Parks & Recs
May 15, 2019
Hope Springs Eternal at Balmorhea
This spring, I revisited this sparkling West Texas gem after its long closure—and I’m glad I did.
West Texas
Music
March 21, 2019
Premiere: The Final Chapter of Terry Allen’s ‘Pedal Steal’
The Lubbock native talks about his trippy, blood-flecked radio plays, the border wall, and working with Jo Harvey Allen.
Parks & Recs
January 3, 2019
Big Bend Ranch State Park: Where Nothing Is Everything
The untouched vastness of the largest state park in Texas makes you feel like you’re exploring a whole other world.
Arts & Entertainment
October 23, 2018
On ‘Parts Unknown,’ Anthony Bourdain Asks If West Texans Are the Platonic Ideal of Texans
Spoiler: The answer is yes.
Country Notes
October 19, 2018
For Want of a Nail
Without a good shoeing, a horse can indeed be lost. Enter the farrier.
Travel & Outdoors
August 24, 2018
The Highs and Lows of Cycling the Fort Davis Scenic Loop
Cyclists take on the grueling Davis Mountains route to experience awesome views and thrilling descents.
Film & TV
May 4, 2018
Watch a Clip From ‘The Iron Orchard’ Before Its Premiere
The film debuts at the Dallas International Film Festival this weekend.
Country Notes
April 18, 2018
The Snakebite That Almost Killed My Cat
My cat was a fearless hunter who stalked the countryside—until she squared off with a rattlesnake.
Politics & Policy
March 26, 2018
More Sinkholes for West Texas?
A new study from two SMU scientists finds that oil and gas activity has made the ground unstable over a 4,000-square-mile swath of West Texas.
Travel & Outdoors
March 21, 2018
West Texas Hikes That Will Take You to Another World
These mountain hikes will take you to new heights—and new extremes.
Travel & Outdoors
February 12, 2018
Spring Break Itinerary: The Best of West Texas
What to do, where to eat, and more if you’re heading to Fort Davis, Marfa, Marathon, and/or Big Bend this season.
Libations
January 23, 2018
Three Enterprising Vets Hope Sotol Becomes the Next Mezcal
Despite its rich Texas history, sotol is a little-known spirit. The men behind new Driftwood distillery Desert Door want to change that.
Travel & Outdoors
January 15, 2018
Adventurers Explore Both Sides of Border in 1,200-mile Journey Along the Rio Grande
Over three installments, we follow a film team as they—by bike, horse, and canoe—document how a physical wall would affect the area, water, and its people.
Film & TV
December 21, 2017
The Wildcatters
Can a 1960s novel with a cult following finally become the blockbuster film its fans believe it should be?
Energy
July 20, 2017
Oil Theft is Increasing in West Texas
Marfa Public Radio reports on the down side of the boom.
Style & Design
April 27, 2017
The Big Bend Open Road Race
We found fast cars, big skies, and a whole bunch of daredevils at this annual high-speed race weekend out west.
Travel & Outdoors
January 10, 2017
2017 Travel Inspiration
Looking back on last year's best stories to plan this year's wanderings.
Country Notes
December 21, 2016
The Earth Below
The skies of West Texas are so grand that it’s easy to forget how much is going on under our feet.
Travel & Outdoors
October 7, 2016
Where to Wander To Next: October 2016
Selections from my personal wanderlist.
Travel & Outdoors
September 21, 2016
A Love Unearthed
My grandfather’s work as a paleontologist took him to West Texas over and over again. Fifty years later, I found myself retracing his steps.
Travel & Outdoors
July 14, 2016
Wandering Around Alpine
An Insta-dispatch from the flourishing West Texas frontier town.
Travel & Outdoors
June 15, 2016
The Secret Tank
The risks a West Texan will take for a quick dip.
Recipes
April 20, 2016
The Chilton
West Texas’s claim on this fizzy, lemony cocktail is unprovable? We’ll drink to that.
Energy
January 27, 2016
Something in the Air
For a few months every year, life in West Texas is defined by the wind.
Travel & Outdoors
January 21, 2016
Just Back From: Marfa
What's changed and what hasn't.
Arts & Entertainment
November 18, 2015
Friday Night Lite
The only thing that’s smaller about six-man football is the field.
Energy
August 19, 2015
A Pipeline in the Sand
As the oil industry tries to make inroads in far West Texas, it’s learning that Alpine is no Midland.
Country Notes
August 13, 2015
Greetings From Marfa
A taxonomy of West Texas waves.
Country Notes
June 12, 2015
Gone Loco
This year’s heavy rains have brought countless blessings to West Texas—and one very nasty weed.
The Daily Post
May 8, 2015
About That Outbreak of Chlamydia in West Texas…
A small high school in Crane, Texas, just confirmed that 20 of its 300 students have been diagnosed with Chlamydia, spurring a revisitation of the district’s abstinence-only sex education curriculum.
Texas History
May 7, 2015
A Mighty Wind
In drought-ravaged West Texas, cotton farmers find good omens in unlikely places.
Business
April 30, 2015
Buy a Truck at Benny Boyd in Andrews and Get an AR-15
Or a 9MM or a Ruger deer rifle. No, this is not a fake ad.
Energy
April 13, 2015
Silica Alley
A funny thing happened on the way to the San Angelo fracking sand transloading facility.
Energy
March 4, 2015
Learning to Roughneck
Growing up in the Permian Basin, I thought I had a sense of what it was like working the oilfields. Turns out I didn’t know a damn thing.
Country Notes
February 3, 2015
Consider the Chicken
The competition at the Big Bend Livestock Show is fierce. But treat your animal right and you might get to be number four with a pullet.
Texas Trip Guides
November 20, 2014
Trip Guide: Marfa
It’s the favorable acreage-to-other-humans ratio that draws most visitors, who come for the space that this Chihuahuan Desert outpost has in spades.
Travel & Outdoors
November 14, 2014
Great Expectations
Stunning vistas, snorting buffalo, and dashed hopes at Cibolo Creek Ranch.
The Culture
September 25, 2014
James H. Evans’s Ranch Project
The photographer from Big Bend known for stunning landscapes gets out of his comfort zone. Here, a first look at several images from his latest collection.
The Daily Post
September 3, 2014
The Navajo Kindergartener From West Texas Who Was Sent Home On His First Day Of School For Long Hair Is Back In Class
The family provided documentation proving that keeping his hair long was part of their religion. But should they have had to?
Country Notes
August 5, 2014
The Promise of Thunder
When you live in the desert, waiting for rain requires almost irrational optimism. And maybe a curse word or two.
The Culture
June 5, 2014
Cat Power
How one feline (and then a couple more, and then another) conquered both our hearts and our mice.
The Daily Post
January 27, 2014
Does a Sierra Blanca Mountain Contain $8 Billion Worth of Rare Earth Minerals?
A new start-up in the impoverished city only needs $20 million to complete a study to find out.
Travel & Outdoors
January 9, 2014
Afraid of Losing the Dark
The McDonald Observatory, celebrating its seventy-fifth anniversary this year, forges ahead with groundbreaking research and crusades to keep the night skies of West Texas pristine and unadulterated.
Critters
December 6, 2013
The Earth Is There to Catch Us When We Fall
My life with horses.
Art
October 21, 2013
What Is Art?
When Playboy Enterprises—yes, that Playboy Enterprises—erected a forty-foot-tall sculpture near Marfa, it was convinced the town would appreciate its take on the local art scene. Instead it started a revealing debate.
The Texanist
October 14, 2013
The Texanist: How Do a Husband and Wife Resolve Backyard Barbecuing Duties?
How do a husband and wife resolve backyard barbecuing duties? Illustration by Jack UnruhQ: My wife has recently taken a keen interest in my backyard barbecuing duties. In fact, last weekend she asked me if I wanted her to start cooking the beans from now
The Culture
January 21, 2013
Ten Photos from Beyoncé’s West Texas Road Trip
Beyoncé swung through Marfa in early July and just posted pictures from her trip on her Tumblr.
Energy
January 21, 2013
No Endangered Species Listing for Dunes Sagebrush Lizard
The oil industry cheered news Wednesday that the tiny lizard will not be added to the endangered species list.
Texas History
January 21, 2013
When the Sky Ran Dry
Bad as the current drought is, it has yet to match the most arid spell in Texas history. Nearly two dozen survivors of the fifties drought remember the time it never rained.
History
January 21, 2013
The Writing on the Wall
The Lower Pecos River rock paintings were created four thousand years ago by a long-forgotten people. But their apparent message may be as useful today as it was then: Follow the water.