Okay, maybe not “ultimate” but hey—it’s good for SEO.

Two years ago, my sister and I went to Marfa which I thought was the most west you could go in Texas, but was sorely mistaken. During that trip, we drove the extra 1:45 to Big Bend National Park to spend the day hiking and, while there, agreed “this should’ve been the trip.” You see, while Marfa is indisputably charming, it’s a one stoplight town that you can explore and be done with in a day. I wrote my review about it here if you care to peep it.

Anyhow, we realized while exploring Big Bend that that is so much more worth the trip. We vowed that the next time we went out west, we’d stay in Terlingua instead. Then 2020 happened. I met Zac. My sister got pregnant and had babies. And, while discussing where we wanted to spend our 1-year anniversary, Big Bend was thrown out. After clearing it with my sister, Zac and I booked the trip.

In this post, I’m going to try my damndest to provide you guys with the ultimate Terlingua and Big Bend travel guide. I’m not the expert, I just can now say I’ve been there and know a thing or two about it. I’m going to tell y’all where we stayed, what we ate/drink, and what we did in hopes that you’ll refer back to this Terlingua travel guide if you’re planning to head out west to the Texas desert anytime soon.

how to get to terlingua and big bend

Depending on where you’re coming from, there are multiple ways to get to this tiny Texas ghost town they call Terlingua. Since we live in Dallas, though, I’m going to speak to how we got there. So, you can easily road trip if you love road trippin’ and have the time to spend a full day (it’s an 8.5 hour drive from Dallas to Terlingua) getting to your destination. Because of work schedules and needing to make the most of our time there, we didn’t have this luxury, so we decided to take a little shortcut. If you fly into Midland airport from Dallas Love-Field, it’s a 45 minute flight at most. Once you get to Midland, rent a car and make the 3.5 hour drive to Terlingua and BOOM! It’s that easy. Now, if you’re feeling extra adventurous, you can make a pit stop on the way to check out the sand dunes right outside of Midland called the Monahans Sandhills State Park. We did and it was totally worth it and so fun to walk on the pristine sand. It’s literally right off the highway, too, so it’s truly the easiest visit.

willow house in terlingua

In talking to the locals on this trip, we discovered that Terlingua/Big Bend’s popularity grew exponentially over the past year. With people unable and nervous to travel, a road trip out to the desert was a popular choice, which helped this small west Texas town flourish. It hasn’t stopped since either! Because of this, Air BnBs are cropping up everywhere so there’s no shortage of places to stay in Terlingua.

One hotel in Terlingua that has grown in popularity is the stunning, desert-bougie Willow House. Truth be told, staying here was one of the main reasons why we decided to venture out west (aside from Big Bend, of course). Willow House is a series of small casitas (a total of 10) that sits up on a small hill in Terlingua with stunning mountain views and some of the most zen desert vibes you’ll ever experience. The casitas themselves are super small, with just enough space for a bed, two side tables, and a one-sink bathroom but it’s all gorgeously decorated and smells like a dream (I asked and the owner’s secret is combining rosemary and lavender oils with purified water and spritzing it into the air). Also, they have all Aesop products in the shower and bathroom, so you know this place is legit.

Willow House has a common space for all guests to dwell throughout their stay. There’s a fully loaded kitchen with every appliance, coffee maker, and cooking utensil you could ever need, a massive fridge and freezer for you to store whatever you need, tons of places to sit and converse, as well as seating outside with string lights, fire pits, and every other quintessential dreamy desert accessory one could think of. We utilized the kitchen one night and made a FANTASTIC red pasta sauce and ate it under string lights outside—a pure delight.

Willow House is not your cheapest option for where to stay in Terlingua by any means, but if you relaxed luxury in the desert, absolutely book a stay here! I highly recommend it.

places to eat in terlingua

espresso y poco mas

First and absolutely foremost, Espresso y Poco Mas (“Espresso and a Little More”) is not only the best breakfast place in Terlingua, but the only breakfast place in Terlingua so you don’t really have a choice. They know this, though, so the coffee and food is phenomenal. We went every morning and got a new dish every time. It’s very simple offerings that are off-the-scale delicious, i.e. breakfast burritos, english muffin sandwiches, french toast. Everything was amazing, including their coffee. The iced coffee may be the best I’ve ever had. I don’t know how, but it is. Espresso y Poco Mas is open daily from 7:30am-2pm, so you can get breakfast and maybe even go back for lunch if you’re feeling wild.

Starlight Theatre

This old theatre comes equipped with a stage for live music, an outdoor cantina that serves up chips + dips and drinks while you wait, and one of the best hamburgers you will ever eat. Starlight Theatre is only the only restaurant in Terlingua that’s open every day of the week from 5pm-12am (1am on Saturdays). That’s the thing about Terlingua and I guess a lot of small towns—restaurant and store hours are bizarre. They run their business exactly how and when they want to, and you can take it or leave it. We ended up taking it twice for dinner and both times were delicious. I got a burger each time because I was advised to do, but their menu is super varied and has something for everyone! On our last night at Starlight Theatre, we got cheeseburgers with bacon + jalapenos, fries, Jack and Cokes, and partook in a restaurant sing-along to “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and it was perfect.

Taqueria el Milagro

A grave mistake we made was not realizing that Taqueria El Milagro in Terlingua is closed on both Mondays and Tuesdays. Our trip was from Sat-Tue, and when we tried to experience this taqueria on Monday night, we were let down. I’ve heard such good things and it was packed Saturday and Sunday night! Taqueria El Milagro is BYOB, so pick up some wine or beer from the Cottonwood general store* so you’re prepared!

*Cottonwood general store has everything, by the way. We got groceries here as well as drug store type stuff (like Advil and Pepcid because I’m 75). It’s open every day from 7am-9pm!

what to do in terlingua

The main draw of Terlingua, Texas is that it’s right outside of Big Bend National Park. Big Bend is vast and has no shortage of peaks and valleys and trails to hike. We 100% went out west with every intention to do just that, but the universe was against us this trip. Not only was it blazing hot already (100º temps), but Aunt Flow was visiting me, which is not at all ideal for a hiking trip (not to mention for a gorgeous, incredibly secluded casita in the desert where no one can hear you scream, but I digress). So because of these two things, we did not hike but we will be back, trust. I even had a spreadsheet of which hikes to do in Big Bend:

Balanced Rock Trail (1.9 miles)
Santa Elena Trail (1.5 miles)
Hot Springs Trail (hot springs were closed when we went due to COVID, but they may be open again!)
Emory Peak and South Rim (this is a challenging hike, so we were advised to start early if we went)
Mesa de Anguila (another hard one)
Lost Mine Trail
Big Bend Ranch State Park (less busy)
Window Trail
Cattail Falls (hidden gem)
Dagger Flat (drive this)
Dog Canyon Trail

Now, although we didn’t hike-hike, we did insist that we at least drive into Big Bend, which ended up leading us to an incredible view of Window Trail. To get there, we parked at Chisos Mountains Lodge and literally walked a few steps to this gorgeous view:

Besides hiking in Big Bend, you can obviously spend the day exploring the teeny tiny town itself, but you can also hop in the car and drive. Drive and drive and just keep driving. You’ll hit Lajitas Resort, which is a very popular golf resort. We hung out here for an afternoon and enjoyed a few drinks on the patio, which resulted in us deciding to sign up for a zip line tour! Very random and very fun.

But, if you keep driving past Lajitas, you’ll really get into the winding roads of the mountains in Terlingua and find even more incredible views. That’s what we did one afternoon and, although it was hot AF, it was so fun and insane to see what we were seeing. I’ve realized no matter how many pictures you take of scenery, nothing ever does it justice. You just have to be there, but here’s me trying to include you:

Without being able to hike, we really did make the most of our time in Terlingua and Big Bend. And, most importantly, we learned that the best time to visit to ensure good weather for all the hikes is September/October or March/April. We will absolutely be back sooner than later. In fact, I even told Zac that it’s the perfect place for a solo writing retreat for me when the time comes—isolated, quiet, and naturally inspiring.

Love you, west Texas!