Unusual Things Around Alpine Texas

An Overview of Alpine Texas

Alpine Texas is a small city and the county seat of Brewster County. The West Texas area is home to the Sul Ross State University and several shops and art galleries. Alpine, along with it’s neighboring towns, is a supremely popular place for outdoor activities, strange sites, mystical occurrences and accessing Big Bend National Park. There are many unusual things around Alpine Texas.

Unusual Things Around Alpine Texas

Marathon

Marathon is one of the main towns which accesses Big Bend. The small city is home to several shopping venues, dining options, a gas station and a few outdoor activities. The area has a few other odd features, including a marker describing the history of the town, the Big Bend Visitor Information Center and the surprisingly nice Gage Gardens.

The Sul Ross Desk in Alpine

Located atop Hancock Hill and a strange cultural addition to Sul Ross State University, this desk sits outdoors on a high overlook. There’s a notebook inside the desk which allows visitors to leave notes for upcoming hikers. This is one of the most unusual things around Alpine Texas.

Penny’s Diner in Alpine

This is a friendly little retro diner inside a bright, chrome-colored building.

Hancock Hill in Alpine

This is a moderately difficult 2 mile hiking loop following a trail which offers fine panoramas of Alpine and the surrounding countryside. Among the Hill’s features, there are several walking paths, the odd Sul Ross Desk, the Hancock Stonehenge with small standing rocks and a tree with a bicycle hanging on it.

West Holland Avenue Art Galleries in Alpine

Alpine is home to several art galleries where local artists are featured in venues beside West Holland Avenue. The galleries have a nice selection of local artwork to view, as well as unique souvenirs from Alpine.

Cheshire Cat Antiques in Alpine

This is a unique little antique shop full of small hidden treasures from various places and time periods.

Murphy St Mercado in Alpine

This is a unique, Mexican-themed art and unique-goods shop. Found along the iconic Murphy Street, a small local artist strip, the Mercado contains numerous flowers, succulents and cacti. There are also adjacent sweet stops, pottery venues, a fair-trade gift store and several Mexican imports.

Marfa Lights Viewing Area in Marfa

The Marfa Lights, also known as the Marfa Mystery Lights, are a group of seemingly source-less lights which dance on the southeast Horizon of Marfa. Theories range from gas vents to chemical spills to optical illusions to military projects to aliens. The phenomena remains largely unexplained. There’s an official viewing area outside of Marfa for those hoping to see the attraction, though the lights don’t appear every night. It’s often best to visit on moonless nights, when the red, blue or white lights are brighter in the darkness.

The Singing Stone Circle in Marfa

These standing rocks are part of a Ballroom Marfa art installation inspired by ancient megalith circles. The Singing Stones are public, solar-powered sculptures standing in the high-desert grasslands to the east of Marfa. The stones come alive during the full moon, when integrated LED lights activate and hidden embedded speakers begin to “sing.” The stones only activate during a full moon.

Actual Contact Art in Marfa

One of the oddest features of Marfa, the Actual Contact Art installation is made of 12 large steel pillars standing 10 feet tall. The pillars, best viewed at night, are covered in alien-looking petroglyphs which glow in the evening.

Wrong Store in Marfa

This strange white building has the word “Wrong” printed atop in bold, red letters. The store is actually a nice little art venue which sells additional trinkets, prints, souvenirs and somewhat off-kilter goods. The venue has a couple of permanent features and a rotating series of exhibitions.

Building 98 in Marfa

This unassuming building was once a historic US army base, officer’s club and grand ballroom in Marfa. However, the site was used as a POW camp for German prisoners during World War II. The building’s interior is covered in colorful, panoramic murals painted by the POWs.

Giant Marfa Mural in Marfa

Known as the Giant Marfa Mural or Little Reata Division or Wyatt Ranches, these immense, brightly-colored outdoor artworks were created by artist John Cerney. The free-standing works, which don’t rely on a wall, give the appearance that the enormous depictions emerged directly from the ground.

Prada Marfa in Marfa

This is a strange, permanent sculptural art installation which looks like a small Prada boutique planted in the middle of nowhere. The art installation is filled with luxury Prada goods from a fall collection, but the interior is utterly inaccessible. It’s an odd desert attraction.

Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute in Fort Davis

Located in the foothills of the Davis Mountains, this large outdoor scenic hiking area wanders through Botanical Desert Gardens, the Maxie Templeton Cactus Museum, a mining exhibition and a bird blind for grassland bird viewing. The area is designed to educate, research and preserve the natural environments found in the Chihuahuan Desert region.

Davis Mountains State Park

A great state park with hiking trails, tall cliff ridges, standing rocks, scenic landscapes, desert terrain, camping areas and a rustic lodge.

Lookout Shelter in Fort Davis

This small stone shelter is found on the Eastern portion of Davis Mountains State Park. The shelter is atop a cliff which overlooks the town of Fort Davis and the surrounding desert.

Hebert’s Caboose Ice Cream Shop in Fort Davis

A popular and excellent ice cream shop which serves desserts out of a green caboose.

Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis

Fort Davis is a protected United States National Historic Site known as one of the best-surviving examples of an Indian Wars’ frontier military outpost in the American Southwest. The fort was a vital military training site and western-expansion military presence. It was strategically located to protect settlers, mail coaches and the Trans-Pecos portion of the San Antonio-El Paso Road. The Historic Site is home to numerous buildings, several ruins, recreated old-west props, a small museum and hiking trails leading into Davis Mountains State Park. This is one of the most unusual things around Alpine Texas.

Rattlers and Reptiles in Fort Davis

A small reptile museum with over 100 live specimens of reptiles, amphibians and, of course, rattlesnakes. The venue also has several desert mammals, native arachnids and other species of local insects.

Texas Stone Village Sandwich Shop in Fort Davis

An excellent roadside sandwich shop and full-stop road-trip store.

University of Texas McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis

Located to the West of Fort Davis, this is a large astronomical observatory located in a dark region that provides some of the most spectacular views of night skies in the United States. The Observatory should be visited during nights where there’s no full moon for the full stargazing effect. The site offers constellation tours and telescope viewings. The best time to visit is typically Autumn, as this is when the region usually has clear skies.

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