Ft. Davis State Park: A view from a scenic look out shows Ft. Davis State Park. The park campground is in the bottom of the photo and the white adobe Indian Lodge is farther up the canyon. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Indian Lodge: A closer view of the Indian Lodge within Ft. Davis State Park shows the beautiful adobe architecture of the facility, which features 39 rooms, a pool and the Black Forest Restaurant. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
We enjoy traveling during January to escape the cold weather in Colorado. Our destination for the last two years has been to the Big Bend area of west Texas. While temperatures can still be cold at night, most days are bright and sunny.
One of our favorite places to camp is Fort Davis State Park. The Davis Mountains are like an oasis that rise to over 8,000 feet in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert in west Texas. Ft. Davis State Park sits at the base of the Davis Mountains at an altitude of 5,000-6,000 feet in elevation.
The state park offers hiking and mountain biking trails, a nice campground with hook-ups for RVs, many animals and birds, and beautiful views in all directions. The park is open year round and offers a break from hot days in the desert surrounding the mountains.
Another feature within Ft. Davis State Park is the Indian Lodge. This adobe structure was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The exterior of the lodge is white, which makes it easy to spot near the top of Keesey Canyon. The lodge features an outdoor pool and the Black Bear Restaurant. The Indian Lodge offers visitors who do not camp an excellent lodging opportunity while visiting the park.
The Big Bend area of west Texas is remote and out of the way, but we are always rewarded with great scenery when we visit. Big Bend National Park is the obvious attraction, which draws visitors to the area but once visitors start exploring there are numerous other locations and sites to explore and enjoy while in the area.
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.
Lodge Accommodations: The Indian Lodge offers visitors who do not camp to a place to stay within the park. The lodge offers outstanding views of the surrounding hillsides from lodge facility. Shown is the late afternoon light shining on the lodge. The facility was built by the CCC in the 1930s and expanded in the 1960s. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Campground: Ft. Davis State Park offers camping sites ranging from primitive sites which do not have any hook-ups to full hook-up sites for RVs. Hiking and biking trails within the park offer visitors an opportunity to see the park while getting exercise traversing through the hills. The park also has a covered viewing area for viewing birds and wildlife in the canyon. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Davis Mountains: A hilltop in Ft. Davis State Park allows visitors a see a view of the Davis Mountains. On the peaks on the right side of the photo is McDonald Observatory, which is several miles away from the state park. The observatory, operated by the University of Texas, is open to the public and offers visitors a chance to view outer space through the massive telescopes at the facility. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Ft. Davis, Texas: Another view from the same hilltop viewing area mentioned above allows visitors a bird’s eye view of the small town of Ft. Davis, Texas. These small west Texas towns usually offer a unique and colorful history. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com