Camping at Davis Mountains State Park

Campsite at Davis Mountains State Park

Driving towards Fort Davis from Alpine, there was a mountain that really stood apart from the others because of its shape.  The name of the mountain is Mitre Peak, and it’s really hard to miss because it is nearly a perfect cone.  I later learned that this mountain was formed by lava nearing the surface from below, but never actually erupting as a volcano.  The lave cooled and hardened and the rest of the softer sedimentary rock around it eroded over time leaving this conical formation behind.

I arrived at Davis Mountains about mid afternoon, and didn’t have any special plans for my stay other than to get some laundry done in town and do a little grocery shopping.  The campsite that I stayed at had a tree shading a picnic table, which turned out to be a good spot edit some photos and update my journal.  There was no internet access at the campsite (there is good access at the top of Skyline Drive, so communicating with the outside world is still possible).  There also wasn’t any broadcast TV and there was only one radio station (NPR) in the campground.  This is a perfect spot to really disconnect from everything.

Skyline Drive

The trail to the top of Skyline Drive was closed while I was here, but the drive itself was pretty nice, and the views from the summit are amazing.  It overlooks the Fort Davis National Historical Site that I visited last year, as well as the town of Fort Davis.