drive as you maneuver your ride along the two-lane River Road (FM 170), packed with hairpin turns and steep grades, to Presidio. Put on the brakes at El Patio (O’Reilly Street) and grab some real Mexican food before heading to Peguis Canyon, 2,000 feet deep, with 100-mile views from the top.

On the way out of Big Bend Country, have one final picnic lunch, at Big Bend Ranch State Park, 300,000 more acres of wilderness that stretches along the Rio Grande. Once privately owned, it’s now open to all and encompasses some of the most remote territory in all of Texas, with ancient extinct volcanoes (calderas), deep gorges, Indian pictographs, and miles of hiking trails.