We stayed here 8/9 and 8/10, a last-minute change from other reservations we had in the area. This is a wonderful state park, as other reviewers have adequately noted. I can't add anything, other than in looking at the park and some of the old buildings (such as the Indian Lodge), one has to marvel at the work completed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in building this and other state parks. Our particular RV site was likely the best in the park as there were no other sites immediately around us (nope, I won't tell you the site #!). What I will comment on are the following items. There are limited full service sites with cable.....ours was a water/electric site only, which was fine. But if you must have cable, call early. Due to its location in a valley, there is no cell or wi-fi. And there are only two ways to get it....go into town, or take the hike on the Quail and Indian Lodge trails. That will put you on the top of the mountain. And the hike? It would be considered strenuous for some, quite steep in some areas, and I personally think longer than the mileage stated. Take plenty of water, as it is 3 +/- hours. We totally enjoyed it. Great park, very much recommended. read more

The hotel is underpriced. The restaurant boasts a cook who rivals your grandma in her prime. The setting is perfect, and quiet. read more

Davis Mountains State Park - Parks Near Me - Fort Davis, Texas

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I stay here by myself every other year. Great place to get away from the city and clear one's head. Fantastic hiking with amazing views. I usually come in August, and although it's warm, it's never too hot for a multi-hour hike. Warnings: In August, thunderstorms pop up out of nowhere. The radar will be totally clear when you start a hike, but two hours later you're scurrying for shelter and lightning is striking every five seconds. Also, on my most recent trip, I encountered a rattlesnake, scorpion, enormous centipede, fox, javalina, and skunk. Lots of nature surrounding you. Plan to eat at the Black Bear Restaurant. Amazing food, very surprising for a state park. read more

Had been through Ft. Davis nearly 20 years ago and wanted to make it back. Finally did and I am so glad I made time for it! I recommend all the trails, most are moderately challenging but you don't need to be a mountain goat. I also highly recommend the hike between the state park and the national park -- is about 8 miles there and back, and worth the views and the solitude. Bring lots of water. If you are a mountain biker or like to hike more challenging trails, give the Limpia Canyon trail a try. It is across Highway 118 and you'll need to check-in at the state park HQ first. There is no one on this trail which is fantastic, but be sure to bring plenty of water and possibly a first-aid kit. The mountain biking was quite challenging, but worth it and the downhill on return was an absolute blast! Thank you to all the men and women who work in our state parks, and thanks also to the previous generations who have put this land aside for all to enjoy! read more

Make sure you plan ahead and get reservations for the Indian large if you desire to stay there. They are booked all the time.

I was very disappointed by the park itself - this review doesn't include Indian Lodge or surrounding attractions. There were TONS of RVs and so much traffic we had trouble sleeping in our tent. The park hosts were more like park patrol units - they were included in the noisy traffic, driving by about twice an hour. They left us passage aggressive notes after one night of camping about "leaving our trash and storage bins out", so we decided to move over to Indian Lodge earlier than planned. This park has changed a lot in the last couple years.. I wouldn't say for the better. read more

I'm like to preface this with some context. My girlfriend and I go to state and national parks almost every weekend. We're big advocates and are always telling friends about new spots to check out. I've been to Davis Mountains State Park multiple times and stayed in the lodge multiple times. I'd like to note this review is specifically about the service experience we had with the park employee and not the park itself. I've always loved the park and think while Big Bend isn't too far away, Davis Mountains state park has a charm all its own that is worth seeking out. It's also right next to the beautiful scenic loop and Mcdonald Observatory. My girlfriend and I share a state parks pass. It's, specifically, in her name, and I understand going into this review that the rule is the pass holder must be present. With that said, no park employee has ever enforced that rule in the entire time that we've had the pass, and, furthermore, the enforcement of the rule isn't the entire root cause of this review. The main reason I'm taking time to write this is that I've never had a Texas state parks employee interact with me with such a condescending and impolite tone. I've gone over the interaction in my head multiple times trying to pinpoint what I might have done to warrant this type of treatment. I've concluded I didn't do anything in this situation and this being the only time I've been treated this way makes her the outlier here. Here's the situation. My girlfriend drove back the day before we went to Davis Mountains State Park. She had just gotten a new job and it dictated that she wouldn't be able to stay in West Texas to meet our 2 other friends driving from Austin. We were invited to an event in Marfa and had a day to explore some of the sights in the surrounding area. Neither of them had been to West Texas before, so I pushed for Davis Mountains, the scenic loop, and the Mcdonald observatory. Our main plan was the scenic loop since we didn't want to wear ourselves out hiking before the event in Marfa later that night. I mainly just wanted to show them the lodge and the Skyline Drive before we embarked on the scenic loop. As I've done plenty of times before, I went into the office and greeted the two women there. I explained that I had a parks pass and we were just going to be here for a little while during the day. no camping. I knew something was off when the employee seemed to slightly scoff when I explained I had a parks pass. This seemed strange to me. She asked me the usual questions about adults, children, pets, etc. I was forthcoming with each of them, but the questions were coming out in a more accusing tone than I'm used to. Finally, she swiped my parks pass and asked me who my girlfriend was. I explained it's my girlfriend's name and we typically share the pass since we both paid for it. We're usually together, but she couldn't make it this time due to extenuating circumstances. She curtly responded that I couldn't use the pass unless she was present. Now, I know this is the rule, but in all the time we've had the pass no one has ever made a big deal out of it. I made sure to explain this to her before I paid for 3 adults and left the office. This comes down to expectation. I understand that while no other park's employee has made it an issue in the past doesn't mean I should expect it to be the case in all situations. Regardless, my interaction with this employee was poor from the moment I walked in the door, so it felt more like her searching for a reason to be rude to me than someone simply enforcing the rules. I used to be an employee of a large tech company name after fruit, so, trust me, I've had to deal with entitled people before. In all the times I've visited other states parks including this one, multiple times before, have I been treated like I walked into the DPS and had to deal with an employee's crabby attitude. Anybody who has had to deal with this type of government employee otherwise would be able to imagine the contrast between a DPS worker and a parks employee. We were there less than hour with all things considered. With that said, that gave me plenty of time to consider whether I would drive six hours to be treated that way again. It certainly gives me pause when I consider whether I'll recommend people make the extra drive to go there in the future. The last thing I want is to hear from a friend that they drove 2 to 3 additional hours, from big bend, to check out a park I recommended and be treated this way. Had it not been for this interaction this would have been a five star review since I've enjoyed this park in all my other experiences otherwise. read more

Absolutely beautiful ! Very well maintained . I just moved to this area with my husband and this is our favorite spot!

Spent several days here in an RV. Was close enough to all we wanted to see and do and had all the conveniences for RV camping. Quiet and clean. Staff will look for ways to accommodate people. read more

Absolutely breathtaking views and clean air. The lodge is perfect for the area and great for a state park. Ft. Davis and observatory are close by. Hiking trails and birdwatching all around. read more

Love this place. I have been here at least once a year for the past fifteen years. Tent camping is good, if you like that sort if thing. If not, check out the Indian Lodge - ask for a room in the old part, which was a CCC project during the depression. But make reservations early as the place fills up fast. You can find the room layout online; use that to request specific rooms (I recommend room 123). read more

My dad and I had a great experience camping here in September. The whole area was far greener and more vegetated than I expected. We enjoyed a brisk morning hike up the Skyline trail with beautiful views of the area. I'd like to return sometime and hike some of the longer trails. They have quite a few of different lengths that cater to different abilities and time commitments. The campsites were roomy and noise was not a problem, even with a big cycling group nearby. I liked the bird viewing area with bird feeders and a fountain--if I'd had time, I would have grabbed a book and stayed longer. read more

As a local I am primarily reviewing the Black Bear Restaurant. The Park is great, I always enjoy visiting and of course the view from Skyline Drive. The restaurant is one of the hidden gems of Ft. Davis. The prices are reasonable and the quantity and quality of the food are excellent. One of the nice things about the Black Bear is that they have smaller portions available for those with smaller appetites, and the larger portions for us big eaters. Try the CCC sandwich, fried. A great big fried Chicken Breast on a homemade roll with all the trimmings. If you must it can be had grilled. The other steak and chicken entries are consistently good. The Mexican and Italian food can be a bit iffy, this is not their specialty. The salad bar is usually a bit tired, with limited selection. Overall, this is probably the highest ranking restaurant in Ft. Davis, if you include value, service, selection, and taste. read more

Neat state park tucked into a small valley in the Davis Mountains. Lots of mountain trails that aren't super rugged and most can be done in a couple of hours easily. Plenty of campsites and the lodge is also available. A very different Texas experience from what most Texans see in the big city, rolling plains, or hill country. read more

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Great step off point to visit the McDonald Observatory. We spent the night in the rv section. Very nice. Love the desert. The park hosts do a telescope sun observation and night star observations. Along with rescue dog trail walking sessions. We checked out the Indian Lodges and will return to stay there. read more

We stopped here for trail running on our way to Marfa and Big Bend. I'm not sure if that's advisable given their mountain lion warning, but we've only seen a javelina and deer. The eleven miles of trails are well maintained and have nice views. We paid $6 per person for the day pass. There are campsites and even a little hotel and restaurant if you'd like to stay. We didn't come here on our last trip out here, opting instead for the adjacent Fort Davis National Historical Site, which for roughly the same price gave us access to both the fort and similar trails. read more

I really like this park but I am disappointed that the park management does not enforce the limitations of campers per campsite. On one side of us, we had a family group come in and pitch three tents on one campsite and there were at least 15 people staying at the campsite. The night before there were several campers from various campsites congregated around 9:00 pm and the rangers were quick to curtail that party which we were grateful for. On Saturday night, the family of 15 or more, that moved in right at dusk partied and hooted and hollered and played music into the wee hours of the morning. We had a church youth group set up camp on the other side of us after dark, which was somewhat disruptive, however as soon as they got their tents set up, they were lights out and quiet...there were probably about 15-20 in that group. We know the rangers work hard, but we would appreciate them enforcing the rules equally across the board. read more

Bureaucratic Incompetence PROS: Hiking, close to McDonald Observatory, thorough ranger talks, good water. Beautiful scenery. CONS: Paid $20 too much due to state park reservation system bureaucratic incompetence*1. Too smokey due to a "Prescribed Burn" program in the park. No cell coverage*2. Picnic table on wrong side of rig. Unreliable electric pedestal: had to wiggle the connection to get it to work. Then the electric went up and down during the night, repeatedly tripping the transfer switch in the rig. I called maintenance and all they did was reset the breaker. It should have been replaced since it could damage the rig. Restaurants in the town of Fort Davis are expensive: $13 for a burger and milk shake meal and $18 for a gourmet burger meal. Boring downtown historic district walk: only three expensive specialty shops and some hotels were open: not unique, not interesting to us. Cops are crawling the town looking for the slightest infraction. There are flashing speed signs: I was one MPH over the limit, the sign flashed and and a cop got on my tail. He did not stop me though. Dump station and picnic table on wrong side. Not customer focused. *1 We had to make two reservations to stay two nights due to the prescribed burn program. Upon arrival, when we tried to settle this clerical mistake, they charged a $10 reservation change fee since the reservations were already made online. The ranger had no remorse that their incompetence that led to the overpayment and we were not happy. Their business motto is "Satisfaction not guaranteed". Texas State Parks charge a daily use fee PER HEAD: very expensive. For a family of five, this could cost up to $280 per week. *2 AT&T and Verizon coverage maps showed coverage in the campground. However the reality was ZERO coverage since the campground is in a "bowl" of mountains. read more

Great Park with awesome views. Stayed in a travel trailer in the electric/water/sewer/cableTV sites. Site was nice and clean with a good view. Slightly unlevel but not too bad. Electric was a bit too far from the site for my cord to reach. Cable box was in an awkward position on the other side of the site making it difficult to hook everything up. LOVED the weather....was 75-80 degrees all four days we were there, which is great considering it was the end of June. Good central area to stay in to experience Ft. Davis, McDonald Observatory, and Balmorhea Springs. Loved the mountain top drive and overlook areas..AWESOME VIEWS! Wife and kids loved the bird watching area. All in all a great park if your looking for piece and solitude. read more

The restaurant was still serving breakfast at 10:45 which we thought was great because we're late risers. The staff there are State Parks personnel and it was clear they were doing all they could although short-staffed to ensure we had a good stay at the Lodge. The food was basic but good and served quickly. read more

This is one of my favorite Texas State Parks to visit. Vistas are absolutely beautiful since the camp sites are located in a small valley. We just spent 6 nights camping in a RV in early May 2017. 50 Amp sites are spacious although some of the sewer dumps at the sites are not optimal since many are above the trailer dump outlet. Wildlife is abundant as we usually saw foxes, hummingbirds, and much more. It is also a short drive to the McDonald Observatory which I highly recommend if you are the least bit interested in astronomy. This was our second visit and it won't be our last. read more

A lot of the time folks gripe about petty stuff on these reviews. Please read this and know I will visit this park often. My wife and I spent a wonderful Fathers Day weekend at this park. The natural beauty is beyond description. On Father's Day (Sunday) we hiked some tough trails inside the park for 4.5 hours. I am 63 and use a cane. The staff (rangers and volunteers) looked out for us after another couple reported we seemed to be dehydrated. Linda Tyler a volunteer and Carmen Iniguer a ranger hiked up some steep slopes to check on us. They brought bottles of water that were much appreciated. Jason Corbin a ranger and EMT met us in the parking lot of the Indian Lodge with more water and a cold towel. I have never been the subject of a manhunt (sic) before. But they spent time looking for us on the mountain and only found us because my wife had on pink shorts. I am very impressed with the care and concern they took to be sure we were OK. They even came by the campsite that afternoon to be sure we were fine. The park is wonderful, the men and women that serve there are super Texans. read more

We ventured off of I-10 to go to the Ft. Davis State Park. We were traveling late at night and stopped to get out of the car to look at the sky. Oh my goodness! It was awesome, the sky so beautifully clear, like you could reach out and get into the Milky Way and the air so cool and clean!! I had read in the Austin Stateman about the Ft. Davis Military Hospital being restored with the hospital history of patients and medical instruments. The purpose of the stop was mainly to see the hospital and learn the medical history. Well, that didn't happen and was just a drop in the bucket in what we learned. If the building was 70% there, it was being restored. The signage and surroundings let you create an image of what it must have looked like. Families lived there and what strong people they were. The Fort was decommissions then reactivated before being decommissioned again. You can see the furniture, curtains, musical instruments, kitchen wear, military equipment, where the soldiers lived, etc. The hospital was great! What interesting peeks of the history of several patients, a woman and a sad story of a child. History of injuries and the surgeries performed.. A great lesson in our history of life in the west and medical progress. The admissions store had a very knowledgeable older ranger behind the counter. My husband is an reader and the ranger could give my husband input on the books available. It is too bad our school system doesn't educate us more about all the founders of our nation with information on Indians and Buffalo soldiers. My husband is reading "Comanches The History of a People" by TR Fehrenbach and keeps getting up to come to me with "Listen to this" "I never knew this" etc. He is an avid reader in our early American history to our present history but this trip has taken his reading in a different direction. He has 2 more book on the Apache and Buffalo Soldier to read.. He knew where the name Buffalo soldier came from. My book is on frontier medicine. I am sure that if we visited other little known areas in America, we would fine more true American history groups that is not covered or poorly covered in our school books. We plan to go back to the Observatory but are so glad that we visited the State Park. The town is small, plenty of places to stay, a LOT of history in a small area. The people are very nice and laid back. We enjoyed reading the other reviews which will give us more information for the next visit. Thank you all. read more