Old-Timey Van Horn

Nice photo of Van Horn and the Hotel El Capitan from the 1930s. Credit: West Texas Historical Association.

Historic Holland Hotel

 

Alpine's historic Holland Hotel (1928) sits across from the train station, which made it convenient for travelers in the early days, and for Amtrak passengers today!

Designed by the Trost and Trost firm, which was responsible for other hotels in the area (Gage Hotel in Marathon, 1927; Hotel Paisano in Marfa, 1930; Hotel El Capitan in Van Horn, 1930), the property is now completely and lovingly restored and open for visitors.

Click here for a list of historic hotels and related sites in the Texas Mountain Trail region. 

#30DaysofBiking

A great, but little known, mountain biking route is waiting for adventurous riders in Guadalupe Mountains National Park on the Williams Ranch road.  The rugged 4x4 road is open to just two vehicles at a time through locked gates, and keys can be secured by the park rangers at the visitors center.  The road is 7.3 miles one way, and is rugged enough that it takes a vehicle about an hour to get to the ranch house.

The road even follows the historic route taken by stagecoach on the Butterfield Overland Trail and overlooks the salt flat, the source of the historic 1877 Salt War of El Paso.

Click here for a historic overview of Williams Ranch.

Dining Along Historic Highways presentation today at the Viva Big Bend Food Festival!

 

Today, as part of the Viva Big Bend food festival, we'll be presenting a FREE program about "Dining Along Historic Highways" at the Hotel Paisano in Marfa at 4pm.  

We'll be sharing old photos, recipes and samples of food from the region, with a special emphasis on the 1930s when the highways were being paved and some of our historic hotels (still in operation) were just beginning to serve travelers.  Come join us!

#30DaysofBiking

Many travelers learn Marfa is a great place to ride a bicycle...and some of our hotels have bikes for loan or rent.  We found this lovely photo from early Marfa as we were doing research for our "Dining Along Historic Highways" presentation, see above!

Dining Along Historic Highways at Viva Big Bend Food Festival

At next weekend's Viva Big Bend Food Festival, our Texas Mountain Trail is presenting a special free program at the historic Hotel Paisano on "Dining Along Historic Highways."

From the Viva Big Bend website:

Dining Along Historic Highways Saturday, April 12, 4 pm Hotel Paisano Ballroom in Marfa - 207 Highland St What was it like to travel in the early days in Far West Texas? Join Beth Nobles, Executive Director of Texas Mountain Trail, to see historic photos and enjoy samples from regional recipes in this presentation on our historic hotels and restaurants. We'll focus on several locations and time periods, but will pay special attention to the early 1930s when Marfa's Hotel Paisano was built and our regional highways were being paved. Our program is free, but there are other TERRIFIC programs at the festival you can enjoy. Click here to get to the festival's ticket page!

#30DaysofBiking We're celebrating the cycling assets of our Texas Mountain Trail region every day this month!  Did you know that El Paso's Franklin Mountains State Park has terrific trails for mountain biking?  Visit our friends at www.geobetty.com for information on trails, elevations, maps, etc. for your own mountain biking adventure.  Though right in the city, once you're on the trails, you never feel you're in the city!

#30 Days of Biking

We're taking part in the #30DaysofBiking challenge this month (see our entry for April 1), and using the opportunity to feature some of the great cycling experiences in our region, including our cycle-friendly hotel properties.  First up, the Stone Village Tourist Camp in Fort Davis (built in 1935 and completely renovated), and their unique camp rooms.  On the main street in Fort Davis, this property is on the famous cycling route, the Scenic Loop of Jeff Davis County.

Open air camp room at cycle-friendly Stone Village
Tourist Camp in Fort Davis

In addition to regular motel rooms, they also offer open air camp rooms...sleeping there is a perfect blend of the convenience and comfort of a motel room and camping outside.  You can get full benefit of the soft desert breezes and cool summer nights!

Stone Village Tourist Camp, 509 State Street, Fort Davis, TX 79734, 432-426-3941, www.stonevillagetouristcamp.com  Renovated 1935 tourist court located in the middle of Fort Davis. Cycle-friendly features include: in-room bike parking; choice of motel-style rooms, suites (w/microwave and refrigerator) and modernized open air camp rooms with securable screen doors; wi-fi; next-door access to natural foods grocery/deli/bakery; pool.

The property is often used by Adventure Cycling Association for their tours through our region.  Fort Davis is on ACA's cross-country Southern Tier route.

On the Way to the Mountains: Big Spring's 1930 Hotel Settles along the Bankhead Highway

We had occasion to travel down I-20 to our Texas Mountain Trail region, roughly the route of the historic Bankhead Highway this week and found ourselves stopping in Big Spring at the newly renovated (and absolutely beautiful) Hotel Settles.

Built in 1930 and on the National Register of Historic Places, the hotel is seen briefly in the opening scenes of the 1969 film, "Midnight Cowboy."

We loved stepping inside and feeling transported into another (and elegant) era for travelers.

Dining room at the Hotel Settles

So, if you find yourself traveling to the mountains and our Texas Mountain Trail region from the DFW Metroplex, plan to stop for lunch in Big Spring's Hotel Settles! 

One of the best things to do when you're here.....

We see sometimes see travelers frantic to get the most out of their stay, and we want to invite them to SLOW down, kick back and find a great porch to unwind.  Being in our region is the best way to shake off the stresses of the city, but only if you let yourself.  So take a sit, rock a bit and enjoy the day.

Today, we're featuring Fort Davis' Limpia Hotel which has a porch and a rocking chair for every day, every traveler and every mood.  Just take a look at the porches and the possibilities this historic hotel has to offer!

Another from this week's cold snap

The thaw is just beginning at Marfa's historic Hotel Paisano!   Our list of historic hotels in the Texas Mountains is HERE.

Gourmet Taco Dinner with Tequila and Margarita Tasting at the Gage Hotel

Historic Gage Hotel

The historic Gage Hotel in Marathon is hosting a Gourmet Taco Dinner with Tequila and Margarita Tasting on Saturday, February 1st at 6 PM. The energetic and fun Grupo de la Paz will be playing live music all night! Reservations are required. To make reservations or for more information call 1-800-884-Gage.

Prickly Pear Margarita

The Gage Hotel was built in 1927 for rancher, banker, and businessman Alfred Gage, who commissioned El Paso architects Trost and Trost to design the property as a headquarters for his 500,000-acre ranch. In 1978, the property was renovated as a hotel with authentic West Texas and Mexican-inspired decor, such as hand-crafted rustic doors, wrought-iron candelabra fixtures, and appealing adobe details.  The hotel also boasts an excellent restaurant along with the Desert Moon spa and lush gardens.

Ojito Adentro Trail in Big Bend Ranch State Park

Steady streams of running water

What do you find at the end of Big Bend Ranch State Park's Ojito Adentro trail?  Cool pools of water, ferns, dragonflies and damselflies, boulders and a quiet, relaxing beautiful place. 

The park lists the trail as one of their premier birding spots...and last weekend we heard birds, and saw lizards and dragonflies and damselflies.

From the park's website:

"The trail from the parking area traverses desert scrub into riparian woodland. The song of the Bell’s vireo is a common sound of the thickets along arroyos and in the understory of riparian habitats, and can hardly be missed between early March and September. In the spring and summer, watch for the zone-tailed hawk, vermilion flycatcher, summer tanager, blue grosbeak and varied bunting. Canyon, Bewick’s and rock wrens are present year-round, and a wide variety of sparrows can be found here in winter. This area can be very productive during migration (late March through mid-May and late August through mid-October) when flycatchers, warblers and tanagers can be common. Migration in West Texas is not as spectacular as farther east, but surprises can be found. Some of the more interesting finds at Ojito Adentro include painted redstart and a variety of eastern warblers."

 

From Trails.com: 

"The trailhead to Ojito Adentro not only marks the trail but provides hikers with an overlook of where they will end up. The arroyo that travels northeast from the trailhead ends in a cleft populated with a dense cluster of vegetation, interrupting an otherwise earthy colorscape with a sweep of bright green. Such is the nature of spring areas in this desert where long, uninterrupted vistas often offer trekkers with a view of distant but welcomed water sources. The Ojito Adentro Trail leads across a hot but mercifully short stretch of desert to a shady, cool oasis. The translation of “Ojito Adentro” is a charming one, where the diminutive suffix “ito” is added to “ojo,” meaning both “eye” and “spring.” Adentro is, in fact, an adverb rather than an adjective, and means “within.” Hikers who view the geography from the trailhead will begin to understand why Ojito Adentro is called “the little spring within” and will appreciate it fully once they are embraced by the spring’s cozy confines."

View from the trailhead

Travel Spotlight - the rocking chairs of the historic Hotel Limpia

What's better than a sunny spot to relax, and rock away the stresses of the city?  All week we're featuring the rocking chairs of the Hotel Limpia in Fort Davis.  Come, sit and stay awhile!