Texas's Wide Open Spaces
OLD WEST
Do you want horizons for miles, the feeling of space, and the
possibility to make your own manifest destiny? It's hard to do
better than the more than 800,000 acres that make up Big Bend
National Park, located in Texas's southwest corner and one of the
National Park System's least-visited parks, owing to its
remoteness. If you're not camping in the park, check out the
historic Gage Hotel in Marathon - it looks like a Deadwood
set and is a reasonably priced spot to call home after a day on the
range. And after you've had your fill of hot dogs and s'mores,
enjoy the first-rate "Texas Cowboy Cuisine" at Reata Alpine in the
nearby town of Alpine. If you'd like a professional's take on the
park, the World Outdoors' seven-day Big Bend-Rio Grande Hiker
combines hiking and canoeing for a trip back in time that lets you
experience the true meaning of the Wild West. You start with a
visit to Fort Davis, a nineteenth-century frontier military post,
and then hike and paddle your way through Santa Elena Canyon, its
walls soaring to 1,500 feet.
NEW WEST
Billing itself as "the ultimate hideout," the chic Lajitas sits on
25,000 acres between Big Bend National and State parks and offers
the amenities of contemporary Western living, including an 18-hole
golf course with four holes on an island in the Rio Grande and an
optional par-one in Mexico, as well as a spa with an aptly named
three-treatment, two-and-a-half-hour special called the Escape
($225). But if you're hankering for the perfect combination of old
and new, sign up for the "So You Wanna Be a Cowboy" package: The
two-night stay includes custom-fit cowboy boots, a shooting lesson,
two half-day horseback rides to a nearby mine and ghost town,
gourmet cowboy grub, and accommodations. Prefer to explore the area
on a bike? The X Bar Ranch has 16 miles of moderately technical,
mostly single-track trails that run through hills, mesquite flats,
and dry riverbeds.
Natural Wonders | TEXAS
Big Bend National Park, (432) 477-2251, www.nps.gov/bibe, $15 (per vehicle) entrance fee
Gage Hotel Marathon, (800) 884-4243, www.gagehotel.com, from $69
Reata Alpine, (432) 837-9232, 203 North Fifth Street
Big Bend-Rio Grande Hiker, (800) 488-8483, www.theworldoutdoors.com, $2,295
Lajitas, (877) 525-4827, www.lajitas.com,
from $195
X Bar Ranch, (888) 853-2688, www.xbarranch.com, from $80