Our Trips, Page 6 -- Davis Mountains SP

The Kings' Camp Site

Our Trips, Page 6 -- Davis Mountains SP

Davis Mountains SP

Ft. Davis, Tx.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/davis/

The Indian Lodge hotel at Davis Mountains SP

Site #29 at Davis Mountains SP

This is an awesome state park in the Davis Mountains of west Texas. Our visit in late July coincided with the area's rainy season but except for the first night we stayed when it rained buckets, the weather was beautiful, clear and the temperatures were moderate (85 degrees in the day and 60-65 degrees at night) with very little humidity. We arrived on a Tuesday evening, after the park office was closed but had a site assigned to us and posted on a board at the office. Unfortunately, it was site #39, a handicap site which was definitely not pop up friendly. It was very wide, but somewhat shallow with the water and electricity connections on the wrong side . Fortunately we were able to switch to a much better site (#29) the next morning.

Storms rolling in over the mountains on the way to the park

The scenery around the park is terrific. It is a remote region, with beautiful mountains formed by volcanic activity millions of years ago. There are craggy outcroppings on many of the mountains which bring to mind old John Wayne western movies. There is cedar and cactus, and an abundance of wildlife. During one of our hikes we found the paw print of a mountain lion. There's even signs around the campground instructing campers to keep kids close by due to the occasional presence of mountain lions in the park. The park ranger told us he had seen one just a couple of days before toward the top of one of the mountains surrounding the park and that they have been seen by campers usually very early in the morning and just before dark. We had a family of hog-nosed skunks that visited us each evening, looking for scraps of food. We also saw beautiful mule deer, ring-tails, a grey fox ,squirrels and we were told that rarely black bear have been seen around the area.

Three of the four skunks that visited our campsite each evening

The town of Ft. Davis itself is about 3 miles away from the park. This is a truly unique town with a very "old west" flavor. There is a beautiful hotel there called "Hotel Limpia" which is kept in much the same way as it was in the 1800's. (Although with all the modern conveniences.) It has a restaurant and gift shop and even has rocking chairs on the porch for enjoying the cool evening breezes. The Old Ft. Davis Inn and Drugstore has great food and an old fashioned working soda fountain. Most Monday-Fridays they have a buffet which ran about $5.95. On one of those days we had the chicken fried steak buffet which was out of this world. The chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, bread and gravy were probably the best I've ever tasted and all made from scratch

The Old Ft. Davis Inn and Drugstore

The Hotel Limpia in Ft. Davis

The spring fed pool at Balmorhea sP

For being in such a remote part of Texas, there is surprisingly quite a lot to do. We went to Balmorhea SP which is about 35 miles away from Davis mountains to swim in the natural spring fed pool there. This area is called a desert wetland because of the lake there and the natural springs. The pool is said to be the largest spring fed swimming pool in the world and has depths from three to 25 feet. There were several people scubing diving while we were there. The temperature of the water stays at 72-76 degrees and is clear enough to see the fish swimming with you. There's a store next door to the park that rents floats and small rafts and the park itself has a hotel and campsites.

The courthouse of Marfa, Tx in the distance

One evening we drove about 22 miles to Marfa to take in the mysterious Marfa lights. The Texas Dept. of Highways has built a really nice roadside viewing area, complete with info on the area and viewing scopes to get a closer look at the lights. We arrived at about dusk and there were already several others there waiting to see the spectacle. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring sweaters and jackets and it got quite chilly the longer we waited. Finally, just a few minutes after we arrived we saw the first light. There is a radio tower in the distance which has two red blinking lights. This is a good point of reference when looking for the lights. Eventually, we began to see them more frquently. They appeared as whitish balls of light at different points of the horizon, sometimes to the left of the tower, sometimes to the right, sometimes seemingly even on top of the tower. At times there would be two, three, or four balls of light. Sometimes they would fade then brighten. At times one ball of light would separate into several different balls and move across the horizon. It was pretty interesting and Rob's favorite part of the trip. I wished that we had had more time to visit the town of Marfa itself because despite first appearances of being a small, dusty west Texas town, there appeared to be a thriving art scene with several art galleries and even a small book store called "Marfa Book Co." with a coffee shop inside.

The kids near the soldiers' barracks at Ft. Davis National Historic Site

We also made it to Ft. Davis National Historic Site right in Ft. Davis. The fort has several buildings which have been restored and furnished just as it looked when the fort was active. Supposedly they also have a re-enactment on certain nights, but we were not able to see it.

Siiting Bull Falls at Lincoln Forest National Park, Carlsbad, N.M.

We took a day trip to Carlbad, New Mexico (about 150 miles from Ft. Davis) and instead of seeing the caverns we decided to be adventurous and took a back road to Sitting Bull Falls in Lincoln Forest National Park. This was a very beautiful, remote area and the falls had a small creek and grotto where people could swim. It was our son's first time out of Texas and mine and our daughter's first time to New Mexico.

The kids at the New Mexico state line

Lincoln Forest National Park

The newest telescope at the McDonald Observatory

Our final outing was to the McDonald Observatory just 13 miles up the road from the state park. We attended the Star Party which occurs every Tuesday, Friday and Satuday nights. Make sure you take your sweaters or jackets to this one, because it does get cool at night. This was a great opportunity to see some stars, novas, planets, etc. through some powerful telescopes. Unfortunately, the moon was almost full and very bright so we couldn't see some of the closer galaxies. There was a great lecture by one of the astronomers at the end of the evening (about 11:45 p.m.) in the outside amphitheatre and just as he was wrapping up a brilliant shooting star streaked across the sky. Very cool.

The rainbow on the ground just east of Ft. Stockton, Tx.

Unfortunately, all good camping trips must come to an end and so did ours. We had a wonderful time at Davis Mountains SP and fell in love with the area. We hope to someday be able to visit again. On our way home, we ran into a thunderstorm just outside of Ft. Stockton. Then, as the storm broke and as we rounded a bend in the road we drove over the hill we saw what we thought was a dust storm ahead. Except the dust apperaed to be green and red and yellow. As we came over the hill we saw an incredible site...a rainbow which appeared to lay right across the road and filtered everything in multi-colored light. A very beautiful and perfect ending to a wonderful vacation.

Scenery around Davis Mountains SP

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