The 10 Best Things To Do In Alpine, Texas, Near Big Bend

If you’ve visited the Big Bend region of Far West Texas, you’ve probably passed through the small town of Alpine. The old railroad and ranching community at the foot of the Davis Mountains is home to Sul Ross State University, where the school’s Borderlands Research Institute conducts research on the state’s black bear and mountain lion populations. And if you watched Richard Linklater’s 2014 film “Boyhood,” you know the main character attended college there.

What you may not have realized is that the university fuels a surprisingly lively arts scene, with live music venues, art galleries and one of the best museums in the state. Each winter dozens of poets and poetry descend on the high-desert city for the annual Lone Star Cowboy Poetry Gathering, and in summer, it co-hosts the Viva Big Bend Music Festival.

Next time you’re visiting Alpine, check out these top 10 things to do.

Learn About Local Culture

Museum of the Big Bend

The Museum of the Big Bend recently doubled in size with the opening of the 10,000-square-foot Emmett and Miriam McCoy Building. The original museum opened in 1937, and includes an impressive collection of antique maps, along with a replica of a flying dinosaur the size of a small airplane, Native American artifacts, and a dingy felt cowboy hat once worn by Dan Blocker, who played “Hoss” in the TV western Bonanza. The museum’s expansion focuses on art, particularly of the area’s early cattle ranching days. 

museumofthebigbend.com, 400 N Harrison St, Alpine, TX 79832

Downtown Murals

Stroll the streets of Alpine to view more than 40 murals depicting the city’s culture and history. A cattle drive marches across one wall, a man in a sombrero playing a guitar for a girl on another. In between you’ll find Texas Rangers, covered wagons and desert animals. Plan a walking tour with the help of an online map at visitalpinetx.com.

Gallery on the Square

Alpine is home to several art galleries, including this cooperative effort that features paintings, ceramics, textiles, and jewelry by about two dozen local artists. 

115 W Holland Ave, Alpine, TX 79830

Music Scene

The Texas Music Office has certified Alpine as a Music Friendly Community. Besides co-hosting the Viva Big Bend Music Festival each summer, it’s home to several live music venues, including Railroad Blues, Ole Crystal Bar, and Granada Theater—all on Holland Avenue. Head over to RingTail Records for vinyl, cassettes, and CDs.

Explore Favorite Spots

Hancock Hill

In 1981, a trio of students from Sul Ross State University hauled an old desk up a rocky incline and left it at the top of Hancock Hill. It’s still there today, and visitors who make the hike can sign a notebook left in one of its drawers. The trail starts at a parking lot near Mountainside Dorm on campus and the 1.8-mile loop takes about an hour. Along the way you’ll pass a tree decorated with bicycles. At the top you’ll get a 360-degree view of Alpine, plus the prickly scrubland between the Glass and Davis Mountains. Go ahead. Snap a selfie.

Kokernot Field

The Sul Ross State University Lobos and the Alpine Cowboys, a minor league team in the Pecos League, both play at Kokernot Field, which Sports Illustrated once described as “The Best Little Ballpark in Texas (or Anywhere Else).” Rancher Herbert Lee Kokernot Jr. shipped in red clay dirt from Georgia to make the infield. 

kokernotfield.com, 400 Loop Rd, Alpine, TX 79830

Front Street Books

Drop by long-running Front Street Books to catch a book signing by a featured author, or just to peruse the shelves. We go for the shop’s collection of books about Texas, but it also carries best sellers, specialty tomes and children’s books. You’ve got to love the logo – a cowboy wearing a hat, tipped back in a chair with his boots propped on a stack of books.

fsbooks.com, 121 E Holland Ave, Alpine, TX 79830

Stable Performance Cars

The Stable isn’t a museum, per se, but its owners invite car enthusiasts to drop by to take a look at the muscle cars and talk shop. The private collection, housed in a facility that also rents space to other car collectors, includes Shelby Ford Mustangs and a Dodge Viper. The cars don’t just sit there. They’re all registered and driven on Big Bend’s wide-open roads.

thestablealpine.com, 511 W Holland Ave, Alpine, TX 79830

Visit or Book a Stay

Holland House Hotel

Famed El Paso architect Henry Trost didn’t design the original Holland Hotel, which opened in 1912. But he did design a neighboring building, connected to the existing hotel in 1928. Sit in front of a the lobby fireplace and you’ll notice features replicated at three other Trost & Trost hotels in the region – the Gage in Marathon, the Paisano in Marfa, and El Capitan in Van Horn. 

thehollandhoteltexas.com, 209 W Holland Ave, Alpine, TX 79830

Antelope Lodge

The funky Antelope Lodge looks like it sock-hopped straight out of the past. Built in 1950, the motor court hotel’s cabins are built of terra cotta brick covered in plaster, roofed in red Mexican tile, and arranged around a courtyard planted with pine trees. There’s even a community kitchen where you can cook meals.

antelopelodge.com, 2310 US-90, Alpine, TX 79830