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Wandering West Texas 2022

Big Bend Alpine Amistad Magnoila

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#1 FAW3

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Posted 14 March 2022 - 02:19 PM

(Please note: This is a reduced text/photos version of a posting I did over in Expedition Portal - if you want to see more photos...go over there - I have a rough time posting photos here). 

 

In January 2022 I made a nice run out to West Texas from my home in Virginia. I've toured this area before and wanted to re-visit Big Bend NP and the interesting areas nearby (“nearby” may be a somewhat optimistic term in the context of far west Texas). The total trip lasted 4 weeks.  This entire region makes a great "composite destination" where you have a huge selection of interesting and rewarding places to visit spread out over a varied but limited geographic area.  

 

My rig is a '05 Ram 3500 4x4 with a flatbed with a slide in type Four Wheel Hawk with storage boxes on the sides. Good livin' with heat, powered fan air ventilation, hot/cold running water, LED lighting and plenty of secure storage. No real challenges on this trip for the Ram even with encountering some snow, running the more challenging back country roads in BBNP and running on loose beach sand along the gulf coast.

My main areas of interest were Big Bend National Park and the towns of Alpine, Marfa, Ft. Davis, Junction, Del Rio and the gulf coast near Galveston. 

 

I entered Texas on I-30 at Texarkana and made it past the urban sprawl of Dallas/Ft. Worth and into the rolling hill country a bit west of Mineral Wells. A very enjoyable change of pace and scenery from the interstate. For my first night in Texas I aimed for the Brazos River Authority CG #7 near the dam spillway at Possum Kingdom Lake. A nice easy place to spend a quiet weekday night. Free camping with about 8 sites, a restroom, water source and trash receptacles. I was the only camper here this night.

PKLCG7.jpg

 

Back on the road the next day my target was the city of Big Spring. A neat town to drive through with some nice restored buildings and especially a couple of old gas stations really redone well. I had discovered online that there was free camping at the Comanche Trail Park near town and found a nice CG area with level paved sites.

 

My next stop was Alpine. I planned ahead and had reservations at the Lost Alaskan CG a place my family has visited several times before and we always have enjoyed our stay. I think this is the best commercial CG in the area. Well run, clean, nice facilities, sells propane on site. This was a stop I planned so I could have easy access to the Ace Hardware store and Porter's Grocery in town for any stocking up or parts I might need as well as the campground laundry and to refill my propane. Plenty of restaurants, shops, auto part stores and fuel sources in Alpine.

 

I went over to Marfa and toured the town. I would have liked to be out there at night for the mysterious “Marfa Lights” (there is a nice viewing stand on RT90 out of town) but my timing just did not support it. A typical small west Texas town with the central courthouse square, a few restored buildings, some nice stores and art gallery's and a small choice of hotels.

 

Next it was time to enjoy Big Bend National Park. It was 5 years ago I last did BBNP and I was really looking forward to this return visit. At BBNP my reservations included a full week of camping and exploring the park and staying in the Chisos Basin Campground, the Cottonwood Campground and several back country sites. I enjoyed staying in both campgrounds and got to meet some nice folks, exchange some stories and information and also see some nice well thought out camping rigs. But it is the back country camping and exploring that grabs me at BBNP. You leave the people and support facilities behind and venture out on marginally improved (some are not maintained/improved) roads for miles and rarely see another vehicle. These back country designated campsites are well marked, well dispersed and provide a level spot and a bear box. The night sky field is awesome and hearing the coyotes sing you to sleep some nights is just wonderful. The many hiking trails and items of interest in the park (water springs, old ranch buildings, graves, mines, petroglyphs, the Rio Grande River) just add to the wonder. For the time frame I was there reservations for campgrounds and back country sites were absolutely necessary, especially for Chisos Basin and the popular drive in back country sites. 

RamOldMaverickRD.jpg

 

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After BBNP I ran north up to Fort Davis and really enjoyed the town – great Mexican food at Cuvea de Leon and a great sandwich and milkshake at the lunch counter at the drug store. The US Army Fort Davis old cavalry post just north of town is a wonderful historical site and beautifully restored. Located just northwest of town is the Davis Mountain SP where I stayed. Typical state park set up, nice facilities, nice sites, and well managed. A great base of operations for this area which includes the McDonald Observatory and the very scenic drive on Route 118 & 166. This is especially true in the summer where the tree shade and higher altitude here offer some relief from what can be oppressive heat. Once again this is a return visit for me and I highly recommend this State Park.

 

Meandering further north I aimed for the area surrounding the town of Junction. I stayed at the South Llano River SP for a couple of nights. Great campground with nice shade, great sites, and very neat restrooms/showers. Water and electricity at the site. A couple of field areas and the easy river access gave  my dog OZY some great time running around and wading. The interest here was the wonderful clear blue running Llano River, the Presidio de San Saba and Fort McKavett. Prior to Texas Independence from Mexico the Mexican government as well as religious missionaries established many settlements throughout what is now Texas. The Alamo is the famous one...but many others are nicely restored and are even more enjoyable to tour and enjoy. The old missions located away from modern urban areas give you a much better feel for living on the frontier back in the day. A real treat of this area is the restored Fort McKavett, a USA cavalry fort that served to protect the wild western frontier settlers from Indians and bandits. This fort during it's day was described as the most beautiful US Army post in the nation. Well off the main tourist routes...this is a site to see. One last thing about Junction: LUM's BBQ...it's really good!

 

I became aware of a weather forecast about a severe cold front blasting down from Canada that was expected to bring snow and ice to my area of operations so I decided to run for cover. I headed southward and and visited the Del Rio/Lake Amistad area. I stayed at both the Governors Landing and San Pedro CG's right at Lake Amistad and both were enjoyable...but San Pedro is quieter without train and traffic noise; Governors has great views, direct water acces and water spigots. The lake water is clear and cool and OZY (my rescue ACD) had a great time ball chasing, lake wading and introducing himself to armadillos.

Ozylake s.jpg

 

Continuing my run south I headed for Magnolia Beach near Port Lavaca on the Gulf coast. Magnolia Beach offers free beachfront camping. I enjoyed two days just enjoying the quiet beach sights and sounds here. There are a couple of similar camping areas around Matagorda Bay. Overall, a very slow paced rural coastal camping retreat.

MagBeach s.jpg

 

Continuing the beach theme I slid over to the Galveston barrier island and drove north from Surfside Beach on Route 257 to the city of Galveston. I enjoyed looking around and grabbed a nice seafood lunch at Gaidos. For most of the afternoon we just drove and found places to park, play frisbee on the beach and just enjoyed the day not really doing much of anything. In the late afternoon I took the TXDOT free ferry from Galveston Island to Bolivar Peninsula and found a location for free beach camping (note: some sections are no fee, some require a $5.00 permit). Nice wide beach with generally firm sand. The section of beach I was in had a camp set up about every 50 yards or so with some open sections. Plenty of room for the crowd load and reasonable camp privacy. Pass through traffic was very light and only one or two vehicles went by after full dark.

beach s.jpg

 

Hope you enjoyed this report.  Safe travels!


Edited by FAW3, 16 March 2022 - 08:09 PM.

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Frank W.

 

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#2 Casa Escarlata Robles Too

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Posted 14 March 2022 - 06:09 PM

Nice trip.Thanks for posting.

Frank


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#3 Smokecreek1

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Posted 14 March 2022 - 06:18 PM

Interesting area, I have some Texas friends that talk all the time about the neat places to visit there-maybe they are right :D !  Big Bend sure looks neat!

 

Smoke


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#4 ski3pin

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Posted 14 March 2022 - 07:05 PM

Thanks for the trip report and information! :)


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#5 SietePicos

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Posted 16 March 2022 - 03:56 AM

Great report!

 

I enjoyed reading about some of the country we got to know going to and from a project I was working on in Monterrey, Mexico. Some parts of Texas are really pretty. Unlike in some other western states, we found back country exploration limited as most open land is fenced and posted private property.

 

I'm glad you had the chance to try Lum's BBQ in Junction. For me, the town is aptly named as the point we would leave I-10 and head due south on local roads along the Frio River to Uvalde, then the border crossing at Puente Colombia.

 

It sounds like you might have gone the same way. Did you stop at the old Garvens Store at a crossroads in the middle of nowhere?


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