Ft. Davis Drug Store: The Fort Davis Drug Store and Hotel is a popular stop in Ft. Davis, Texas. The downstairs is a restaurant and soda bar, and upstairs has six rooms decorated with old west decor. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Drug Store Restaurant: The restaurant, which serves home cooked meals and the soda bar in the Drug Store is a popular destination for visitors and locals. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Hotel Limpia Lobby: The Hotel Limpia is a historic hotel in Ft. Davis. Shown is the entrance and lobby area and the antique decor and design of the historic hotel and building. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
We enjoy taking a break from the winter weather in Colorado and escaping to a warmer climate. This usually happens in conjunction with holiday trips to Houston, Texas or sometimes following the holidays in January or February. In January 2020, we toured through southeast New Mexico and the Big Bend area of Texas.
One of our stops after leaving Big Bend National Park was Ft. Davis, Texas in the Davis Mountains north of Big Bend National Park. This small, remote west Texas town provided many activities during our short stay of three days.
The town of Ft. Davis is deeply rooted in the lifestyle of the wild west. Ranching is a way of life for many in this part of the state and many of the buildings in town display the character of the old west.
The Davis Mountains and Ft. Davis are very popular destinations in the summer as most of west Texas swelters in the heat, Ft. Davis is many degrees cooler at an elevation of 5,000 feet.
Ft. Davis was an actual military fort in the 1800s and is considered one of the best examples of a frontier military post in the southwest. Today Ft. Davis National Historic Site has 24 restored historic buildings for visitors to see as well as a visitors center featuring the history of the fort.
Just outside of town is Davis Mountain State Park, which has a great campground, hiking trails, and the Indian Lodge, a historic 39 room lodge, which was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC also constructed other buildings and sites within the state park. In addition to hiking and back packing on the many trails, visitors also may bike or even bring their horses into the park and ride throughout the park.
Just a short drive up in the Davis Mountains is McDonald Observatory of the University of Texas at Austin. The observatory is open for tours during the day and hosts evening programs, which give visitors an opportunity to see galaxies that exists light years away. When we visited in January 2020, (pre-COVID) visitors were able to view through the telescopes. I am not sure if that portion of the program is still active or not given COVID restrictions.
We always enjoy Big Bend National Park but the more we explore the area, the more hidden gems we find such as Ft. Davis, Texas and the Davis Mountains.
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country and he shares his photographs, which appear in the ‘Posts from the Road’ series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
McDonald Observatory: Just a few miles from Ft. Davis is the McDonald Observatory. Sitting at 6,200 feet in elevation, the observatory has several world class telescopes. Shown in the domed structures are two of the telescopes used during the evening programs at the observatory. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Sunset: As we waited for the evening program to begin, we enjoyed the setting sun during the final minutes of daylight at McDonald Observatory. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Ft. Davis National Historic Site: The Ft. Davis National Historic Site is at the edge of town in Ft. Davis, Texas. The site was an active military post during the 1800s. Several buildings have been restored as well as a visitors center which features the history of the fort. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Davis Mountains State Park: The Davis Mountains State Park has a great campground as well as many hiking trails for visitors to enjoy. The park also features a lodge with 39 rooms and a restaurant. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com