Itinerary: Big Bend + Marfa, Texas
Bend Bend. The least visited National Park in the United States due to its remoteness. There is a lot of untouched wild beauty our there.
Marfa. The unofficial motto of Marfa, "Hard to understand, but once you get here you will get it" ...This couldn't be further from the truth. A small west Texas in the middle of nowhere may not seem like a destination, but once you discover the foodie scene, art installations, and overall relaxed completely unplugged vibe, you will get it.
These two destinations make an unforgettable long weekend trip from any major Texas city.
One thing to be aware of when you go to Marfa is the unconventional schedule as to when business are open. Most business are open Thursday-Sunday which makes Marfa a great long weekend trip. Make sure to double check business hours before you go anywhere. And nothing is open late, so if you get in to Marfa late, make sure you have some snacks on hand or you eat before you arrive. And don't be surprised if you go somewhere and find it is closed. Things randomly close, go with the flow.
Here is our schedule on how we did our first trip to Marfa. We definitely did not have time to do everything, which leaves us itching to go back.
Wednesday:
Travel Day. We made the 6 hr drive to Marathon TX after work
Left Austin at 6pm
Arrived at Midnight at the Gage Hotel. Luckily the Gage Hotel has someone at the desk 24hrs a day. We decided to spend the night in Marathon due to its close proximity to Big Bend National Park. I was seriously considering staying in Big Bend National Park, but we would have arrived around 2 in the morning which wasn't ideal. Plus the Gage Hotel turned out to be charming experience in itself. Highly recommend!!
Thursday:
Breakfast at V6 Coffee Bar next to the gage hotel
Walked the grounds at the Gage Hotel
10:30am - Packed up, checked out of the Gage Hotel, and headed to the Chisos Mountains Visitor Cebter in Big Bend (~1hr 30min drive from Gage Hotel)
12:00pm -Arrived at Chisos Mountains Visitor in Center, took in the views of the Chisos Mountains, and decided to do two hikes: The Old Mine Trail and Santa Elena Canyon. Because we only had half a day to discover the park, we decided to put the trail we really wanted to do, the South Rim Trail, on hold for another time when we have the full day to hike. Also, we probably could have fit in the Windows trail as well (it is only 1 mile round trip) which I wish we did. We also did this trip in the spring when the hours for sunlight are longer, which gave us more time for hiking. We also could have woke up early to do a longer hike, but we were tired ;) But know that with half a day, the Old Mine Trail and the Santa Elena Canyon are absolutely doable and absolutely amazing.
Hiked Old Mine Trail. Stunning views with a unique landscape.
Drove to Santa Elena Canyon from the Old Mine Trailhead (~1hr 10min). Big Bend is a BIG park and takes some time to drive from trailhead to trailhead. On the way to Santa Elena Canyon, take the Ross Maxwell Senic Drive, I mean who wouldn’t want to take the scenic route?
Hiked Santa Elena Canyon. A short 1.7 mile hike that should not be missed. The hike was truly enchanting. I am not exaggerating in that it was so beautiful, I felt like crying! That was the first time I ever experienced an emotion like that. The canyon seemed to create a sound barrier which makes it very peaceful and calm. We started the hike at sunset, perfect timing because the colors of the canyon were amazing, and the last part of the hike we hiked by moonlight. We got lucky as there was a full moon lighting the path. While it was amazing, beware because there are mountain lions and bears at Big Bend, so hiking by moonlight created a little unease to say the least.
9:00pm - Drove to Marfa. Note - We should have ate in Teralinga or Alpine on the way to Marfa because by the time we arrived all the restaurants were closed and I ended up eating a chocolate bar for dinner which was not good for my blood sugar regulation, especially since Marfa is at altitude (4,685 ft) and does take some adjustment, don't be fooled by the flat open plains!
11:00pm - Checked into El Cosmico
Relaxed in our renovated trailer, drank some hipster canned wine (the refrigerator had an amazing craft beer and canned wine selection!), cheered to the fact we did not have a mountain lion or bear encounter on our moonlight hike, raided the snack bar for dinner (not your ordinary snack bar at El Cosmico), and went to bed.
Friday:
Spent the morning drinking coffee and walking the grounds at El Cosmico, and hanging out in our renovated Airstream trailer.
Checked out of El Cosmico
Breakfast at Do Your Thing Coffee. Mon+Wed+Sun 8am-1pm. Thurs-Sat 8am-4pm. Tuesday Closed. Check the hours before you go
11:00am-2:00pm Block Tour with the JUDD Foundation. This tour visits the living quarters of Donal JUDD. We didn’t love it, although we did appreciate our passionate tour guide. For reservations visit: https://juddfoundation.org/
Lunch at Food Shark. Mediterranean food in an old school bus. A much better way to do ‘School Lunch’. Wed-Sat 12-3pm. Sun-Tues closed. Check hours before you go
Visited Moonlight Gems located beside FoodShark for some pretty shiny objects
Checked into the Thunderbird Motel so we could have a proper shower. Cool sleek lines with a modern vibe.
Dinner and wine at Al Campo. Thurs-Sat 4-11pm. Sun-Wed closed. Check hours before you go. Amazing food, amazing wine, amazing atmosphere.
6pm Twilight Program at McDonald Observatory (1.5hrs - $5). Book in advance, sells out quick. This was an interesting lecture that explained the constellations and their relation in time and space to the planets. For example I had no idea that the constellations formed a ring around the earth, for some reason I thought they were scattered everywhere. They used members in the audience to mimic the movements of the planets, and our lecturer truly was passionate and brought her passion, energy, and humor to the event. The lecture would be good for all ages. For reservations visit: https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/visitors/programs/star-parties
8pm Star Party! At McDonald Observatory (2hrs - $12). Book in advance, sells out quick. This was crazy cool. The first part of the star party was a interesting talk on the constellations where laser pointers were used to trace the constellations and point out satellites. My mind was blown as our astronomer started connecting the dots for us. The talk was very entertaining as we learned about the science, the stories, and the myths of our skies. Afterward they opened high powered telescopes for us to look through. Waiting in line was worth it. Most memorably was the Orion Nebulous which is located on the sword of Orion. It is a place where stars and planets are formed. You could even see 2-3 stars that were being created in the nebulous. I would even make time for the super old movie created in the 80's called the 'Power of Ten' Puts in perspective how big the universe is. Tip - when everyone breaks to look through the telescopes, start backwards as the first telescopes has the longest line and is where everyone goes first. For reservations visit: https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/visitors/programs/star-parties
Drinks at Capri. Try the prickly pear wine! So different, so amazing, so delicious. The is one of my favorite restaurants.
Bedtime
Saturday:
Breakfast at Hotel George (do not recommend). Not even going to link this. Generic hotel food.
Redid breakfast at Marfa Burrito, much better choice
Chinati Selections Tour at 12:00pm. We only did the half day tour, modern art isn't my fave, but I definitely felt another level of appreciate for it after this tour. Highly recommend, and if you are a diehard modern art fan, do the full day tour. For reservations visit: https://chinati.org/visit/visiting.
Happy Hour at Cochineal. Thurs-Mon 5pm-10pm. Tues-Wed Closed. Good idea to make reservations for dinner. We only did happy hour here, but we will most definitely do dinner here next time, the food was amazing.
Visited permanent art installation untitled (dawn to dusk), 2016 by Robert Irwin. This was a special showing that was happening on that day and was recommended by our tour guide. We visited the installation on the Selections Tour, but our guide said is was a completely different experience in the evening when the light changed so we decided to check it out. The different light did make it a completely different experience!
Dinner at Capri. Food was phenomenal. Highly recommend the Chile Relleno, one of the best I've ever had. Google has incorrect hours, only way to check when it is open is to walk in or ask the front desk at the Thunderbird Motel.
Visited the Marfa Mystery Lights at the viewing area. Aliens, atmospheric pressure, campfires, headlights??? No one is really sure what is the origin of the little orbs of light that hover and zig zag in the planes near Marfa, but they have stumped people and have been observed for a long time. We decided to check them out over the course of two nights since sometimes they are active and other times not. We got lucky and saw them on both evenings. We were there all by ourselves, which did make it kind of spooky. Things started to escalate when we saw one dot of light zigzag then burst into a bight magenta flame. I was looking though a telescope and Noah was looking with his bare eyes, and we both screamed at the same time. You can’t unsee that. I don't care what people say, headlights don't do that.
Sunday:
Cowboy breakfast at Do You Thing Coffee, AMAZING, everything you ever wanted breakfast to be. Thick Texas Toast with sea salted cultured butter, pancakes with thick slab bacon, scrambled eggs, and sautéed greens. I am still dreaming of it.
Window shopping at Freda
15 Untitled Works in Concrete at the Chinati Foundation
Checked out of Thunderbird Hotel
Grabbed some stellar Chicken and Waffles at The Water Stop
Drove to Prada Mafra to visit Road to Nowhere installation. Located in Valentine, TX located 30 min outside Marfa. So fun to take pictures and reflect on the Irony of it all
Drove back to Austin!
Things I want to do next time / things I would do Differently
I want to hike the South Rim Trail in Big Bend as well as climb Emory Peak. There is much more to explore in Big Bend.
I would like to make a stop in Terlingua and see what the eccentric ghost town is all about.
I want to explore the Fort Davis Mountains more and stay and the Indian Lodge (it was closed for renovations when we visited)
I want to come when they are doing special viewings of the high powered research telescopes at the MacDonald Observatory. These only occur on special nights during the year.
We did 1 night a El Cosmico and 2 nights a the Thunderbird Hotel. I figured since El Cosmico was like camping, after being at Big Bend we may want a more comfortable sleeping situation so I booked the Thunderbird so we could have a proper shower. But then I LOVED El Cosmico and wished we did 2 nights there, and then 1 night at Thunderbird. I will say, Thunderbird is more comfortable (indoor bathroom anyone?), but El Cosmico was fun and unique. Plus the outside bathtub at El Cosmico would have been great in the summer, not so much for early march when temperatures in the morning and at night are freezing. Note - they do have indoor community bathrooms.
I would skip the Block Tour. Only do this if you are a BIG Donald Judd fan, which there are a lot of you out there! We had a few people from Europe who made the pilgrimage to see the art mecca he created. I am interested in possibly doing the Studio Tour next time which focuses on his studio spaces instead of his home.
Next time I would like to do more shopping and visit other art museums. Our schedule was pretty packed so I will have to reserve this for next time we go. I will keep you posted!
Essentail Gear:
A 6 hr drive through the middle of nowhere gives you a lot of down time. Take advantage of it, read a book, daydream, enjoy a slower pace of life, or if you are anything like me and have a million things to do, get this! Below is a car inverter I bought so I could plug my laptop into my car. After consulting with my engineer father, he recommended the 750Watts and I'm glad we did, I was able to charge my laptop, my camera battery, and phone all at the same time. I use it all the time now to charge my phone in the car because it is much more powerful than the typical USB car charger and will charge your phone quickly. This inverter has been a game changer for me. I take it when I travel domestically all the time now so I can work while on the road. How have I gone most my life without one of these!!!
Make sure to check out my Insta Story on my Instagram Page to get a feel for what Big Bend and Marfa has to offer!