Riding “Around the Block”
In The Big Bend
Story and photographs by Voni Glaves
M
El Camino del Rio, also known as the River Road, from Lajitas to Presidio has been featured as one of the Top 10 Motorcycle Roads in the United States by Natio nal G eo graphic
otorcycle riders come to the
Big Bend from everywhere:
from Houston and Lubbock
and Dallas. They even come from
Ohio and as far as New Jersey,
Minnesota or Alaska to ride their
motorcycles in the Big Bend. They
may be found at the Porch in
Terlingua, or at Panther Junction in
Big Bend National Park, but mostly
they will be found riding the great
motorcycle roads. Some come to ride
the paved roads and some come to ride
the challenging dirt roads in the
National Park or Big Bend Ranch
State Park.
From the vantage point of our
home west of Highway 118 between
Alpine and Study Butte, we often take
visitors around the block, a ride from
home to Alpine, then to Marfa, on to
Presidio and Terlingua, and finally
back to our modern adobe. This 232-
8
Cenizo
mile loop provides some of the best
roads and attractions the Big Bend has
to offer.
For convenience, the description of
this ride begins at the fuel pumps at the
intersection of TX 118 and FM 170 in
Study Butte, and heads north. Fuel is
only available in the towns, which are
up to 80 miles apart. Gas early and
often is our motto. The 70 mph high-
way begins with some twists and turns
and elevation changes before climbing
to Luna’s Vista a few miles north of
Study Butte. From this vantage point a
rider can see for miles into Big Bend
Valley and to the mountains beyond.
The O2 Ranch begins 26 miles north
of Study Butte. Lucky riders may see,
on the east side of the highway, a herd
of as many as 40 Scimitar Horned
Oryx, an antelope species native to
North Africa but now extinct in the
wild, though not in the Big Bend.
First Quarter 2017
Often there are Pronghorn, a still-frag-
ile species, on the west side.
Riders proceed past Elephant
Mountain and its namesake wildlife
refuge about 50 miles north of Study
Butte. From here to the north the high-
way becomes hilly and curvy all the
way to Alpine. A U.S. Border Patrol
checkpoint is located about 12 miles
south of Alpine. Riders will be asked
their citizenship, and might be sniffed
by a drug-dog before being allowed to
go on their way.
Small enough to be welcoming,
Alpine, The Last Frontier, has an
incredible museum at Sul Ross
University, gas and a wide variety of
great places to eat. Brewster County
prides itself on having no traffic lights,
though Alpine has a couple of flashing
red stop signs.
US highway 67/90 leads west.
Between Paisano Peak and Twin Peaks
riders pass dazzling road cuts while
crossing Paisano Pass, actually riding
through a volcanic caldera! Note the
“Left Lane for Passing Only” signs.
They mean it. The Marfa Lights
Viewing Station is located on the south
side of the road about nine miles east
of Marfa, a place of mystery even in
daylight. Where US 67 turns south in
Marfa riders should take a four-block
detour north to see the 1886 Presidio
County Courthouse and the El
Paisano Hotel, both Texas Historic
Landmarks and on the National
Register of Historic Places. Of special
interest is the fact that the hotel was the
home of the cast and crew during the
filming of the movie Giant in 1955, just
before the death of its co-star James
Dean.
US 67 to Presidio is not the most
exciting motorcycle road, but it does
have many points of interest. Leaving