Scenic Route: High Road

Spectacular views of ponderosa pines, a formation called Laura’s Rock, and Mount Livermore (the tallest peak in the Davis Mountains) abound at The Nature Conservancy’s Davis Mountains Preserve. To get there, take Texas 118 about 25 miles northwest from Fort Davis, turn south onto the preserve’s Madera Canyon Road, and follow it for about five miles. Open to the public only on specific days, the 33,000-acre preserve is part of a sky island in the Chihuahuan Desert created by the cooler and wetter landscape of the Davis Mountains.