Alpine

Nicknamed "The Hub of the Big Bend," Alpine is an artsy college town with a historic downtown, nestled into a mild transition zone between the Davis Mountains and the Chihuahuan Desert, only about 90 miles north of Big Bend National Park. Centered on the historic - and still operating - train depot, downtown Alpine offers bars, restaurants, and a historic hotel, the Holland, with a brewpub on the ground floor. Just east of downtown is the campus of Sul Ross State University, home to the terrific Museum of the Big Bend and the outdoor Theatre of the Big Bend. The annual Gallery Night in November and the Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering in ...

Nicknamed "The Hub of the Big Bend," Alpine is an artsy college town with a historic downtown, nestled into a mild transition zone between the Davis Mountains and the Chihuahuan Desert, only about 90 miles north of Big Bend National Park. Centered on the historic - and still operating - train depot, downtown Alpine offers bars, restaurants, and a historic hotel, the Holland, with a brewpub on the ground floor. Just east of downtown is the campus of Sul Ross State University, home to the terrific Museum of the Big Bend and the outdoor Theatre of the Big Bend. The annual Gallery Night in November and the Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering in February are two of Alpine's biggest annual special events. But Alpine's easy access to the great outdoors, literally spreading to the horizon in all directions, is perhaps the city's most locally beloved attribute in this remote intellectual and cultural outpost of West Texas.

About the Expert

Eric Peterson has written and contributed to numerous Frommer’s guidebooks covering the American West, including Montana & Wyoming, Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks, and Texas.