One of the best!

Whether you're a first-time visitor to the region, or a resident, you need to work a visit to the Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine into your schedule.  The exhibitions provide one of the best introductions to the history, culture and natural history of the entire area.  The museum is inviting and accessible; many of the exhibits are interactive, and children love them.  This is truly one of the best small museums you'll find anywhere--not just in Texas--anywhere.

Coming up soon is their signature exhibition of custom gear and western art, called Trappings of Texas.  This exhibition attracts the work of the finest cowboy artists working today, and is shown annually in conjunction with the Texas Cowboy Poetry Festival on the campus of Sul Ross State University.

Views from Hueco Tanks!

Near El Paso, Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site offers adventurers bouldering, hiking, rock art, and birding opportunities.  This small park has so many assets (and some--namely the rock art--is so fragile) that entrance is limited to a certain number every day.  That shouldn't deter visitors from experiencing this special place...just plan ahead, call ahead, make reservations ahead of time.

One of our friend, TR, alerted us to this article about winter birding at Hueco Tanks...take a look!

Hueco Tanks is a site on the new Far West Texas Wildlife Trail map...for more information, click here.

For regional hiking information, visit our hiking page: www.texasmountaintrail.com/hike

Views of Dog Canyon, Guadalupe Mountains National Park

One of the hidden gems of Texas's Guadalupe Mountains National Park (we say hidden because you need to backpack to it from the southern end of the park, or access it by car through New Mexico!) is Dog Canyon.  The National Park Services website says this:  "Dog Canyon lies in a secluded, forested canyon on the north end of the park at an elevation of 6,300 feet. Remote and far removed from civilization; it stands at the edge of the wilderness boundary, and offers an ideal location for quiet camping, birding, hiking, and solitude." 

The camping is wonderful too.  In fact, the campground has been rated among the best in the country for beautiful, relatively private sites.

This area experienced a forest fire last year, caused by a lightning strike.  However, the effects of fire are often misunderstood.  The area has bounced back, is still beautiful and has been ready for visitors for months.

For more regional hiking information, visit: www.texasmountaintrail.com/hike
This area is a wildlife viewing site on the new Far West Texas Wildlife Trail map.  For more information, click here.

Good morning, world!

A brilliant sunrise at Big Bend Ranch State Park!

Hiker/Cyclist Friendly Accommodations--some offer pack lunches for your adventures!

Recently, we stayed at the Chisos Mountain Lodge in Big Bend National Park, and took advantage of our own Texas Mountain Trail cycle-friendly program.  We ordered their Veggie Hiker Lunch the night before our hike in the park at the Lodge's restaurant, and found it delicious AND convenient on the trail the next day.  (Pictured here on the Sam Nail Ranch trail, off Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, a road with many hiking options, and one of the best bike rides in the park!)

The cycle-friendly program is intended to showcase hotels, B&Bs, historic tourist courts and other places to stay that are willing to offer special services to cyclists, such as secure in-room parking for bikes. Some will make you a pack lunch (sometimes with homemade treats like brownies!) and others will show you a local restaurant or store willing to prepare a sack lunch...a great benefit out in our wilderness!  All should have a bike pump ready for your use, and weather and regional cycling information.  Some may even offer sag support with advance notice!

For a full list of benefits and properties, please visit our cycling page:  www.texasmountaintrail.com/bike  We have cycle-friendly hotels participating in every corner of the region!

The Chisos Mountain Lodge Restaurant currently offers two hiker/cyclist pack lunch options, and both are delicious on the trail or on the road! 

Hikers Lunch

A Perfect On The Go Meal Option

Choice Of Turkey, Ham, Or Peanut Butter And Jelly

Sandwich On Wheat Bread With Apple Or Orange,

Bottled Water, Cookies And Chips

$8.95

and

Veggie Hiker Lunch

A Blend Of Chickpeas, Sesame Tahini, Garlic And Citrus Along with Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Black Olives,

Green Onions, And Green Leaf Lettuce

Wrapped In A Herb Tortilla With Apple Or Orange,

Bottled Water, Cookies And Chips

$10.95

Stay tuned...in future days, we'll post more about lunches and other services available from our other cycle-friendly hotel properties!

A special surprise for your Valentine!

Here's a special idea for your sweetie for Valentines Day: Get a Valentine, Texas postmark on your card!

Each year, the children of Valentine compete to design the postmark. Prepare your Valentine card addressed to recipient with postage and put into a second envelope addressed with postage to “postmaster, Valentine, Texas 79854"

Last year's postmark is pictured here!

Mexican Gray Wolf

The Mexican Gray Wolf once populated the Chihuahuan Desert, including western Texas. 

This wolf lives at the El Paso Zoo;  read about this beautiful animal here.  Would you like to visit the zoo next time you're in El Paso?  For information, click here.

Hello, from Dell City!

Tucked away in the northern part of our region, in the shadow of the highest peak in Texas is Dell City.  A small, but friendly agricultural community, it sits west of Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and everyone in town has a magnificent view of Guadalupe Peak and El Capitan!  Founded in the 1940s, this little community of approximately 500 is named, "Valley of the Hidden Waters," even though it is within sight of the Salt Flats west of the national park.  A map is here.

Our week concludes with Cattail Falls, Big Bend National Park

Our week of featuring the photographs of Al Capizzo concludes with this image from Cattail Falls in Big Bend National Park. 

Al tells us this about the photograph:  "In the photo you can see grayer, darker rock on left and lighter rocks on the right. The darker rock is a much harder rock than the lighter rock. It is essentially "bedrock" which was forced up through the softer rock and is what we see as the mountain tops, sticking up today. The creek is following a fault line between the two types of rock, and is there because this was a place it could start wearing a channel through the softer rock. You do see some grayer rocks on the right of the creek, but those are just boulders and rock that fell from the higher levels and ended up here. Of course all this took place before I was born, so I'm just passing along what I've heard!"

We'd like to tip our hat again, and thank Al for sharing his photos with us all week.  Thanks, Al! 

Sam Nail Ranch in Big Bend National Park

Windmill tower at Sam Nail Ranch in Big Bend National Park along Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, by this week's featured photographer, Al Capizzo.  This part of the park is a great birding area, and is a site on our new Far West Texas Wildlife map.

Al tells us he really enjoys this part of the park, "one windmill there is still providing some water, and their are pecan trees (!) growing around the remaining adobe walls of the original home."

Driving in Big Bend Ranch State Park

This week's featured photographer, Al Capizzo, really captures the feeling of driving in the remote areas of Big Bend Ranch State Park.  We love the wide open spaces, the wild land, the incredible vistas and the intimate access to wildlife.

Drivers need to plan ahead, bring plenty of water, and a good spare or two.  If you want to drive on backcountry roads, take a few minutes to download and read this "4x4 Guide to Big Bend Ranch State Park."

And thanks again to Al, for sharing this wonderful photo!

Cattail Falls, Big Bend National Park

A couple of hikers in Big Bend National Park in the Cattail Falls area, another image from this week's featured photographer, Al Capizzo.

For regional hiking information, visit: www.texasmountaintrail.com/hike

Wild Burros by Al Capizzo

Our guest photographer this week is Al Capizzo, from tiny Trout, Texas in the eastern part of the state.  "All I can say to the residents of West Texas is, cherish and protect what you have, it really is a spectacular land."

Stay tuned for more images from Al this week of our Texas Mountain Trail region! 

Rancherias Trail, Big Bend Ranch State Park

Our week featuring photographer Al Capizzo continues with this wonderful photograph of Rancherias Trail in Big Bend Ranch State Park. 

Al shared these thoughts about our region, "It is wildly beautiful. It is largely empty. It is majestic in a very elemental and raw way."   That's certainly true, especially for Big Bend Ranch State Park, the largest and wildest in Texas.

Al Capizzo Week begins!

One of the Trail's Facebook friends started sending us these amazing photos of the region and we invited him to share more images on the Daily Photo Blog...we're happy he agreed!  Meet Al Capizzo, of Troup, TX and aCapizzo Photography.

Al tells us he first came to the region in 2006, with a visit to Big Bend National Park.  Says Al, "I've also been rather avidly outdoorsy for most of my life, so nature photography was a natural extension of that....To say I fell in love with the area would certainly be an understatement. More like bewitched, enthralled, enchanted."  

Stay tuned all week for more of Al's images of the Texas Mountain Trail region!   We think you'll enjoy them!

Drive to the Observatory

Texas 118, here taking visitors to the McDonald Observatory, is the highest elevation paved road in Texas.

This road is also part of the Scenic Loop, one of the most beautiful driving and cycling route in the state.  Click here to read more about cycling this road!

Our thanks again to Pete S. for sharing his photographs with us all week!

Ranches

Several huge cattle ranches, most of them measured in square miles, border Texas Highways 118, 166 and 17, which comprise the Scenic Loop.

Thanks to Pete S. for sharing his photos all week long!

Mountain Valley

An oak-studded mountain valley gracefully ascends to Texas 118 and a memorial marking a long-ago accident.

Another beautiful vista of the drive from Fort Davis to the Observatory from our friend, Pete S!  Thanks, Pete!

McDonald Observatory at Dawn

Astronomers work all night at McDonald Observatory's Hobby-Eberle telescope, among the world's most powerful.

Our thanks to Pete S. for sharing this wonderful photograph of McDonald Observatory.  Stay tuned all week for Pete's photos of sights from Fort Davis to the Observatory!

Ridgeline of Mt. Livermore

The high ridgeline of the Davis Mountains lights up just after dawn. Highest point is 8,378-foor Mt. Livermore, visible from several points along the Scenic Loop.

Mt. Livermore is part of the Davis Mountains Presere, where there's an Open Day on March 12.  Read more here.

We've started a page on the Scenic Loop for our website's cycling section...take a look at this page in progress, here!