I visited Indian Lodge State Park for the first time a decade ago. It was love at first sight. Rising above the cactus and ocotillo of the Chihuahuan Desert, the Davis Mountains stole my heart with a combination of crisp weather, clear night skies, breathtaking vistas, and the howls of coyotes ricocheting against the red craggy cliffs. For the first time, I perceived what Georgia O’Keeffe called “the wideness and wonder of the world” in my home state.
There was no place I felt it as strongly as when hiking south on a trail in Davis Mountains State Park. That’s where I caught sight of a white adobe building at Indian Lodge glistening like marble in the heart of the Keesey Canyon.
For the next decade, I had one dream: to spend a night at the only working hotel in the Texas state parks system. There I would watch the sun set and the stars and moon rise from the only state park nestled within another state park. Life and the unrelenting drum of Indian Lodge’s popularity (the 39 rooms are booked months in advance) deferred that dream. Just when it seemed like I might be able to make the trip, in 2023, much-needed renovations closed Indian Lodge for two years.
On May 23, the decade-long wait ended: Texas Parks and Wildlife announced that Indian Lodge and Black Bear Restaurant (the only eatery run by TPWD) were re-opening. I immediately booked my stay.
As my companion and I drove up Park Road 3 on a late July afternoon, the light cast an apricot shade on the hotel’s bright adobe walls. While the rest of Texas baked in the upper 90s, the high desert (Indian Lodge sits at an elevation of 5,200 feet) cooled down to the downright vernal upper 80s. With guidance from the friendly park staff, we settled into the 90-year-old park.
When Indian Lodge opened to the public in 1935, Texas was caught in the throes of the Great Depression and the New Deal. One New Deal agency, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), housed and employed young men who built state parks, even in the challenging terrain of the Davis Mountains. The young CCC workers built a structure purely out of handmade and sun-dried adobe bricks that would represent what Texas State Parks calls “the pinnacle of CCC in the state of Texas.”
The pine log ceilings, tile floors, and panoramic views through the thick adobe walls still reflect the spirit of the CCC construction. Although the property now uses card keys and provides icy air conditioners and TVs, the lodge rooms retain the original historic feel. An absence of mini fridges meant frequent trips to the ice machine to restock the cooler. And the absence of Wi-Fi everywhere except for in the Assembly Room compelled me to unplug. It felt liberating.
Almost everything at Indian Lodge aims to bring visitors closer to surroundings that feel a galaxy away from the humidity and concrete of Texas’ cities and suburbs. One of its many trails, the Indian Lodge Trail (from where I first glimpsed Indian Lodge a decade ago), has a trailhead in the parking lot. You could—as my companion and I did—hit the trail five minutes after climbing out of bed.
Then there is the pool. Much has been written about the abundant swimming spots in Texas, but words can scarcely do justice to the intensity of the high desert sun and the still-chill water that ensconced me while I took in the sky, birds, and mountains above. The improvements to the pool and surrounding terrace have made it the ideal place at Indian Lodge—maybe the entire Davis Mountains—to spend an afternoon. Miraculously, each time my companion and I traipsed across the newly built lower terrace to the pool, we found we had it all to ourselves. In Texas’ largest mountain range by area, there is more than enough of the wideness and wonder of the world to go around. We were lucky enough enjoy it poolside from a park headed into its 10th decade.
When it came time for us to drive away from the park with the midmorning sun high above the adobe, I knew I would be back soon. This is the kind of love that lasts.
