Desert Gardens Oasis

Drive or hike past canyons, rock formations, a 19th-century ranch house and a movie set… Red Rock Ranch Tours (30 minutes' drive) will let you explore this ranch in full. It’s just one place where there are nuggets of history for vacationers to dive into… Second is the transcontinental railway in Sierra Blanca, now named the Hudspeth County Railroad Depot Museum (an hour) and third, the Fort Davis National Historic Site (an hour and 15 minutes), where Buffalo soldiers once fought from a military post, and now, you’re free to conquer the land yourself with one of the many historical hikes. Those of you who are rather the contemporary art fan will find such a museum at The Chinati Foundation (an hour). If stars, planets and everything spacey is more up your alley, then the McDonald Observatory (an hour and a half) will fit the bill. Climbing, hiking, mountaineering and other outdoorsy pursuits are on the cards at Mount Livermore (an hour and a half), a spectacular summit.