Big Bend National Park Motorcycle Ride Map Day 3
Below is my navigation system before GPS. I kept it on the gas tank for quick reference.
Day 3 Alpine , Ft Davis to Sanderson Hwy Miles
Alpine to Ft. Davis (118) 24 (Really nice ride)
Ft. Davis to McDonald Observ. (118) ~12 (~ are approximate)
McDonald Observ. To 166 loop (118) ~12
166 loop to 117 S. of Ft. Davis (166) ~51
Note: If we are low on gas, we can back track, a couple of miles, to
Ft. Davis for gas.
Ft. Davis to Marfa (117) 21 GAS (~109 miles)
Marfa to Alpine (90) 26
Alpine to Marathon (90) 38
Marathon to Sanderson (90) 54 GAS (118 miles)
Total ~238
Fort Davis National Historic Site
Officer Quarters at Fort Davis
We checked out of the hotel and rode up to Fort Davis, the highest town in Texas. What a beautiful ride it was up highway 118. We spent a couple of hours touring the fort. (This is Janet’s and my favorite fort to visit) If you haven’t ever been there you need to go. After that we rode up to McDonald Observatory. The road to the observatory is the highest paved road in Texas and another ride in the Davis Mountains. After stopping for a short tour we took the beautiful scenic loop 166 back to Marfa. Loop 166 was pretty, but we ran into some construction and had to ride several miles on deep gravelled road. That was not fun! It made for some intense riding. The scenery along 166 is beautiful but I didn’t see much of it… I was too busy keeping the bike on the straight and narrow. 😉 We managed to made it through without any mishaps.
Ivan Janet Ginny Gary McDonald Observatory
Our next stop was the Apache Trading Post west of Alpine. When Janet and I were here last September we stopped here and met a woman named Shirley. She and I got to talking about motorcycles. Turns out she used to ride and she told me I should ride out there sometime with Janet. So, of course, we had to stop by and tell her we had ridden out on the motorcycle. She thought it was great! We had a good time visiting with her. Shirley can also give you lots of information about the area and, of course, the Marfa Lights. We stopped at Jackassic Park (at the trading post) to visit old Pete. He’s the donkey that starred in the movie THE MEXICAN with Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. He sang for us. Then we headed out to Sanderson where we spent the night.
There is not much in Sanderson except the Budget Inn, a convenience store and the Red Dog Saloon. By then we were only looking for food and a place to sleep. The only food we found was at the convenience store. Slim pickin’s here.
Tomorrow we ride home via Langtry home to the infamous Judge Roy Bean…
Here are the links to the other days of this ride.
Our First Big Bend Motorcycle Ride – Day 1
Our First Big Bend Motorcycle Ride – Day 2
Our First Big Bend Motorcycle Ride – Day 4
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