From the City of Rocks, we continued southeast through Las Cruces, NM and El Paso, TX. Our goal was to skip the RV Park in Van Horn and try to find a Texas State campground where we could boondock instead. Our first choice was a park called Balmorhea, but it was full. So we headed south to Davis Mountains, which turned out to be a wonderful alternative. Who knew there were mountains in West Texas?!?
Davis Mountains State Park is in a remote area famous for being a little-known gem for camping, hiking and bird watching. It has an historic 39-room hotel called the Indian Lodge, with a restaurant, pool, and meeting rooms. It is also very close to the McDonald Observatory (a UT Austin institution), very possibly because the park is a part of the Dark Skies Initiative.
We had a beautiful campsite with lovely views and a good measure of privacy. We were surprised to find that the site actually did have an electric hookup and bathrooms were available a short walk away. While we do carry portable toilet facilities with us, I still really appreciate flush toilets when we can find them.
Luckily, we were able to stay two nights at Davis Mountains. We actually spent some time relaxing, which was greatly appreciated after a couple of days of travelling. But, we also took the time to do some hiking and explore the area. We hiked to the the historic hotel and enjoyed a rustic, but nice, lunch buffet there. Because the weather was relatively cold, the hotel and campground were not crowded.
We had hoped to spy a mountain lion or bear while we were there. Both are commonly spotted by hikers on the mountain trails. But, we didn’t get to see either. We did, however, see Mule Deer and a herd of Bighorn Sheep passing through the area just above the campground.
So, would we come back here to camp? Absolutely! Next time, we would hike more of the area, and we would visit the McDonald Observatory as well.