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Going Places: Destinations |
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If the Lone Star State is on your to-travel list, let West Texas be a line item. Once you're out past the Pecos, the land climbs into high desert, and the horizon opens up to a scale making you feel both small and part of something greater. This is the Trans-Pecos and Big Bend country: a handful of small towns strung along Highways 90 and 118, encased in one of the most biologically rich desert landscapes in the country, covered at night by some of its darkest skies.
Marfa is home to fewer than 2,000 full-time residents, yet it draws visitors from all over the world. Alpine is practical with a main-drag energy, and Marathon is the quiet gateway to Big Bend National Park, one of the most ecologically diverse national parks in the US. More broadly, West Texas is partially home to the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve, the largest in the world and the first to cross an international border. Here, you'll find barely any people and an unfathomable amount of stars. Read more in Ren Newman's Guide to West Texas.
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Never miss a deal to West Texas! Head to the Going app to find deals around $127 roundtrip (that's 67% off the regular price). |
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New customers: earn a 4.00% var. APY for your next adventure |
Texas Hill Country is full of wide-open spaces and slower afternoons, the kind of trip that reminds you it's good to have a solid home base before you wander. Your finances deserve the same.
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The region is expansive, and its roster of things to do holds its own. Here are the spots to point your car first. |
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Chinati Foundation (Marfa): Donald Judd's large-scale installations on a former army base. Most of it is guided-tour only and books out ahead, so plan in advance.
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Big Bend National Park: The most ecologically diverse national park in the country, featuring the Chisos Mountains, Santa Elena Canyon, the Rio Grande, and world-class birding. Nonnegotiables: Lost Mine Trail, the Window, and a soak at the hot springs.
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Prada Marfa: A permanent fake luxury boutique standing alone in the scrub since 2005, and the region's most photographed piece of roadside art.
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Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site (near El Paso): Natural rock basins with more than 3,000 Indigenous rock paintings. Access is limited, so book ahead for tours.
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Balmorhea State Park: The world's largest spring-fed pool, a crystal-clear oasis in the middle of the desert. Day passes sell out in busy months.
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Written in the rock (and sky) |
Much of Big Bend rests on the remains of an ancient sea, its limestone full of marine fossils laid down long before any desert existed. Later, volcanic activity built the Davis Mountains and Chisos, lifting the whole area into the high, dry tableland you drive across today.
Indigenous tribes have lived throughout Texas and the surrounding area for thousands of years, a history still visible if you know where to look. Look toward the pictographs and petroglyphs at Big Bend's hot springs and along the Chimneys Trail, and more than 3,000 rock paintings tucked into the caves and crevices of Hueco Tanks.
Time becomes a visual experience here, with seabed underfoot, volcanic peaks on the skyline, desert grassland between, and human history etched into its walls. The elevation, distance from city lights, and dry air also make it one of the best stargazing regions on the continent. McDonald Observatory, near Fort Davis, runs Star Parties several nights a week with constellation tours and telescope views.
-Ren Newman, Going contributing writer |
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One thing to know: West Texas eats well. This is only a taste. Head to the guide for all of our recs, and always remember to check online for opening hours. |
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Bordo (Marfa): An Italian deli in a 1930s service station where James Beard finalist Michael Anthony Serva bakes wood-fired bread.
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Cochineal (Marfa): Refined, local-ingredient-driven cooking under the stars. This is the region's Big Night Out.
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Marfa Burrito (Marfa): A beloved morning institution.
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12 Gage Restaurant (Marathon): Ranch-and-garden-sourced cooking at the historic Gage Hotel.
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White Buffalo Bar (Marathon): Also at the Gage Hotel, the region's most famous margarita.
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Reata (Alpine): A West Texas standard-bearer, and the original of the famous Fort Worth restaurant of the same name.
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The Starlight Theatre (Terlingua): Dinner in a restored 1930s movie theater, with wild game, a Texas Monthly top-50 burger, and live music on the wraparound porch.
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La Kiva (Terlingua): A bar and restaurant carved into sandstone boulders.
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Once the summer heat breaks, the region hits its stride. The skies get even crisper, and a run of local festivals gives you all the more reason to visit. |
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Big Bend Ranch Rodeo (Aug 7-8): Working cowboys and ranch hands face off in team roping, bronc riding, and wild cow milking in Alpine.
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Marfa Lights Festival (Sept 4-6): Live music, food, and vendors celebrating the town's famously unexplained glowing orbs, the same phenomenon you can go looking for year-round at the viewing platform off US 90.
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Big Bend Bluegrass Festival (Oct 2-3): Two days of traditional bluegrass in the high desert, drawing pickers and fans from across the region.
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Trappings of Texas (Sept 17-Oct 31): A juried exhibition and sale of Western art and custom-made cowboy gear at the Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine.
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Davis Mountains Hummingbird Celebration: A birding-focused gathering in Fort Davis timed to peak hummingbird migration through the Davis Mountains. It's limited-capacity, fills up fast, and 2026 dates are still to be announced, so keep an eye on the website.
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Interested in a trip to West Texas? Premium and Elite members get alerts for specific trip destinations and dates in the Going app. |
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