Marfa, Fort Davis and Balmorhea

After five days in Big Bend, it was time to start making the loop back towards civilization and the rest of the country. Our plan was to spend several days in Marfa relaxing and visiting the remaining, small towns.

You have two options to get from Big Bend to Marfa – the quick one and the scenic one. We highly recommend the scenic option; traveling the River Road to Presidio. We found a great article in Texas Monthly from 2005 (link below) which describes this drive better than we could. In short, it is a beautiful drive of constantly changing mountains and valleys as you cross over each horizon.

Travel Tip: We noted this in our itinerary as well but there are two movies that truly capture this area of the country and play a key role in several places you will see. Fandango (1985 with Kevin Costner and Judd Nelson) and Giant (1956 with James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson). With some help from the kind folks at the Ultimate Fandango website we were able to find a number of locations from Fandango (Dom Rock, Chata Ortega’s, the firework’s cemetery) and you will find a number of references to Giant throughout Marfa (the El Paisano Hotel, movie billboards on the highway).

As you begin to drive the River Road, you can find the “Dom Rock” from Fandango on your Google Maps. There is a pull off and a short hike to find this Hollywood set, as well as an amazing view of the Rio Grande stretching out below you. Be careful, it’s a bit of loose rock and can be slippery so take your time and use caution.

There are also some terrific Tee Pee picnic tables at the Tipi Rest Stop which you can’t miss if you want to plan for a lunch or snack along the drive.

After passing through Presidio, the landscape will change from mountain passes into sweeping plains which is what made Marfa famous – or at least the reason Donald Judd chose this town to build his contemporary, outdoor works of art which in turn helped to make Marfa famous.

Marfa is unlike anywhere else we’ve been. Take a town of 2,000 people and add ranchers, oil workers, border patrol, hipsters, contemporary New York artists, musicians and free spirits and this is what you get – a town with five amazing restaurants, two museums, numerous art galleries, three outdoor beer gardens and more. It is as though someone willed the town into existence.

As you approach from the south, the first stop you see will be El Cosmico. Or for many, this may be their choice of lodging as El Cosmico combines vintage RVs, airstream trailers, tents and tee pee lodging. They also host live music events and have a gift shop well worth visiting.

For lodging, we had been obsessed with staying at COLOMO|MARFA™ after we first saw it. This one-of-a-kind Airbnb belongs to contemporary artist, Michael Phelan, a long-time resident of Marfa and New York. Michael renovated this former gas station into what some mistake as an actual art gallery when passing by. It’s location near town; unique décor and artwork; and overall design were amazing.

After meeting Michael and settling in for our stay, we made our way for a quick dinner to Jett’s in the El Paisano Hotel including Chicken Fried Steak, Texas Poutine Fries (with gravy and green chiles) and Mexican Street Corn. This historic hotel was built in the 1920’s when the town anticipated an oil boom (that never arrived) and opened its doors just months before the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. It also served as the home of the stars during the shooting of the movie, Giant. There is even a small room/museum dedicated to the stars and memorabilia from the movie.

For breakfast, there is no place more well-known in town than Marfa Burrito. What can only be described as “abuela’s house” is small and cramped – as you drink free coffee and wait in line to order one of the six options on the menu. Travel Tip – we saw several visitors try to customize their order with no success, but we found if you even attempt to use some Spanish your chances are much better (“con queso” and “con huevos” worked for us).

The first day in Marfa was then spent exploring the town starting with the Chinati Foundation to see the works of Donald Judd and Robert Irwin. We only visited the outdoor installations but there are much more detailed guided tours if you want to spend more time. Afterwards, we made the drive out to visit the Prada Marfa store (passing the “Giant” billboards as you drive) for some fun photos.

For the rest of the day, there were almost too many places to visit including the Cementerio de la Merced (another stop from the movie, Fandango, for a quick photo), Marfa Book Company, Cobra Rock Boot Company, Mano Mercantile (one of our favorites), Communitie, Wrong Marfa and more. We recommend this website for finding new shops and places to visit.

Lunch options might include either the Food Shark truck (Mediterranean) or Capri (for tempura fried yucca blossoms – why not, right?)

That evening (and you do want to reserve this ahead of time) we had booked tickets for the McDonald Observatory Star Party which is only on certain nights. This meant picking up some amazing New York style pizza beforehand at the Pizza Foundation (Travel Tip – call two hours ahead to order during busy times) and then making the 45-minute drive to the observatory.

The observatory hosts these events where visitors can see stars in one of the clearest places in the country, including looking through telescopes at galaxies, the moon and the stars. The only downside is it is a very windy road in the dark afterwards. And it can get very, very cold at certain times of year. Expect the temperature to be 20 degrees colder than what you see in Marfa at that same time and bring more warm clothes and blankets than you think you will need.

If you are coming to the area from El Paso, many visitors do choose to stay a night or two at the Indian Lodge which is much closer to the observatory, Fort Davis and Balmorhea if your goal is to explore more of those areas than Marfa itself.

For our last full day, we woke early and made a quick stop at “Do Your Thing” for coffee and avocado or Nutella toast before driving to Fort Davis. Here, you can visit the historic fort or hike the entire mountain rim surrounding the fort. For lunch, the Fort Davis Drug Store offers burgers, sodas and fudge. Or Hebert’s Caboose Ice Cream Shop offers a quick stop inside of train for a snack.

A bit further up the road lies Balmorhea State Park which touts the world’s largest spring-fed swimming pool with crystal clear water; diving boards and live fish swimming right beside you. And being spring-fed, the water stays a constant 72 to 76 degrees. So even on the day we visited, it was 50 degrees outside, but the water was warm, and we had the massive pool almost entirely to ourselves.

Back in Marfa, we wanted a nice dinner for our last night. And there are several upscale dining options in Marfa including Stellina and Cochineal. We decided on Cochineal for a steak – and what better way to book-end our trip than a steak to start the journey (the 12 Gage) and one to end our trip (Cochineal). We also tried escargot for the first time (seriously, the reviews on Yelp are everywhere to try the snails – which we found to be good but a bit earthy to be frank) and their dessert of bread pudding with date compote. Please note, we don’t like bread pudding or dates, but after being encouraged by our server, this was one of the best desserts we’ve ever had so we do recommend trying it. It will surprise you.

Wanting to explore more the last evening, we decided to do an informal pub crawl and have a drink at several stops, so we could see all the town had to offer. This included Planet Marfa (beer garden), Al Campo and La Playa (beer gardens), Bar Nadar (outdoor pool), Bar Saint George and finally the Lost Horse Saloon. The Lost Horse Saloon is an authentic dive-bar filled with pool tables, travelers and locals alike. On the night of our visit, bands were making their way from Austin back to Los Angeles after SXSW – and chose this layover for an impromptu concert. It basically ended up being four bands playing for each other as they made up 80% of the crowd. Something you might only find in Marfa on any particular evening in the spring.

Finally, it was time to start making the drive home, so we began with Buns N Roses for breakfast. And, if you are a fan of Fandango, a small detour took us by Chata Ortega’s for another quick photo and then the drive on I-20 back to Dallas (or I-10 if you are heading to El Paso).

If you do decide to head to Dallas, a few other options to consider are a quick stop at Monahans Sandhills State Park to rent sleds and slide on the sand dunes. (Travel Tip – Spraying Pledge on the sleds works far better than the wax they provide. Something we learning in White Sands.)

And if you want to try some BBQ while visiting Texas, either Pody’s BBQ in Pecos, TX or Stillwater Barbuque in Abilene, TX make the Texas Monthly list of Top 50 BBQ restaurants.

Finally, if the eight-hour drive is too long for a single day, be sure to check the Hotel Settles in Big Spring for an historic place to spend the night. Or if you are headed to El Paso, the renovated Indigo Hotel may be worth a stop over. Otherwise, it is just a straight drive in either direction to get you on your way back home.

And for more details on surrounding areas see our full itinerary for Big Bend and West Texas or our destination notes for Big Bend National Park, Marathon and Alpine or west to Guadalupe National Park and White Sands.