Friday, February 28: A hidden gem in SW Texas is Fort Davis National Historic site and the surrounding area to include McDonald Observatory, only about 2 hours north of Big Bend National Park. The area boasts the scenic Davis mountains, clear air and some of the darkest nighttime skies in the US.
We camped at the Fort Davis State Park campground and enjoyed amazing views both in the morning and evening from the mountains.
Fort Davis was established in 1854 as a military outpost on the road between San Antonio and El Paso. It’s located at 5050′ in elevation and seems to miss a lot of the overly hot Texas temperatures. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has restored much of the original fort and provides much of the amazing history of time in the mid to late 1800’s for soldiers and their families.
McDonald Observatory is the research arm of the the University of TX at Austin Astronomy Program and is home to a number of telescopes that provide leading edge astronomy research. In addition the the welcoming visitor program where you get to tour the telescopes, they boast amazing views from the summits of two of the peaks in the Davis Mountains as well as a resident pack or heard of javelina.
The Traveling Lounsburys 