Small Towns in a Big State

December 17-26, 2018
Brackettville - Marathon, Texas

Monday we arrive at Fort Clark Springs RV Park - the historic fort being the only thing here except for a gas station/convenience store and two little eateries. The fort is also home to the majority of residents in what are now private properties. It's definitely "different". 

Narrow asphalt interior roads lead to asphalt tight sites. Level with 50 amp FHUs and a nice green area out our front window. Maybe ten of the 85 sites are for over-nights, the rest are all working permanent residents. No idea where they work, there's nothing here.

Thought we'd visit Kickipoo Caverns State Park, but it's closed this week for hunting. Again, "different". I'm disgusted to see there is a trophy hunting ranch outside of town. All of the land is owned by a handful of ranches leaving zero access to anywhere off the state highways.

We do take a couple drives, and chill out at home before moving on.

A lone hawk surveys the area.

This Oryx herd is fortunately not on the trophy ranch, so they may be strays or rescues.

Their horns can't be easy to navigate in the thick Mesquite.

Several Armadillos along the roadside - they're so weird looking!

A handsome bull - one of very few cattle on all of this ranch land.

A herd of pretty Chital (axis deer) visit us at the RV park.

We fail to successfully get ahead of the wind on Wednesday morning, and I fight it all the way to Marathon, Texas. For the first time in months we see real mountains - and we're happy to be back in the West! Crossings at Seminole Canyon and the Pecos River are especially beautiful.

After reading Laurel's post (Raven and Chickadee) about the quirky little towns of Marathon and Terlingua they visited last year at this time, I was happy to route us here. We love quirky!

Marathon Motel and RV is a cute little dirt park at the edge of "town". We score the end site with wide open views and lovely sunsets. Level with FHUs and sporadic park WiFi, it's very dark and quiet. There's a train less than 200 yards from us, but we love the whistle and rumble so it's a plus for us :-)

Normally they do star-gazing from the beautiful courtyard, but with the bright full moon, and the very cold night time temps, nobody comes out.


With more fenced-off private land, we probably could have done just a couple days in Marathon, but we're here for six, and of course we make the best of it!

Post Park, a small desert oasis 5 miles south.

As soon as we park the welcoming committee waddles right to the Jeep. They make a u-turn when Tessa pokes her head out the window. She never bothers them as we explore.

Love the 'do'.

On the way to Alpine we stop by the world's smallest Target. In 2016, unknown persons adorned this tiny cinder block building on US 90 with the familiar store logo. You can find it on TripAdvisor's list of Things to Do in Marathon :-)

It's a long drive, but we make our way to the Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area so we can "get behind the fence". All to ourselves, we enjoy the quiet and getting some dirt on the tires.

Happy to have mountains in our views again!

Yuccas blooming among the gold grass.

A bright spot of winter orange.

Texas still-life in the abandoned orchard.

Pretty long views on our way home.

Winter Solstice full moon.

Later the western skies steal the show.

Although the train moves rapidly through Marathon now, and there are only a couple small cattle herds visible, Marathon was established in 1882 as a major shipping and supply depot for local ranchers. During the Mexican Revolution, Captain Douglas MacArthur moved troops into the area to aid civil authorities in maintaining order. He was later replaced by Lt. George S. Patton. A little place prepared some very big names for bigger battles!

Many industries, including a short oil boom, came and went and the population fluctuated between 218 and 1,000 over the decades.

Today 462 residents live in what has become little more than the "gateway to Big Bend National Park".

The Eagle was the only local newspaper in Marathon - from 1908-1912.

Lovely Christmas window at one of three main street shops.

Built in 1927 by local rancher Alfred Gage, it is now owned by Stephen Austin descendant JP Bryan who has restored it to a beautiful western destination. Zane Grey is said to have written one of his famous novels while staying here.

The hotel grounds offer a beautiful setting in the center of town.

How we like our holiday crowds!

Gage Gardens offer a pretty place for walking - even in the sparse winter season.

It's not the beach, but big lawn zoomies are fun too!

A fun character with wild hair!

This straw-bale B&B is a bright beauty in an otherwise brown setting.

A drive north on Hwy 385, we find a dirt road that takes us into a pretty canyon and around a few smaller ranches. We spend the afternoon exploring - finding a surprising number of critters along the way.

Small bison herd.

Touches of color along the canyon.

Easy to see why they're called Mule Deer.

Ears nearly as big as the rack!

Even a cattle tank can be pretty in the desert.

A rare "push me-pull you" - so clean and shiny! 

Prairie Dogs pop up for a quick peek.

A large shadow ship passes beyond the dark waves.

We love spending part of Christmas morning on Skype with Ezra and his family. Hard not to be there in person, but it's fun to share his excitement.

Showing us some of his goodies.

We enjoy a lovely Christmas evening at the Gage Hotel with delicious Prickly Pear margaritas (as recommended by Laurel) and a couple exceptional dinners.

Lots of family Christmas fun - including an engagement - Congrats Corey and Christie!

Next stop the breath-taking Big Bend National Park!