About This Trip
This was a road trip from Frisco, Texas to Alpine Texas with planned activities along the way. We did this for Spring Break in 2023, which is the busiest time to go to Big Bend maybe in all of history. (This park went from 200,000 visitors a year to 600,000 in the post-COVID era, for perspective.)
Pre-Trip Do These Things Well in Advance
Figure Out Where You Want To Stay
You can stay easily in Marfa or Alpine if you want to be close to Big Bend, but don't mind a bit of a drive into the park.
If you want to stay closer to Big Bend National Park than Alpine or Marfa allow (and you don’t want to camp), book Marathon, Chisos Lodge (only lodging in Big Bend), Terralingua, or Lajitas. Entire town of Marathon seems to book 6 months in advance for busy times. I would get the Gage Hotel if you can; Chisos is the only non-camping lodging in the park. Busy times book up a year in advance on a rolling calendar (and its being remodeled soon). If you do want to stay in Alpine, we loved this VRBO Casa de Agua.
Attractions to Book in Advance
Book McDonald Observatory early if you want to do a Star Party; we planned our trip around their Star Party availability.
Buy State and National Park passes for discounts (especially if you are doing more than one National Park in a year).
You can purchase day passes for Balmorhea and Monahans Sandhills State Parks in advance if you are worried about crowds; we didn't need them, but we were also a day ahead of the other Spring Breakers.
Good to Know Before You Go
Have snacks and supplies ready if you plan on staying out late in the small towns and for your Big Bend days. Most stores and restaurants close early. Download Big Bend guides before you head out there – there is very little service in the park. Small towns mean unpredictable hours. Plan your must do attractions carefully ahead of time to make sure they are not closed.
If you are stopping in Marfa, Learn about Donald Judd. He is a famous minimalist New Yorker who greatly contributed to Marfa's character. If it is open, tour the Chinati art installation. Watch the movies Giant and Dancer TX, Population 81 – both were filmed in the area (there are others too - worth a Google). If you are reading older travel blogs, note that Big Bend Brewing is closed and they tore the Tiny Target near Marathon down due to safety concerns. Prada Marfa is 30 minutes northwest of Marfa in Valentine, but still standing and it's a nice photo op.
Helpful Packing Tips
Roku (if staying in a hotel), binoculars, good hiking shoes, water shoes, swimsuits (these come in handy at Big Bend and Balmorhea), swim towels, and swim goggles. Sweatshirt or light jacket (might want a hat too for a.m. hikes and McDonald Observatory).
If you are planning to do the Monahans Sandhills State Park, bring a sled/disc (or you can rent one at the park) ski goggles, sand toys, pam cooking spray (to reduce sled friction).
Stay
Note: I booked our stays this way because everywhere was already full when I started planning in January (and we were looking for dog-friendly places at that time). So, moving from one hotel to another in Alpine is obviously not ideal. There are numerous cute boutique hotels and places to stay in Marfa, Alpine, and Marathon. More limited options in Terralingua.
March 10 Homewood Suites Odessa: This place was a good normal suite. Quiet. No complaints.
March 11-13 Antelope Lodge Alpine: This place is cute (very comfortable beds), but we do like to have our own space when we stay in a suite. Both beds in the suite were in the same room, and the couch in the "living room/ kichen" was tiny. Normally, we might have the kids sleep on the floor in this scenario (which they normally think is fun), but there were sticker burrs everywhere and the floor was concrete. We went and bought an air mattress, pump, and batteries for them to sleep on.
March 13-16 VRBO Casa de Agua in Alpine Could not recommend more - three bedroom, two bath, spacious, beautiful views, hiking access, and the best stargazing we saw the whole trip. There is even a Blue Water Foods natural grocer right down the hill that you can walk to for anything your forgot.
Weather
We lucked out on the weather in March – 80 degree highs, 55 lows, and pretty clear skies. Two days after we left, it snowed (!). If you do this trip in Summer, I would still go to Big Bend but adjust the trip for more scenic drives, maybe a full day at Balmorhea, quicker photo ops, definitely plan to swim at the Santa Elena canyon.
Friday – Sweetwater and Odessa
Hit the road at 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. (Yes, we skipped school, but we wanted to get the Star Party that took place before the time change, and we wanted time at Monahans and Balmorhea State Parks before they got crowded.)
Lunch at Mae's Meat Market in Eastland - highly recommend.
We happened to be hitting Sweetwater TX for their annual Rattlesnake Round Up which had a carnival - $35 pp for unlimited rides - was so much fun! This festival is four days in March, so our timing just happened to align.
Dinner at Teak & Charlie's Jersey Girl Pizza in Odessa (BYOB if you want to stop in the wine place just next door). The kids enjoyed coloring on the plates here which they will hang on the wall as a memory of your visit. Check in Homewood Suites in Odessa.
Saturday - Monahans Sandhills, Balmorhea State Park, and McDonald Observatory Star Party
Ate breakfast at hotel (they had a make your own waffle station that the kids loved.) Drove to Monahans Sandhills.
Tips - Bring your own discs for sand sledding or rent them there if you prefer. Bring a can of Pam cooking spray to reduce friction for better sand sledding. Kids dressed in swimsuits for the dunes (make sure you have easy access to another set of dry clothes for after Balmorhea).
After dunes, we drove another hour and half to Balmorhea State park where the kids jumped in the Spring-fed swimming pool. (This was a highlight of the trip - excellent state park.) A little too cold for me, but everyone else jumped in and had a blast.
Lunch/Dinner at Sazzon Baja Mex Culinaryin Alpine (pretty slow like everything in Alpine, but highly worth it. The red enchiladas were great and they had chicken strips for the picky child)
Drove to McDonald Observatory for the Star Party at 7:30 p.m. approx. 1 hour from Alpine. (Bring blankets and coats for the Star Party - it's cold up there - another highlight)
Sunday - Ft. Davis and Marfa
Breakfast at Stone Village Market - They have breakfast sandwiches and tacos until they sell out.
Fort Davis National Historic Site is one of the best surviving examples of an Indian Wars' frontier military post in the Southwest. There is an excellent hike up the mountain and a very interactive museum in the visitor center. Make a quick stop at Javelinas & Hollyhocks Gift Shop for souvenirs and then head to Marfa.
Stop at El Cosmico, you can tour the grounds, shop in the unique gift shop, or lie in a hammock even if you aren't staying there.
If you have time, interest, and its open, tour the beautiful Donald Judd Chinati art installation (check hours carefully, it is only open 4 days a week).
Planet Marfa (we brought DQ into Planet Marfa for our very hungry children, but they also serve bar food there. Drinks for adults and a school bus for the kids to play on. And you can play ping pong in a teepee)
Monday Marfa, Alpine, and Marathon
This was a fun day, but since we did a few things in Marfa on Sunday (and a lot of Marfa is closed on Sunday) it probably would have made more sense to go to Big Bend State or National Park this day.
Breakfast at Stone Village Market - They have breakfast sandwiches and tacos until they sell out.
Marfa Burrito is is a celebrity favorite when they visit so you can see the photos on the wall while you wait. Lines may look long but they move fast thanks to the amazing owners and team.)
Hotel Paisano shop and tour the hotel. Eat at Jett’s if you’re near a meal time – we weren’t.
Presidio Courthouse (they had it open so we played mock court with the kids). There are also nice views of Marfa from the dome.
Moonlight Gemstones rock shop in Marfa is a great stop with kids.
Frama - ice cream and coffee
Gage Hotel and Gage Gardens in Marathon were also fun stops.
We had dinner at the French Grocer in Alpine. Enjoyed a beer on the patio while waiting for a pizza for the kids - and picked up some tamales (the green chili tamales here were noteworthy).
Tuesday – Big Bend National Park
Before you go to Big Bend: Make sure you have a packed lunch and snacks in the car - there is nowhere to eat in the park. Make sure you have a full tank of gas. Bring plenty of water. Download maps and have a plan A plan B. etc. Watch out for animals on the drive in.
We were warned about the Spring Break crowds, so we started early. We left at 5 a.m. hoping to hike the Lost Mine trail. Got to the trailhead at 6:45. Unfortunately, it was completely full when we got there and there is no overflow parking.
There is no cell service in the park, so it's hard to make a backup plan when your first plan fails. We should have driven directly to one of the other popular hikes (The Window, Balanced Rock, Santa Elena Canyon, Borquias, or the Fossil Area) but we didn't yet have our bearings, so instead we took the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. This drive was beautiful - we took in a sunrise at Sotol Vista overlook, hiked Burro Spring trail, and ended up at Santa Elena canyon (wished we had our swimsuits on here). We had to park a mile away at Santa Elena (but at least we could park).
There are very few bathrooms in the park. We found one with a flushable toilet at the Castolon Visitor Center (and the boys got their National Park passport stamped). After Santa Elena, Holden was super tired, so we drove back to Alpine. We picked up Bock Burgers for dinner around 5:00; they had burgers and grilled cheese and side salads - also, another traveler said they were sold out by 6:00 so buy early.
Wednesday - Alpine
We had planned to do a second day in Big Bend (State or National), but we were all very tired from the first Big Bend day and our youngest wasn’t up for the level of hiking that would be required. We decided to hang around Alpine instead and come back to Big Bend again when the kids are older.
Hancock Hill, Alpine (Highly recommend this hike. Park at the college and find the trailhead on All Trails app.)
Lunch at the Snack Shack - So many places were closed and this place took a while to make the food becuase "there's an order in front of you" (est. 45 min wait). Don't come starving like we did - eat after the hike and before Big Bend Museum.
Made dinner at the VRBO, hiked the Mountain trail, and let the kids stay up late for our own little star party. I cannot stress how beautiful the stars look out here.
Thursday - Get Home
Check out of Alpine VRBO . Drive Home
Left at 7:45 a.m. we made two quick stops and were home by 3:00 p.m.
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