Davis Mountains State Park
Under $25Drive the CCC's Skyline Drive to mountain overlooks, hike to Fort Davis, and stay up for dark West Texas skies or a night at the adobe Indian Lodge.

Photo: Zereshk, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
An outdoor telescope park behind the Frank N. Bash Visitors Center, known for its public Star Parties.
3640 Dark Sky Drive, McDonald Observatory, TX 79734 · McDonald Observatory, TX
The park sits behind the Frank N. Bash Visitors Center at McDonald Observatory and serves both public programs and scientific work. It holds a range of instruments, including several reflectors, Ritchey-Chretien and Cassegrain designs, and the Chow Telescope, a 20-inch unit housed in an Ash dome. Visitors can look through these instruments during Star Parties, though only a selection is open to the public at each program. Common targets include planets and galaxies. The Wren-Marcario Accessible Telescope was built with a fixed eyepiece and concrete pad so that wheelchair users can take part. Many instruments were funded by private donors, and the park's public observatory dates to 1988.
The closest stops to Rebecca Gale Telescope Park, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.
Drive the CCC's Skyline Drive to mountain overlooks, hike to Fort Davis, and stay up for dark West Texas skies or a night at the adobe Indian Lodge.
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A preserved frontier Army post in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, run by the National Park Service.
9.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
A West Texas state park built around a huge spring-fed pool where you can swim, snorkel and scuba dive in clear desert water.
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Take a guided tour of large installations by Donald Judd, Dan Flavin and other artists on a former Army post in Marfa.
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A roadside viewing area on U.S. 90 east of Marfa where you scan the dark desert horizon after sunset for the Marfa Mystery Lights.
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Pull over on a lonely stretch of US-90 to see a sealed Prada storefront sculpture standing alone in the desert.
30 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing