Getting Here...

Fort Davis is located within easy access to Interstate Highways 10 and 20. El Paso is about 220 miles west, and Midland is 175 miles northeast. The international border at Presidio - Ojinaga is 80 miles south of Fort Davis.

Flight Information:  (I just moved this up from where it was)

The nearest commercial airport is at Midland-Odessa American Eagle, Continental Express, and Southwest are the scheduled carriers. 

El Paso International Airport is about 205 miles from Fort Davis. Most major airlines offer service to and from El Paso.

 For private aircraft there is the well-equipped Alpine Municipal Airport (432) 837-5929.  It is on Texas highway 118 about 25 miles south of Fort Davis. The Marfa Municipal Airport is located on Texas highway 17, about 18 miles south of Fort Davis: (432) 729-3102.

Vehicle Rental:
Alpine Auto Rental - We provide area wide auto rental.  Contact us at 432-837-3463, toll free 800-894-3463 or email to autos@alpineautorental.com.  Please visit our website www.alpineautorental.com for more information.

Train Service:
Amtrak service is available from and to Alpine 1-800-872-7245.

Bus Service:
There is no bus service to Fort Davis.
There is service from/to the Midland-Odessa Airport to Alpine and Marfa provided by All Aboard America Bus Lines (432) 561-8529 toll free 1-800-628-1335. see website for schedules and rates www.allaboardamerica.com

Other Bus Service is provided by Greyhound Bus Lines to Alpine (432) 837-5302 (Bus Depot is on West Highway 90) or Marfa (432) 729-3355 (Bus Depot is on Highway 90 East) or see their web site www.greyhound.com for schedules, rates and 800 numbers.

Information about the area, people, weather and suggested reading.

Some visitors say our vistas look like New Mexico or Chihuahua, Old Mexico, others claim our striking rock formations and Miles’ long vistas remind them of Australia. Fact is, Fort Davis is pure Texas, as genuine as the working cattle ranches on the outskirts of town -- as unpretentiously as the adobe homes and ocotillo fences of its neighborhoods---as real pioneer as the original El Paso - San Antonio section of the Butterfield Company’s Overland Stagecoach Line road often called "The Overland Trail" that runs right through our town. Matter-of-fact . . . the only unpaved portion of the original trail from San Antonio to El Paso still in everyday use, is one of our town streets traveled every day by our town folks. It's a special place to visit. Fort Davis, Jeff Davis County and the Davis Mountains will remind you of an earlier old west Texas-- A Texas before 90 minute commutes, mega malls, gangs and graffiti marked walls – A Texas of spinning windmills, buzzards sunning on weathered fence posts, oaks clinging to rugged lava rock mountainsides, prong horned antelope grazing with great herds of fine Texas cattle, families riding together on horseback and magenta sunsets that can stop you in your tracks. Hummingbird feeders nearly outnumber the people in Fort Davis, and traffic's tied up only when a family of javelina (Collared Peccaries) hurries across the highway. It's a friendly place. You'll hear "hello" and "come see us." "Hola" and "hasta luego." Occupants of oncoming vehicles will surprise you with a friendly wave that includes all four fingers. Men tip their hats to the ladies and children still say "Yes Mam" to their moms. We have no theme parks, car pool lanes, stop lights, theaters or dress-up dining. We do have a baseball diamond, playgrounds, rodeo arenas, a football field, and a new library. For amusement, we hike along Limpia Creek in the state park, take a horseback ride up a creek side mesa, rock climb, play tennis at the high school, visit the one of the art galleries or photograph the herds of deer and pronghorn antelope.

We marvel at our pristine night skies, devoid of pollution, smog, or bright lights. "The stars at night, are really bright" . . . We can still see the Milky Way with the naked eye and satellites can be clearly tracked as they traverse the night sky. Folks still put corn out for the deer that come to town, suffer the javelina eating their pecans and cactus, watch for the wild mountain goats atop Sleeping Lion Mountain or just sit and enjoy the weather and our sunny days. We do a lot of that.

This area of Texas' lively history is maintained now as a National Historic Site. It’s one of the best preserved and restored 19th Century Army Posts in the country. During 1867/1885, Buffalo Soldiers (9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry and 24th and 25th U.S. Infantry) were garrisoned here while involved in struggles with Apaches and Comanches. The Neville Spring Cavalry Outpost in the Big Bend National Park was an outpost of Fort Davis, from 1885 to 1891. Our town took the name of the Fort, grew in support of it and now hosts the many visitors that tour it.

This part of the Southwest is where the domain of American pioneers, Ranchers, Cowboys, Mexicans, Buffalo Soldiers, the Mescalero Apache and the Comanche overlapped.

Another internationally known attraction is the McDonald Observatory. 17 miles up a pretty canyon to the north of Fort Davis. Three nights a week you can join experts who will aim the telescopes at the season's celestial events. It's a big hit with families. Of course you don’t need a telescope to see the Stars come out to play, all you have to do is look up and get one of the best views of the stars in this country. In our town, the Constable still parks in front of the elementary school to ensure our children safely get across the highway and the Postmaster and bank tellers know almost everyone by their first name. The Sheriff lets us carry off a 4th of July "Bank Robbery" (by Cowboys on horseback) every year. The "Cowboys" are always apprehended and our "crime rate" returns to the lowest in the country.

You'll see folks riding horseback on our streets unperturbed by low traffic and you'll hear spurs jingle in our restaurants and stores. Every time we drive, walk, ride or bike, we are struck by the great, peaceful expanses of Texas ranch land, prairie, canyons and mountains all around our home. Two miles out of town, you feel like a time warp has sent you back to the days of yesteryear . . . wide open, unpopulated spaces, cattle, deer, antelope and just like the old days "the skies are not cloudy all day!" As a bonus, in the summer, it's often cooler in the Davis Mountains than anywhere else in Texas. Our elevation of 5050 feet makes Fort Davis the highest town in the state. We have four seasons (all milder than the rest of Texas) and are almost devoid of severe weather of any kind. You won't see us on the Weather Channel, but during times when the rest of Texas is broiling, flooding or experiencing other natural weather phenomena, this little town and surrounding countryside is cool, dry and peaceful. Like Santa Fe and Colorado Springs, we're on the Front Range of the Rockies. The humidity's low here in the high country, and even midsummer nights can be refreshingly cool.

So, come visit and wind down a little, refresh yourself and relax in Fort Davis, and West Texas.

Weather

Fort Davis is the highest town in Texas at an elevation of 5050 ft. Folks 'round here say "Enjoy Denver's altitude without the snow." Part of the high desert region known as the Chihuahuan Desert. The mountain setting of Fort Davis is surrounded with a unique mixture of alpine and desert flora & fauna. With an unusually moderated climate with a summer average high in the mid 80ºs (f) and winter average low/high of 30º/50º (f). Our low average summer temperatures and low humidity make Fort Davis a refreshing summer oasis of cool breezes, clear skies and pure mountain air is a most pleasant surprise for any visitor expecting the stifling heat of the rest of Texas and the Big Bend region.

Snow is unusual in winter, but an inch or so once in a while, in January is normal for the Fort Davis area. Summer monsoons arrive in July and continue until September. We are not talking about a lot of rain, as the average annual rainfall is less than 17 inches. These bring moderate showers, accompanied by thunderstorms, in the late afternoon that cool down the day.

The People

Fort Davis, population 1050±, is the County Seat of Jeff Davis County, population 2207±, and hosts the County Courthouse, Judge's, Sheriff and County Clerk's offices. Valentine, population 187±, is the only other town in the county.

Fort Davis is not an incorporated town. We still have blacksmith and livery shops, western hat makers, hairdressers, wagon and wheel smiths, nurseries, cowboys and chuck wagon cooks, mixed in with a (couple of) lawyers, real estate agents, title & abstract company, tax preparers, Notary Publics, CPA’s, writers, artists, photographers, poets . . . and web page publishers. Industry/farming/ranching in the area includes huge tomato and flower greenhouse operations, pecan and apple farming, and of course, good old Texas ranching. We have a post office, bank (with ATM), water, electric, gas and TV cable companies servicing the county.

Fort Davis has Volunteer Fire, Rescue (EMS) and ambulance service, resident doctor, visiting nurses and a weekly published newspaper "Jeff Davis County Mountain Dispatch." Big Bend Regional Center a brand-new full service hospital facility located just 25 miles away in Alpine, Texas.

Movie companies have used locations all around this area. Some of the films shot in this area and the Big Bend are: "Giant," "The Gambler," "Lonesome Dove," "The Good Old Boys," "Streets of Laredo," "Dead Man's Walk" and "Dancer, Texas Population 81" the later filmed nearly entirely in Fort Davis with many locals used as extras.

Texas' highest golf courses are located in Alpine, 24 mi., and Marfa, 24 miles. Law enforcement includes Town Constable, County Sheriff, and Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers. An elected County Judge, Justice of the Peace and County Commissioners administer to the well being of the County. Our schools, Elementary, Pre-K through six and Secondary, Grades 7 through 12, are uncrowded. The teacher to student ratio is approx. 1/22 at both schools.

Suggested Reading

Here are several books that have helpful or interesting information about Fort Davis and Texas' Big Bend area:

"From Big Bend to Carlsbad" by James Glendinning. Texas A&M University Press.   Glendinning a transplanted Scotsman provides a perceptive and thorough guide to southwest Texas and southeast New Mexico. This book is packed with useful information.

"West Texas and the Big Bend" by Eric O'Keefe. Texas Monthly Guidebooks, Gulf Publishing. Freelance writer O'Keefe, a West Texas native, provides a well-organized, thorough review of restaurants, accommodations and tourist attractions, including information about Mexican border towns. The book covers all of West Texas, from the Big Bend to Amarillo.

"Big Bend: A Homesteader's Story" by J. O. Langford. University of Texas Press. This highly readable account of pioneer life in the Big Bend was written by the man who developed the Hot Springs that are now a part of the national park.

"The Mysterious Lands" by Ann Haymond Zwinger. University of Arizona Press. Zwinger writes lovingly about the plants and animals in the deserts of North America, with several chapters focusing on the Chihuahuan Desert of West Texas and southern New Mexico.