Highway 118: Alpine to Fort Davis

Highway 118 between Alpine and Fort Davis is the short, scenic way into the Davis Mountains. It leaves Alpine, home of Sul Ross State University, and heads north past the airport across high, open grassland, with the mountains rising ahead.

Partway along, the road drops into Musquiz Canyon and turns winding and steep for a few miles. There are picnic tables in the canyon by the ruins of a pioneer homestead. Past the canyon is the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center, about four miles before Fort Davis, with a botanical garden, a cactus and succulent greenhouse and miles of hiking trails.

The drive ends entering Fort Davis, the highest town in Texas, where the Davis Mountains Scenic Loop begins. Highway 118 carries on through town past Fort Davis National Historic Site, a frontier army post.