Will be there a couple of days next month. Taking 4-wheelers, which aren't allowed in Big Bend. Looking for suggestions!

Staying at the Gage Hotel.

You could go for a run.

https://www.yelp.com/city/marathon-tx-us

aTm2004 said:

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You could go for a run.

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We'll be there again this year.

Tell them you're from California. The locals LOVE hearing that........

A friend of mine told me that there is a natural park nearby, I am assuming Fort Pena Colorado Park? Said that lots of wildlife to see there. He said it was a good spot to go watch for critters as the sun goes down. Sadly, I've never been.

I usually stop by Brick Vault BBQ & Brewery on my way to Apline. It's right next door to the Gage and a decent meal if you're not eating at the hotel. Not a whole lot going on in Marathon though. Could always go laugh at hippies from Austin in Marfa.

Make sure you say it, "Marathin"

I think there is some kind of big crater cone out that way.

we'll be there this fall. we have the mcdonald observatory on our to-do list.

A couple weeks ago we hiked Guadalupe Peak and camped there a couple nights, swam Balmorhea and spent a night at Davis Mountains SP.

Love me some west Texas.

you can stop 6 or 7 miles north of marathon and watch the prairie dogs. Most people don't even know they are there as they blow by at 90 mile per hour.

Brick Vault is solid. Its not the best bbq or the best beer, but it's good. And somehow everything tastes better out in the Bend.

Drinks at the White Buffalo Bar in the evening.

Take a walk through the Gage Gardens (across the RR tracks). There's a HUGE area behind the main gardens with a "running/walking" path, which is off-leash if you have a dogs with you. There's also a pond back there that they can swim in to cool off.

There's not much to Fort Pena Colorado, but you can fish there or you could go watch for wildlife.

You could drive west on 90 and stop at "target."

If you venture outside of Marathon, there's all kinds of stuff to do.

I love The Gage. Stay in the Portales. Float in the pool while drinking. Take a nap, maybe sex if you're lucky. Start drinking at the White Buffalo. Eat dinner then sit outside and watch the stars and drink some more. Go to bed and have sex if you're lucky.

Rinse and repeat

Stayed at the Gage two weeks ago on the way to Big Bend. Great hotel, food was very good and the bar very good. There was a nice coffee and breakfast cafe very close. A couple of art galleries. Not much else in the town but I will go back.

It's been a long time since we've stayed there but there was a really nice gym across the highway and train tracks. Is it still there?

Yes

The state has a spot on Hwy 90 about twenty miles east of Marfa for viewing the Marfa Lights. Believe or don't believe it's still pretty cool. It has three or four sets of no cost mounted optics but I always bring my own. If you have night vision optics even better. It can get pretty spooky out there if there's no moon.

Stay at the Gage. Stay in the old hotel. My wife and I saw apparitions the night we stayed. Didn't tell each other till the morning time. My wife is Hispanic and talked to some of the cleaning ladies and they told her stories from what they have seen and other guests have seen

A good time will be had by all at the White Buffalo Bar and Gage Hotel. Really neat place in the middle of nowhere.

It's a "best kept secret" kind of a deal, but if you want to get out in the desert, check out the Black Gap Wildlife Mgmt Area (55 miles south of Marathon). If you keep driving past the gate on FM 2627 you'll dead-end into a now closed Int'l bridge and you can look across at the old mining ghost town of La Linda. The Black Gap is over 100K acres that you pretty much have free range on, miles and miles of roads and I don't believe it's restricted for 4 wheelers. We had several jeeps when we went quail hunting out there a few times. Beautiful but very rugged country so let someone know where you're going and keep up with the road you're on. I'd call ahead for details just to be sure. IINM you put your info on a card and drop it in a box to register. The various gates are open unless it's changed. If you carry, that might not be a bad idea either since it borders the river for miles and miles.

I'm not as familiar with Elephant Mountain WMA but it's within an hour of so southwest of Marathon.

A friend lives out there in case you want more info, send me a PM and I'll help if I can.

Elephant Mountain is a few miles past the border checkpoint on Hwy 118. You can drive up to a certain area and walk around, but can't access the top due to protecting the desert big horn sheep. TPWD will catch and transport big horn over to Black Gap to help with the populations. Definitely not as vast as Black Gap.

Stagecoach said:

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Will be there a couple of days next month. Taking 4-wheelers, which aren't allowed in Big Bend. Looking for suggestions!

Staying at the Gage Hotel.

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Hope you already have a place to ride those things.
Most ranchers I know aren't very high on them!

Jack Squat 83 said:

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A good time will be had by all at the White Buffalo Bar and Gage Hotel. Really neat place in the middle of nowhere.

It's a "best kept secret" kind of a deal, but if you want to get out in the desert, check out the Black Gap Wildlife Mgmt Area (55 miles south of Marathon). If you keep driving past the gate on FM 2627 you'll dead-end into a now closed Int'l bridge and you can look across at the old mining ghost town of La Linda. The Black Gap is over 100K acres that you pretty much have free range on, miles and miles of roads and I don't believe it's restricted for 4 wheelers. We had several jeeps when we went quail hunting out there a few times. Beautiful but very rugged country so let someone know where you're going and keep up with the road you're on. I'd call ahead for details just to be sure. IINM you put your info on a card and drop it in a box to register. The various gates are open unless it's changed. If you carry, that might not be a bad idea either since it borders the river for miles and miles.

I'm not as familiar with Elephant Mountain WMA but it's within an hour of so southwest of Marathon.

A friend lives out there in case you want more info, send me a PM and I'll help if I can.

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Pretty neat down there.

Is this a private airport?
Dropped pin
Near Brewster County, TX
https://goo.gl/maps/CT56h8bgMvUNteA1A

https://visitbigbend.com/big-bend-post-park-marathon-tx/

My wife is from out there. If you cross the tracks right across from the Gage there is road that goes down to a place they call "The Post". There is a creek and small pond there that some really big mule deer come down to water at. If memory serves me correctly it is about 5 miles down a small road from the Gage. I am sure you can ask the locals where "The Post" is and they will give you directions. The locals hold family reunions and dances
down there regularly.

Edited to add a link to "The Post".

Here?


https://maps.google.com?q=30.1535030,-103.2872742&hl=en-US&gl=us

Naveronski said:

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Here?


https://maps.google.com?q=30.1535030,-103.2872742&hl=en-US&gl=us

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I posted a link to it above.

Heading to a ranch we just leased east of valentine this weekend. Excited to get out there and do some exploring before the muley season starts up.

The post is the same park as fort pena Colorado, mentioned a couple times above.

AggieOO said:

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The post is the same park as fort pena Colorado, mentioned a couple times above.

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Yeah, after I looked at the maps I saw the correlation. I had just always heard it referred to as "The Post". I have been to my wife's family reunions there many times. Her grandparents are buried in the cemetery that is on the right when you are on your way down there. Pretty neat little place.

definitely a cool little place. With everything else in the Big Bend region, it gets overlooked. I mean, its no Chisos Basin or Balmorhea, but its a nice little desert oasis.

I've been taking 385 to 90 on my drive to Alpine lately. Like OO said, there's a good chance to see pronghorn, elk and prairie dogs down 385 versus 67 to Alpine.

I've stayed at the Gage before and we hit the White Buffalo nightly for drinks and dinner. This was on a free-range elk hunt with a buddy in Jan 2018 at one of the nearby sprawling ranches. He harvested a 330"+ 8x7 with Calan Ahrens formerly of Wildlife Systems who now runs his own outfit. We saw pronghorn on the drive in only. The hunt revealed plentiful Elk and Barbary Sheep, and prairie dogs all over the area where we staged for the hunt. The only mule deer we saw was in town by the railroad tracks and it was a nice buck.

The demands of the hunt left us with no time to take in the other area attractions. I've been looking at Black Gap WMA for a day/evening excursion. As I read it, 4-wheelers are only allowed for mobility challenged hunters. Being that this is during the slowest time of the year and far out of season, I'm hoping we can get around that. We've got plenty of 4x4 trucks, but no hunting jeeps so wheelers seem like the best option for getting around.

The runway you see is on a section of land on the US side where the company management lived for the mine operations across the river. I'm 99% sure the company was US owned. There's a main house and multiple living quarters(apartments) on that property, although their condition was deteriorating over time. Not sure what it's like now.

Anyone crossed over to Ojinaga from Presidio?

I looked into it when we were there and it didn't look like it was worth the time.

From Fort Stockton so I've been all over that country. Crossed there many times. El Mexico de Ayer.