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Alpine, Texas
Location
Alpine is in southwestern Texas, about a hundred miles north of Big Bend National Park, at the intersection of US67/US90 and Texas State Highway 118, and about nine miles west of where US67 and US90 split.
From Alpine, US67/US90 West heads towards Marfa. At Marfa US67 and US90 split, US67 running south to Presidio and US90 running northwest to I-10 at Van Horn. To the east, US67 heads northeast to I-10 west of Fort Stockton and US90 runs east to Marathon. From Alpine, Texas State Highway 118 runs northwest to Fort Stockton and then over the Davis Mountains to I-10 at Kent. Texas State Highway 118 also runs south from Alpine, to Big Bend National Park. It is also possible to reach the park via US385 South from Marathon and via US67 South from Marfa (and then El Camino Del Rio (The River Road) Farm Road 170 between Presidio and Lajitas, alongside the Rio Grande).
Description
Alpine is a pleasant small-to-medium town, home to the Sul Ross State University.
Being at a slightly higher altitude than the other towns in the area, Alpine is to some extent pleasantly cooler in summer. However, the town does often suffer relatively high winds.
Alpine has a good range of services for visitors such as motels, gas stations, restaurants and shops.
In the Area
- Big Bend National Park. Alpine is the closest town to the park with a full range of services and we consider it to be by far the best choice. All three roads between Alpine and the Park are both fast and scenic.
- Museum Of The Big Bend. At the Sul Ross State University in Alpine, towards the eastern end of town. When we visited a few years ago the entrance to the museum was difficult to find. However, in April 2001 the museum had moved into much larger premises in another building and was very clearly signposted. There is a small but very interesting cactus garden outside the museum entrance. This museum is definitely well worth a visit if you are in the area. Free entrance.
- Texas State Highway 118 from Alpine via Fort Davis to Kent is highly scenic, passing over the Davis Mountains between Fort Davis and Kent.
Texas
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Most recently modified 29-Mar-02