Big Bend - Alpine - Ft. Davis - I-10 W

[Upinsmoke]

Our winter trip is from Maryland to Tucson area, via NC and points south, with a dozen stops along the way. Our basic route will be I-10 with side detours to see things like NOLA and Fort Davis Observatory as examples.
This is just a request to see specifically about travel, road conditions etc., on the above mentioned areas.
Of course, if you have any must sees, must misses, typical weather or general travel suggestions, I'm all ears.
Thanks so much for the help.

[powerboatr]

ft davis park...if you dont have reservations already, there is a 99% chance of zero spaces open in the rv park.
they are a hot deal all year. its a hit or miss when you check the site for spaces,
https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/davis-mountains

down in town you may be able to get a site

[rk911]

it's the McDonald Observatory and it's well worth the stop. check their website for the Star Party schedule. you won't be that far from Marfa. check google for 'Tge Marfa Lights'.

I-10/I-12 is generally a good road except thru Louisiana. i'd recommend transiting Houston during mid-day (10a-2p) or on the weekends (we go thru on sundays). look for BUC-EES fuel stops. great pricing, EZ in/out. if stopping in Kerrville (NW of San Antonio) i'd recommend Buckhorn Lakes Resort. if stopping there take a side trip up to Fredericksburg to see the Pacific War Museum, the LBJ Ranch a bit west of there as well as a trip to Luchenbach, TX.

weather won't generally be an issue other than the odd cold snap.

[twogypsies]

I'd recommend from I-10 to take 385 off Hwy 90 into Big Bend Nat'l Park. Stay in Rio Grande Village - hookups or not.

Then 118 north to Hwy 90 to Alpine to Fort Davis. The state park at Fort Davis is wonderful. Then day trip to McDonald Observatory.

Backtrack a little on 17 to 90 and north to I-10

Have a great trip.... favorite places of ours.

[Upinsmoke]

Thanks, I looked at the roads and concur with the suggestions and I checked out Davis Mountain SP and they may actually have some sites available. We already have reservations in Ft. Davis but if we can cancel, we'll try to get the SP.



Thanks for the help.

[andy29847]

https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/big-bend-again-it-was-better-than-ever.189812/post-2431520

https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/my-big-bend-pics.171645/post-2295203

LOVE Big Bend! I go when I can. Above are 2 trip reports that might help.

[Isaac-1]

I live in SW Louisiana and took a trip to Fort Davis in my coach this spring. I-10 can be a mess between Lake Charles, LA and Houston, TX even on a good day, if passing through Lake Charles take the I-210 bypass around town, this lets you avoid the 70 year old very steep and narrow I-10 bridge, this only adds about 4 miles. Personally I prefer to avoid Houston, the best option here is to take TX105 from Beaumont to at least some point west of Houston (there are several connector highway options to get back to I-10 west of Katy). Though I too would suggest you consider going through Fredericksburg via Austin, as this will let you miss I-10 through San Antonio as well (some road construction going on on I-10 there), I went through Fredericksburg on my trip to Fort Davis this spring, and drove back on I-10. The War in the Pacific museum is very impressive, and takes at least 2 days to see if you have any interest in such things. Fredericksburg was the childhood home of Chester Nimitz, and to put it simply a lot of Texas billionaire world war two veterans have been dying off the last 10-20 years leaving lots of money to the museum. In addition to the war in the Pacific museum Fredericksburg has lots of small shops downtown, lots of good German food options, and most recently lots of wineries have been popping up in the area.


Sorry for this to be a bit jumbled, I am trying to type fast, as I have to go in just a minute.


In general once you get west of San Antonio road conditions are good on I-10

[Upinsmoke]

Okay, an update. We now have reservations at Davis Mtn SP - 30 amp and no sewer but they said we can check on it when we get there. Looking forward to it.
We'll take all of the road suggestions under advisement, they look good, and our route of travel actually by passes Houston. From the Lake Charles area we'll be heading to Galveston, then Corpus Christi, San Antonia, Big Bend and then Fort Davis.

Andy, haven't had a chance to read your reports, but I will thanks.

[Jake21]

You may want to put Lajitas on your schedule. Nice RV park, paved with full hookups. Golf resort across the street and good hiking about a mile away. Terlingua is a funky place down the road.

[twogypsies]

Since you're going to Galveston you need to get off I-10 at Winnie, TX east of Houston and take it to Hwy 87 and pick up the free Boliver Ferry for a short trip to Galveston. It's a neat experience and many RVers do it. You're RV would definitely fit.

https://www.txdot.gov/driver/travel/...schedules.html

[Upinsmoke]

twogypsies, thanks, sounds like a nice plan. Do you know anything about lines or potential wait times? We'll be there the middle part of January.

We had a potentially bad experience with a very long line waiting for a ferry. Luckily, we were on a motorcycle and went to the head of the line!

I'll take a look at the schedule site you provided and if it looks doable we certainly will. I'd love to have a pho or two of the RV (La Tortuga) taking a ferry ride.

[Isaac-1]

During the daytime hours, the ferry departs every half hour, this including about a 10 minute time window for loading. I have taken this ferry dozens of times over the years, and only recall a couple of occasions where the line was backed up to the point of having to wait for the next ferry. If crossing demand is high, such as on holiday weekends, they will put additional ferries into operation, I think they have 4 or 5 boats available, I know I have crossed there when 3 were running many times. The only real potential issue in January might be fog which can shut down the ferry operation, but if the fog is that thick you don't want to be driving. Fog can be a major problem all around Galveston bay in the winter when the cold air after a front comes through from up north gets to the warm water in the bay. Usually this happens more after February, though it can happen anytime like the big pile up on I-10 just west of Beaumont about a few years ago on Thanksgiving due to fog, with over 100 vehicles involved in the accident.

[WorldCat25]

Originally Posted by Upinsmoke

Thanks, I looked at the roads and concur with the suggestions and I checked out Davis Mountain SP and they may actually have some sites available. We already have reservations in Ft. Davis but if we can cancel, we'll try to get the SP.



Thanks for the help.

We stayed in the SP last March with no reservation. Seemed like a few spots were available.

We duplicated your trip last Feb and March. Also took in Carlsbad, White Sands, Alamogordo (great space museum), Ft. Stanton and Lincoln, NM, Santa Fe, Los Alamos ebfore heading back to Baltimore.

[ronspradley]

From San Antonio take 90 west thru Del Rio and then on to Seminole Canyon State Park. Great ranger led hike down to native american rock art. must be dry, no tours if it is wet. Then to Langtry and Jodge Roy Bean's saloon (Law West of the Pecos). Then on to east entrance to Big Bend. Happy trails.


ronspradley


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