Cornelius Amann
October 06, 2026
5/5
West Texas: Big Bend, Marfa and Fort Davis
6 days from El Paso to Midland: two nights in Marfa for Chinati and the mystery lights, a star party at McDonald Observatory from Fort Davis, then two nights in Big Bend country for Santa Elena Canyon, the Window and the Hot Springs.
6 days · El Paso to Midland · up to 12 guests
The Chisos Basin in Big Bend National Park, seen from the Emory Peak Trail Photo: Yinan Chen, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gfp-texas-big-bend-national-park-lodge-from-the-mountain.jpg)
The facts
At a glance
- Length
- 6 days, 5 nights
- Start and end
- El Paso to Midland
- Group size
- 7 to 12 guests
- Longest drive
- 4.5 h on day 6
- Activity level
Moderate
Walks of up to about 3 km on most days, on gravel paths and desert trails. The Santa Elena Canyon trail is about 2.6 km return with paved steps up and a creek crossing that can be muddy. The one longer walk, the Window Trail on day 5, is about 9 km return with about 300 m of climbing on the way back, at about 1,650 m; an easy paved loop of 0.5 km sees the same view. Marfa, Fort Davis and the Chisos Basin sit between about 1,450 m and 1,650 m and McDonald Observatory at about 2,070 m, so you may feel short of breath at first. You can stay with the vehicle at any stop.
- Meals included
- 5 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 2 dinners
- Room of your own
- + CAD 590 (estimated price)
- Season
- February to April, October to November
Highlights
Why this trip
- Prada Marfa on US 90, then the Marfa Lights Viewing Area after dark on the first night
- Donald Judd's 100 aluminium boxes in the old artillery sheds at the Chinati Foundation
- A star party at McDonald Observatory, under one of the darkest skies in the continental US
- The officers' row at Fort Davis, a frontier fort where the Buffalo Soldiers served
- Santa Elena Canyon, where the Rio Grande leaves a 450 m deep slot between Texas and Mexico
- The Window Trail from the Chisos Basin at 8 am, before the heat
- A soak in the 40 C Hot Springs at the edge of the Rio Grande
- Sunset and a farewell dinner in the Terlingua ghost town
What makes this trip different
Short drives, all published
Every drive is listed day by day. The longest is 4.5 h, on day 6.
Free time is part of the plan
Free time and choices are marked on the days they fall.
Solo without the penalty
A room of your own is + CAD 590 (estimated price).
Day by day
Itinerary
The longest drive is 4.5 h, on day 6.
Tap any stop on the map to open that dayClick any stop on the map to open that day
El Paso to Marfa
El Paso International Airport to Van Horn on I-10, then US 90 past Prada Marfa to Marfa; the Marfa Lights Viewing Area after dark
- Lunch in Van Horn and welcome dinner
- Stay in Marfa
- Drive about 3.5 h
Fly into El Paso International Airport (ELP) and land by about 11 am. Your guide and driver meet you at arrivals and we head east on I-10 across the Chihuahuan Desert, with the Franklin Mountains behind us and Mexico a few kilometres to the south.
Afternoon
Lunch is a sit-down meal in Van Horn, about two hours on. From there US 90 runs southeast along the railway through ranch country, and outside the hamlet of Valentine we stop at Prada Marfa, a sealed shop front built in 2005 by the artists Elmgreen and Dragset, alone by the highway. Somewhere along this road the clock jumps an hour to Central Time.
Evening
We reach Marfa in the late afternoon, check in and meet for a welcome dinner. After dark we drive about 15 minutes east to the Marfa Lights Viewing Area, where people have reported unexplained lights over the Mitchell Flat for more than a century. Some nights they appear and some nights they do not; the stars are worth the trip either way.
Included
- Pick-up at El Paso International Airport (ELP)
- Lunch in Van Horn
- Prada Marfa
- Welcome dinner in Marfa
- The Marfa Lights Viewing Area after dark
Activity: Plan to land at ELP by about 11 am Mountain Time; you lose an hour crossing into Central Time. The drive has few services and no phone signal in places.
Marfa: Chinati and Donald Judd
Marfa: the Chinati Foundation, then the Judd Foundation in town
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Marfa
- Drive about 18 min
In the 1970s the artist Donald Judd left New York for Marfa, bought buildings in town and, later, much of a disused army post on its southern edge, Fort D.A. Russell. The Chinati Foundation opened there in 1986.
Morning
This morning a Chinati guide takes us through its permanent works: 100 untitled boxes in mill aluminium, each a different arrangement of the same outer size, lined up in two former artillery sheds whose garage doors Judd replaced with long windows, so the boxes change with the light. Outside, 15 large concrete works run across the grass in a line about a kilometre long.
Afternoon
Lunch is a sit-down meal in town. In the afternoon the Judd Foundation shows us part of Judd's own home and studio in Marfa, where he set out his furniture, books and art exactly as he wanted them kept.
Evening
The evening is free to walk the town's galleries, bookshops and bars, most of them within a few blocks of the Presidio County Courthouse.
Included
- Guided tour of the Chinati Foundation, including the 100 aluminium works and the outdoor concrete works
- Sit-down lunch in Marfa
- Guided tour of the Judd Foundation in Marfa
Easier option: The concrete works can be seen from the path near the entrance rather than walked end to end.
More active option: Walk the full line of concrete works, about 1 km each way across open grass.
Free time: Evening free in Marfa
Activity: Chinati and Judd tours are on foot and indoors and out, for about two hours each; photography rules differ by building.
Fort Davis and the star party
Marfa to Fort Davis, then the Davis Mountains and the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center; McDonald Observatory in the evening
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Fort Davis
- Drive about 2 h
A short drive north takes us up into the Davis Mountains, a range of volcanic rock and grassland where the air is cooler than on the desert floor. We drive the Skyline Drive in Davis Mountains State Park for the view over Fort Davis and the plains, then walk the gardens of the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center, where labelled cactus and succulent beds explain the plants we will see all week.
Afternoon
Lunch is in Fort Davis, a small town with old stone and adobe buildings along its main street, and the afternoon is free to rest at the hotel.
Evening
We eat an early dinner together, because the evening is the reason for this stop. About 30 minutes up TX 118, McDonald Observatory stands on Mount Locke at about 2,070 m, in one of the darkest skies in the continental US. At the star party, astronomers point out constellations and planets with a laser and let us look through telescopes. Dress warmly: it is cold up there even in April.
Included
- Skyline Drive in Davis Mountains State Park
- Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Gardens
- Sit-down lunch in Fort Davis
- Early dinner in Fort Davis
- McDonald Observatory star party
Optional experiences
- The McDonald Observatory daytime tour, with a look at the large research telescopes (price shown at booking)
Easier option: Stay on the level paths near the nature center building.
More active option: The nature center's hiking trail into Modesta Canyon, about 2 km with a short climb.
Free time: Afternoon free in Fort Davis
Activity: Star parties are cancelled in cloud; if that happens we offer the observatory's indoor programme and try a dark-sky stop from Fort Davis instead. Bring a warm jacket and hat.
Fort Davis to Big Bend and Santa Elena Canyon
Fort Davis National Historic Site, then Alpine and TX 118 to Study Butte; Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to Santa Elena Canyon; Terlingua
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Terlingua
- Drive about 4 h
We are at Fort Davis National Historic Site when it opens. The army built the fort in 1854 to guard the road from San Antonio to El Paso, and it stayed until 1891; regiments of Black soldiers, the Buffalo Soldiers, served here after the Civil War. Walk the officers' row below the cliffs and step inside the restored barracks.
Afternoon
Then we drive south through Alpine and down TX 118, about two hours of open desert with almost no phone signal, to Study Butte for a sit-down lunch and a rest in the heat. In the late afternoon we enter Big Bend National Park and take the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive past the Mule Ears and Tuff Canyon to Santa Elena Canyon, where the Rio Grande comes out of a slot about 450 m deep, with Mexico on the far wall. The trail climbs paved steps, then follows the river into the canyon until the walls close in. We return on the gravel Old Maverick Road. At about four hours, this is a full driving day.
Included
- Fort Davis National Historic Site
- Sit-down lunch in Study Butte
- Big Bend National Park entry
- Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive with stops at the Mule Ears and Tuff Canyon overlooks
- Santa Elena Canyon trail with your guide
Easier option: Watch the canyon mouth from the overlook by the car park, with no creek crossing or steps.
More active option: Walk the full Santa Elena Canyon trail, about 2.6 km return, to where it ends at the river.
Free time: Early afternoon rest in Study Butte
Activity: Reaching the canyon trail means crossing Terlingua Creek, usually dry or ankle-deep but muddy or impassable after rain; your guide decides on the day. From TX 118 onwards there is no phone signal for most of the day.
The Chisos Basin, the Hot Springs and Terlingua
Terlingua to the Chisos Basin and the Window Trail, then east to the Hot Springs on the Rio Grande; back to the Terlingua ghost town
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Terlingua
- Drive about 3 h
We leave early for the Chisos Basin, a bowl in the middle of the park's only mountain range at about 1,650 m, and start the Window Trail at about 8 am, while it is cool. The trail drops through oak and juniper to a narrow pour-off where the whole basin drains through a gap in the rock, framing the desert far below; the climb back up is the hard part.
Afternoon
Lunch is in the Basin. In the afternoon we drive east to the Hot Springs, where a short path passes an old post office and the ruins of an early bathhouse to a stone pool at the edge of the Rio Grande, fed by a spring at about 40 C. Soak with Mexico a few metres away across the river. On the way back we stop at an overlook into Boquillas Canyon if time allows.
Evening
We end the day in the Terlingua ghost town, a mercury-mining town left almost empty in the 1940s, for sunset over the Chisos and a farewell dinner.
Included
- The Window View Trail or the Window Trail in the Chisos Basin with your guide
- Lunch in the Chisos Basin
- The Hot Springs historic district and a soak in the spring
- Sunset in the Terlingua ghost town
- Farewell dinner
Optional experiences
- Crossing the Rio Grande by rowboat to the village of Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico, through the official port of entry (passport needed; price shown at booking)
Easier option: The paved Window View Trail, a 0.5 km loop with the same view through the gap, then coffee in the Basin.
More active option: The full Window Trail, about 9 km return with about 300 m of climbing on the way back, about three hours.
Free time: Late afternoon free before sunset
Activity: Carry at least 2 litres of water on the Window Trail. The last stretch of road to the Hot Springs is narrow and unpaved. There is no phone signal in most of the park.
Terlingua to Midland
Terlingua to Alpine on TX 118, US 67 to Fort Stockton, then I-20 to Midland International Air and Space Port
- Breakfast and lunch
- Drive about 4.5 h
This is the one day over our four-hour driving cap: there is no short way out of Big Bend country, and ending at Midland is about an hour and a half shorter than going back to El Paso. We break it up.
Morning
After breakfast we drive north on TX 118 across the desert to Alpine, a college town with good coffee, for a stop of about half an hour.
Afternoon
From there we cross the high grassland to Fort Stockton, where a sit-down lunch splits the day, and we look at Comanche Springs, now dry, which once fed a frontier fort and the Comanche trail north. The last stretch runs across the oil country of the Permian Basin, flat and busy with pump jacks, to Midland International Air and Space Port (MAF), arriving about 3:30 pm. Your guide sees you to the terminal before saying goodbye. If you are flying on to San Antonio for our Hill Country trip, flights connect through Dallas or Houston.
Included
- Coffee stop in Alpine
- Sit-down lunch in Fort Stockton
- Drop-off at Midland International Air and Space Port (MAF)
Activity: Book a flight leaving MAF after about 5:30 pm Central Time. The first two hours have little or no phone signal.
- El Pasostart
- Marfa2 nights
- Fort Davis1 night
- Terlingua2 nights
- Midlandend
- Overnight stop
- Day trip
- By boat or train
Wildlife and weather: February to April and October to November are the months for this trip: days of about 20 to 30 C in Big Bend, cooler in Marfa and Fort Davis, and nights that can drop near freezing at altitude. Spring brings cactus and ocotillo blooms and the busiest weeks, around spring break in March. From May to September the river level of Big Bend is often over 40 C, so we do not run then. Roadrunners, javelinas, mule deer and many desert birds are seen often; black bears live in the Chisos but are seen rarely. Sightings are never promised.
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Before you book
Right for you?
Good for you if you want
- Travellers who want Big Bend, Marfa and the dark skies in under a week, without driving the empty roads themselves
- Art lovers curious about Donald Judd and Chinati, with time to see them properly
- Stargazers: a full star party and two nights in Big Bend country
- Walkers who like a choice between a short trail and a longer hike each day
Not for you if you want
- Travellers who need a phone signal all day
- Summer travel: we do not run from May to September, when Big Bend passes 40 C
- Long backcountry hikes or river trips on the Rio Grande; ask about a private version
- Anyone who wants big-city nightlife; evenings here are quiet
Book flights after we confirm your seat.
5 nights
Where you'll stay
Your hotels are named in your trip confirmation.
- Marfa2 nights
- Fort Davis1 night
- Terlingua2 nights
One price
What's in the price
Included
Accommodation
- 5 nights: 2 in Marfa, 1 in Fort Davis, 2 in Terlingua or the Chisos Basin
- Hotels of a 3-star-plus standard with private bathrooms in Marfa and Fort Davis, and the best available in Big Bend country, where lodging is simpler; we name each hotel when we confirm your dates
- Rooms shared, or your own for a supplement
Transport
- Pick-up at El Paso International Airport (ELP) on day 1 and drop-off at Midland International Air and Space Port (MAF) on day 6, at set group times
- A private van and professional driver for the group from day 1 to day 6, sized for the group
- Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, the Chisos Basin road and the Hot Springs road in our own vehicle
Your guide
- A See Sight Tours guide with the group from the day 1 pick-up to the day 6 drop-off
- A Chinati Foundation guide and a Judd Foundation guide in Marfa
- Observatory staff at the star party
Activities
- Prada Marfa, on US 90 near Valentine
- The Marfa Lights Viewing Area
- Guided tour of the Chinati Foundation in Marfa
- Guided tour of the Judd Foundation in Marfa
- Skyline Drive in Davis Mountains State Park
- Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Gardens, near Fort Davis
- McDonald Observatory star party
- Fort Davis National Historic Site
- Big Bend National Park entry
- Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive and the Santa Elena Canyon trail
- The Window Trail or Window View Trail in the Chisos Basin
- The Hot Springs on the Rio Grande
- Sunset in the Terlingua ghost town
Meals
- 5 breakfasts
- 6 sit-down lunches, one on every day
- 3 dinners: a welcome dinner in Marfa, an early dinner in Fort Davis before the star party and a farewell dinner in Terlingua
Not included
- Flights to El Paso and from Midland
- Travel insurance
- Passport, and an ESTA or US visa where needed
- Dinners on days 2 and 4
- Drinks
- Tips for your guide and driver
- Optional activities, such as the McDonald Observatory daytime tour or the Boquillas crossing into Mexico
- Personal expenses
- Hotel nights before day 1 or after day 6
Extras
- Room of your own
- CAD 590 (estimated price)
When you can go
Dates and prices
Pick your start date when you request to book. We check that date and confirm it in your quote.
Prefer to travel without a group or guide? Ask us about arranging hotels, transport and city tours for you to travel independently.
Before you book
Booking terms
Nothing is charged now. Full terms and the cancellation schedule come with your quote, before you accept.
Business addresses
See Sight Tours Trips (USA): 3172 N Rainbow Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89108, United StatesSee Sight Tours Trips (Canada): 5305 50 Avenue, #1091, Red Deer, AB T4N 4B6, Canada+1-888-961-6584Guest reviews
What guests say
Reviews from guests on our day tours.
Jane
October 06, 2026
5/5
Susan
October 06, 2026
5/5
Tom L
October 05, 2026
5/5
MandL83
October 05, 2026
5/5
Darren O
October 05, 2026
5/5
Good to know
Questions
What does the West Texas trip price include?
Five nights in hotels, 5 breakfasts, 6 lunches and 3 dinners, airport transfers at El Paso and Midland, a private van and driver, your See Sight Tours guide throughout, guided Chinati and Judd tours in Marfa, the McDonald Observatory star party, and entry to Fort Davis National Historic Site and Big Bend National Park. Flights, drinks, tips and two dinners are extra.
How big is the group?
The small-group trip runs with 7 to 12 guests in one van sized for the group, so everyone has a window on the long desert roads and the whole group fits at one table, which matters in small towns like Fort Davis and Terlingua.
Who leads the trip?
A See Sight Tours guide travels with you from the El Paso pick-up to the Midland drop-off, with a professional driver. In Marfa, guides from the Chinati and Judd foundations lead those tours, and observatory staff run the star party. We name your guide when we confirm your departure.
How fit do I need to be?
Moderately. Most walks are up to about 3 km on gravel and desert trails, at altitudes between about 1,450 m and 2,070 m. The Window Trail is the one longer hike, about 9 km with a 300 m climb back, and it has a paved 0.5 km alternative with the same view. You can stay with the van at any stop.
I am travelling solo. What is the single supplement?
A room of your own is from CAD 590 more, about 17 percent of the trip price, shown next to the shared price before you book. If you would like to share, tell us when you request to book and we will tell you whether another solo traveller on your departure wants to share.
When is the best time to visit Big Bend and Marfa?
February to April and October to November. Days are warm and nights cool, and spring adds cactus blooms. Big Bend often passes 40 C from May to September, so we do not run then. March around spring break is the busiest time in the park, so book early for those weeks.
Is there phone signal in Big Bend?
Mostly not. There is no mobile signal on long stretches of US 90 and TX 118 and in most of Big Bend National Park, sometimes for several hours. Your guide knows the roads and where the signal returns. Hotels have Wi-Fi, slow in places. Give family your hotel list before you leave.
Will we see the Marfa lights?
Maybe. We go to the official viewing area east of Marfa after dark on the first night, and some people see unexplained lights over the flats while others see only car headlights and stars. Nobody can promise them, and the night sky out there is worth the 15-minute drive either way.
How does booking work?
Choose a departure and request to book. We check availability and provide the final quote, itinerary and booking terms before you accept. No payment is taken when you send the request. Prices are per person sharing, with taxes included.
Can we travel privately or on our own dates?
Yes. Besides the small group, the trip runs as a private trip for your party only, with your own guide and van, on a date you choose, from CAD 6,265 per person. If you would rather travel independently on your own dates, ask us from the dates section and we will quote hotels and transfers.
Do I need a visa, and can we cross into Mexico?
Canadian citizens need only a valid passport. Most visitors from Europe, Australia and New Zealand need an ESTA, and others need a US visa. The optional Boquillas crossing into Mexico on day 5 uses an official port of entry, so bring your passport and check your re-entry rules before you travel.
Can I combine this with the Texas Hill Country trip?
Yes. Our San Antonio, Hill Country and Austin trip starts in San Antonio, a short flight from Midland through Dallas or Houston. Ask when you request to book and we will line up the dates and a hotel night between the two trips.
See Sight Tours has been providing travel services across North America since 2006. Operating in 20 cities across Canada and the USA, the company specializes in small group tours that offer personalized, high-quality experiences for travelers.
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