On the Road

Fort Davis: Gaze at the stars from your perch in the highest town in Texas

Fort Davis boasts views as far as the eye can see.

Photo by Jeff Lynch

At an altitude of 5,050 feet — nearly a mile! — Fort Davis is the highest town in Texas. And that comes with an express list of benefits, including a cooler climate, mountain scenery, incredible wildlife, impressive stargazing, and so much more.

There are so many things to do in and around this town way out West, but start with this list.

Unwind in town
Reserve a room at the historic Limpia Hotel and relax in the friendly little downtown, where you can browse shops and galleries with unique art and gifts, antiques, funky artisan finds, gourmet pecans, locally produced wine, and more.

Definitely don’t miss the Fort Davis Drug Store, which first opened in 1913 and has now become a full-service restaurant, soda fountain, and hotel, keeping its 22-foot old-fashioned soda fountain where you can order homestyle staples and, of course, ice cream sundaes, shakes, and malts.

Take a mini road trip
The Davis Mountains Scenic Loop is a good way to get the lay of the land after you arrive. It’s a 75-mile jaunt through wide-open, windswept, desert prairie and twisting, winding mountain roads that will take about two to three hours to complete — if you don’t stop for photo opps.

Swing by the Stone Village Tourist Camp and Market, near the base of Sleeping Lion Mountain, where you can grab all the makings for a picnic lunch; the Point of Rocks roadside park or the Madera Canyon Trailhead are good places to stop along the way.

Invite yourself to a star party
Nestled in the Davis Mountains atop Mount Locke, The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory is about a half-hour drive from downtown Fort Davis. And it’s worth the mileage, because you’ll be rewarded with unrestricted views of the surrounding high desert landscape.

The real fun begins when the sun sets and the celestial magic begins. Sign up for a Star Party for an open-air constellation tour and live telescope view of the glittering, starlit skies.

Get a history lesson
Step back in time at the Fort Davis National Historic Site, which is one of the best surviving examples of an Indian Wars' frontier military post in the Southwest. From 1854-1891, Fort Davis was strategically located to protect emigrants, mail coaches, and freight wagons on the Trans-Pecos portion of the San Antonio-El Paso Road and on the Chihuahua Trail. Tour through the restored historical buildings and then hike one of the trails on-site.

Hit the trail(s)
If biking or hiking is your happy place, head to Davis Mountains State Park. It’s home to miles of trails, ranging from easy loops to more strenuous out-and-backs. The 4.5-mile Skyline Drive Trail is a good one, with popular viewpoints that meander up and down mountain ridges and valleys.

And you don’t even have to leave for the night. You can set up at one of the campsites or grab a room at the cozy-cool Indian Lodge, with its white adobe walls and historic aura. The lodge also has the Black Bear Restaurant, if campfire cooking’s not your thing.

Stop and smell the flowers
The Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center is about five miles south of Fort Davis and is home to botanical gardens that highlight the diverse flora of the area and one of the world's largest collections of Chihuahuan Desert cacti and succulents, with around 200 varieties.

There are also five different trails you can hop on, from easy, short strolls on the Hummingbird Trail and Butterfly Trail to the longer Clayton’s Overlook Trail with its 360-degree views.

Learn more about this destination and see a calendar of events — save the date for fireworks on July 2 and the Viva Big Bend music festival July 27-31, which includes performances at Fort Davis’s Audrey & Tyrone Kelly Outdoor Theater — here.

You are never without a scenic desert-meets-mountains view.

Photo by Jeff Lynch

You are never without a scenic desert-meets-mountains view.

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Your Expert Guide

Oak Cliff: The underestimated historic and culturally rich 'hood

Photo courtesy of Briggs Freeman

Kay Wood

There are so many great places to live in Dallas that it helps to have an expert on your side. The Neighborhood Guide presented by Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty gives you insider access from the agents who live and work there, providing in-the-know info about your possible new community.

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Bishop Arts is a huge attraction, but Realtor Kay Wood wants people to know that Oak Cliff is a lot more than just Bishop Arts.

"Oak Cliff has a really rich and complex history," the Briggs Freeman agent says. "I think it's one of the most underestimated neighborhoods in Dallas."

Wood has lived in Oak Cliff with her high school sweetheart-husband since 2008, but she's been helping people buy and sell homes there for the past 15 years, currently with her business partner Brian Davis.

"The neighborhoods here are close to everything but still relatively affordable compared to other areas of DFW," she says. "I love all the historic homes with their architectural interest and variety, the strong sense of community engagement, and how there's so much to explore. Whether you're looking for the best new restaurant, the most authentic taco, film festivals, the zoo, the best public high school in Texas, parks, nature preserves — I could go on all day!"

Wood offered up a few of her personal favorites about life in "the Cliff." Here's her guide to the area:

Where to eat & drink
The list is long: Nova ("you have to get the hummus," Wood says), Encina (pro tip: don't skip the blue cornbread), Cibo Divino for pizza and wine on the patio, coffee from Peaberry ("my husband swears their Vietnamese coffee is the best in town"), oysters at Boulevardier, the Perfect Picnic at Eno's Pizza Tavern, tio's elotes next to El Si Hay, the pistachio ice cream at Joy Macarons, and the spicy lobster ramen at Ten Ramen.

Wood advises picking up a great bottle of wine from Neighborhood Cellars and some steaks from Cooper's Meat Market. And, of course, there are tons of taco options in the neighborhood: "We can't get enough of Maskaras, Trompo, and Taco y Vino," she says.

Where to play
Marvel at the best skyline views in town while playing a round at Stevens Park Golf Course, take a walk through Twelve Hills Nature Preserve, bike along the Trinity River, or play disc golf at Founders Park.

The Kessler Theater is "such a great and intimate venue" for concerts, while the Texas Theater adds a touch of history to movie-watching. Escape to The Wild Detectives for books, music, and poetry, or head to the Dallas Zoo for a wild day out — "our whole family loves to feed the giraffes," Wood says.

What to see
Oak Cliff is home to the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial at Kiest Park and the La Reunion Monument at Stevens Park Golf Course that honors some of Dallas' earliest settlers.

On Jefferson Boulevard, you can pop into the Oak Cliff Cultural Center for regular art shows, and "my daughters love to walk down the street and look at all the quinceañera dresses in the shop windows," she says.

Where to live
A few years ago, Wood helped her buyers purchase 626 Rainbow Dr., a rare, two-acre midcentury modern estate that's wrapped on three sides by a babbling creek.

"When you're there, it's really hard to believe you're less than four miles from downtown Dallas," she says. The buyers hired local architect Eddie Maestri to update some aspects of the house while carefully preserving its midcentury style. There was an original barn that had been previously converted to a studio, but the buyers reinvented it as a guest house and added a pool and outdoor kitchen.

"It's hard to say what a 'typical' Oak Cliff house would be, because we have some of the very best examples of almost every architectural style in town," Wood says.

"In Winnetka Heights, you'll find Craftsman architecture (four squares, bungalows, Sears catalog, etc). Kessler Park has Tudors and Colonials and Texas eclectics from notable local architects like Charles Dilbeck and David R Williams. Stevens Park has all of these, as well as Spanish Revival and Dutch colonials. Wynnewood, North Kiestwood, and Wynnewood Hills have some of the best midcentury moderns in Dallas, as well as wonderful ranches. East Kessler has cutting-edge contemporaries that take advantage of the rare-to-DFW hilly terrain. You could teach a pretty comprehensive architectural history of Dallas without ever leaving Oak Cliff."

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Kay Wood lives, works, and plays in Oak Cliff. For more information on buying and selling a home in the area, click here, email kwood@briggsfreeman.com, or call 214-908-5442.