Big Bend National Park -2003

Kevin Ferguson and I joined up with the D.A.M.N.group in Ft.Worth early in the morning on May 1st for departure to West Texas. We rode straight to Pecos, Texas on I-20 with a stop in Midland for lunch and a visit to the Texas Confederate Air Museum. A place worth the stop. I ran out of gas somewhere west of Sweetwater and limped into a gas station on reserve. The highway west of Midland was rutted from the big trucks and hot weather, making it necessary to stay in the left lane. If you got into one of the truck grooves it was difficult to get out. We cut south from Pecos to Ft. Davis where we spent the night.

The next morning we rode the Davis Mountain Loop. Stopped to visit and tour the McDonald Observatory and rode to the highest point on the Texas highway system in the process. After making the loop, which is about 90 miles, we gassed up and rode to Alpine where we stopped for lunch. At this point Kevin and I split off from the group, which went east to Marathon. Kevin and I rode back west to Marfa and then south to Presidio. Presidio is the closest thing to the edge of the earth in the continental U.S. Not a place you want to spend a lot of time. From Presidio we turned east on the Texas River Road, considered one of the ten most scenic roads in North America. After a short stop in Lajitas we rode on to Study Butte where we checked into a motel.

The third day Kevin and I rode every paved road in Big Bend National Park and managed to get in some hiking while we were at it. Temperature hit 110 in the sun. We got an early start the next morning and rode hard to Marathon and to Sanderson. From Sanderson we turned north and took a Farm to Market road to I-10 to Sonora. Turned north to Ft McKavitt, Brady, Comanche,Stephenville, and I-20 to home. Ride home was a fast 675 miles. We had great weather the whole trip. If you have never been to Big Bend it is a great place to visit, either by motorcycle or car,as long as you go in the early fall or late spring. Heat in the summer months makes it impossible to enjoy the sights and trails.

Route Map

Trip Pics