What to do between San Antonio and Carlsbad Caverns

Depends on the route you choose, and what are you plans for San Antonio. Davis Moutains could be on your way. Fredricksburg and the hill country could be on your way. Both are destinatons, taking up more time than you might want to use as a break in a long drivind day. With oth stops, I would need 3-4 days to get from Carlsbad to SA.

We visited Balmorhea, Davis Mountains & Carlsbad in Sept.
Our Trip Report: Touring Chihuahuan Desert Using State Parks

We used TX 17 to reach US 285 at Pecos. On can hit the 285 at Ft. Stockton. US 285 wasn't a bad road, but it has a tremendous amount of oil field traffic on it. The Oil Patch is booming in Texas & New Mexico now. Lot of tankers, dump trucks & other oil field related traffic.

TX 17 was a good road as well, with a moderate amount of oil related traffic as well.

I-10 has a speed limit of 80 miles per hour. We didn't drive that fast of course & it wasn't hard driving it.

If you happen to be in Van Horn & need a place to overnight, the Desert Willow RV Park is a very nice place to do so.

Oct 28: we overnighted at Desert Willow RV Park. New to being Passport America (not in the listing book). We were pleasantly surprised with it. Small, yes, and all gravel, but all pull throughs & a very clean restroom/shower. Didn't use them, but very clean. Extremely friendly & nice staff. $12.50 with the PA discount.

Sonora Caverns might be a neat stop off I-10 (they do have an RV park at them also, I believe) but have never stopped.

I've read many reports of those saying to take US 90 from San Antonio to keep off the busy 10. More miles I would think. Big Bend Nat'l Park is south of Alpine/Fort Davis area as well. A neat place.

Seminole Canyon SP is off of US 90. Never been but intend to do so by end of next year.

Should be a nice time to visit the :)Big Bend Area. We really enjoyed Balmorhea State Park (but might be a little cold for swimming there now) & checking out Fort Davis Nat'l Historic Site.

We did Big Bend on one our Spring Breaks some years ago. End of March, Start of April.

And the new Boquillas Port of Entry might be some you would want to do. Not something we have done or would do.

There is a Passport America RV Park in Marathon, too. Never used it, but have read good reviews for it.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park would be worth a stop at the visitor center if nothing else. A nice, small one but very interesting. Southwest of the Caverns, but on the way if you use the Van Horn Route.

Major Dad wrote:

holstein13 wrote:
I was thinking of visiting Carlsbad Caverns when heading west from San Antonio but the 7 hour drive is a bit long to handle in one shot. Do you know of any interesting stops between the two?

Balmorhea SP is a nice stopover on IH 10. Depending on the time of year, it's the best swimming hole in Texas. The birds and fish are interesting there. Balmorhea SP

Davis Mountains SP is just south of there, and there is plenty to do around Fort Davis. This state park has full hookups and a spottly cable TV at the FHU sites. Davis Mountains SP

7 hours from San Antonio to Carlsbad seems a bit optimistic to me, however; you may want to check the mileage on that against what speed you can average. I have made that trip several times. Part of that trip is on sideroads with oilfield traffic. If you hit everything just right and don't stop for very long, I guess it's possible. Since I tow I don't exceed the trailer tire speed limit of 65 mph, so individual results may vary.

I like the route on US 90 through Del Rio and Langtry also. Besides the Judge Roy Bean museum and TXDOT visitor center, the bridge over the Pecos is really scenic. Pull out to the scenic overlook with picnic area for a great view of the bridge and river. You can continue on through Alpine (RV parks there) and on through to Fort Davis.

Good advise Davis Mountain has great sites, my full hook site had great cable


The old fort there is great and the observatory is great too

US-90 from SA to Van Horn then take TX-54 N and US-180 E/US-62 E to Carlsbad. This is the scenic route and lots of history. Many places to boondock along the way and an easy 2 day drive.

Will second Davis Mountain. DW and I camped there in September and had a great time

Caverns of Sonora is a smaller but really unique cave. Completely different than Carlsbad Caverns. You can take the tour and then spend the night at their campground. This will break the trip up into two nice segments for you.
The Highway 90 route is a nice ride too and going that way I would stay at Davis Mountains State Park to check out the nearby Fort Davis and stop at the McDonald Observatory.

Major Dad wrote:
Balmorhea SP is a nice stopover on IH 10. Depending on the time of year, it's the best swimming hole in Texas. The birds and fish are interesting there.

Love this place. Was there a few weeks ago. Swim with the fishes!

Ft Stockton has a small Museum and there is a PA campground there also ..

holstein13 wrote:
I was thinking of visiting Carlsbad Caverns when heading west from San Antonio but the 7 hour drive is a bit long to handle in one shot. Do you know of any interesting stops between the two?

Balmorhea SP is a nice stopover on IH 10. Depending on the time of year, it's the best swimming hole in Texas. The birds and fish are interesting there. Balmorhea SP

Davis Mountains SP is just south of there, and there is plenty to do around Fort Davis. This state park has full hookups and a spottly cable TV at the FHU sites. Davis Mountains SP

7 hours from San Antonio to Carlsbad seems a bit optimistic to me, however; you may want to check the mileage on that against what speed you can average. I have made that trip several times. Part of that trip is on sideroads with oilfield traffic. If you hit everything just right and don't stop for very long, I guess it's possible. Since I tow I don't exceed the trailer tire speed limit of 65 mph, so individual results may vary.

I like the route on US 90 through Del Rio and Langtry also. Besides the Judge Roy Bean museum and TXDOT visitor center, the bridge over the Pecos is really scenic. Pull out to the scenic overlook with picnic area for a great view of the bridge and river. You can continue on through Alpine (RV parks there) and on through to Fort Davis.

you could take a slightly different route through Langtry, Texas the home of Judge Roy Bean, if you are into history. There are rv parks in Del Rio.