Both are in remote West Texas. Both have breathtaking night skies filled with shimmering stars that stretch to infinity. Both attract people who are happiest when coloring outside the lines of conventional life. But despite their similarities, Terlingua and Marathon have distinct personalities.
Here’s what we discovered: Terlingua is the more unpolished of the two, and the best place to kick back with a beer and hang with the locals on the front porch of the rustic trading post. Marathon, on the other hand, is an excellent place to enjoy a superb prickly pear cactus margarita in an elegant 1927-era Western hotel.
Terlingua, Texas
Located just outside the far western border of Big Bend National Park, Terlingua flourished as a quicksilver mining town from the late 1800s until the mid-1940s. They even had their own movie theatre. But the demand for mercury diminished after WWI, the miners walked away, and Terlingua was left to fade into the desert.
Somewhere in the past couple of decades, Terlingua was rediscovered by artists, loners, and eccentrics. Now it’s a ghost town with a population of 56. Make that 57, if you count Clay Henry, the taxidermied beer-drinking goat who was the former mayor of next-door Lajitas. (The actual human population may be closer to a couple hundred, no one knows for sure.)
Wandering the old mining cabins of Terlingua Ghost Town
A reclaimed miner’s cabin
At the entrance to town is the historic cemetery. There are no fancy monuments here; just simple stonework, Mexican style grottoes, and wood and filigree crosses. The Day of the Dead is reputed to be quite a festive celebration here.
Near the Terlingua cemetery
The rustic and historic Terlingua cemetery
The old wood and adobe church is still here and still used. The former miners’ commissary is now the Terlingua Trading Post, offering a surprisingly excellent array of Native American and Mexican crafts—and an equally well-curated selection of craft beers. And the Starlight Theatre, formerly the movie theatre for the miners, offers dining, drinks, and live music.
We celebrated New Year’s at the Starlight and it was great fun. But a few days previously, sitting on the porch drinking a beer from the cooler at the trading post and listening to an impromptu music jam—that was every bit as good.
St. Agnes Church, circa 1914
The church has a rustic and colorful interior
A bug sculpture, just one of Terlingua’s many artistic offerings
Locals gather each afternoon on the porch of the Starlight Theatre and the trading post next door. This is the place to enjoy some local color in the form of conversation, music, and a sunset over the Chisos Mountains.
The Starlight Theatre
Music on the porch with really talented musicians and a music-appreciating dog
More reclaimed junk artwork, this time at the Starlight Theatre
Clay Henry, the cranky but beloved (and now stuffed) goat mayor on display at the Starlight Theatre. Legend has it that he could pound down 40 beers a day.
New Year’s at the Starlight Theatre. It was a pretty awesome way to ring in another year.
Marathon, Texas
Just 40 miles north of Big Bend National Park sits the tiny town of Marathon, population 470. The Chamber of Commerce proclaims, “There’s nothing to do here.” Well, it’s a peaceful, beautiful place to do nothing. And that’s exactly what we did for two nights as we wrapped up our adventures in Big Bend.
Marathon is upscale compared to Terlingua—but there’s still an eccentric twist to the town
The wide main street invites exploring
The French Grocer, with just about everything you need
One of the most unusual places in Marathon is a colorful, fanciful hacienda sculpted of straw bales and paper crete made of recycled materials. The owner and builder invited us in for a tour—it’s a remarkable work of art, including the gardens and greenhouse filled with bougainvillea, banana trees, flowers, and herbs.
In the courtyard of Eve’s Garden B & B
The biggest attraction in town is the Spanish-Mission style Gage Hotel, constructed in 1927 for cattle baron Alfred S. Gage. (The architect was Henry Trost from El Paso, who also built El Paisano in Marfa.) Every inch of the hotel is exquisite, down to the gingerbread replica decorating the lobby (we were there just before they took down the holiday decorations).
To celebrate the beginning of another New Year on the road, we planned a special dinner at the 12 Gage Restaurant in the hotel. After cocktails in the White Buffalo Bar, we settled into our black-and-white cowhide chairs for a Moroccan-inspired meal of spiced quail with basmati-apricot pilaf and charred tomato and green beans. Really tasty. But really skimpy on the stuffing. As it turns out, only a teaspoon of stuffing fits into a quail.
Those prickly pear cactus margaritas in the White Buffalo Bar, though. Those alone are worth the trip to Marathon.
The Gage Hotel, circa 1927
We caught the tail-end of the Gage Hotel decorated for the holidays, replete with a gingerbread Gage Hotel
The next day, all holiday decorations were cleared away. The decor of the hotel is understated classic Western elegance.
A tooled and silver embellished saddle is part of the decor
If you come to Marathon, don’t miss the White Buffalo Bar
Award winning prickly pear cactus margaritas
Just across the railroad tracks are the Gage Gardens, which would be even more beautiful in spring
A Golden-fronted Woodpecker in the gardens
About the RV Park:
We visited Terlingua twice while staying in Study Butte during our week in Big Bend National Park.
To explore Marathon, we stayed two nights at Marathon Motel & RV Park. The sites are basically big open pull-throughs on dirt and gravel, but the park was quiet and the sunsets and dark night skies are spectacular. Plus, it’s an easy half-mile walk into town. Full hookups, good cell coverage, free wifi, and laundry (although with only one washer and dryer).
There’s a lovely outdoor fireplace and courtyard where people gather most evenings, but it was so cold when we were there that no one ventured outdoors after dark. People also often set up telescopes for stargazing (but no one braved 17 degrees for a star party).
When you reserve, ask for a site in the back area away from the highway. The first two nights of your stay they honor Passport America, which makes it a great deal.
The Marathon Motel & RV Park
Pink afternoon glow at the RV Park
Dang, it was cold while we were there! The fountain was frozen in the courtyard of the RV Park.
A Marathon, Texas sunset
Hi Laurel,
Nice post! Big Bend is on our list so I am curious why you didn’t stay in the park?
Brenda, we spent a week exploring Big Bend National Park and couldn’t get reservations in the park so we stayed at Study Butte RV Park. As it turns out, we were happy there—full hookups, great internet, and right next door to Terlingua. I wrote about it in our previous post on Big Bend if you want to read about it. :-)
Belated Happy New Year….can imagine sitting with you two over beers and stuffed quail! You make life on the road so appealing I keep waiting for the proverbial other shoe ax murderer crackhead in the RV next door but nosurprises..thankyou Jesus! Miss you and send the best in a prickly pear margarita toast….to all that is good..wildly creative..and marches to the sizzling salsa band of the sky! Would be sweet to meet up in the Midwest…what’s your timing look like for June 14 thru the 20th? Carhenge in Alliance intrigue?
Diana, we’ve never encountered any weirdness in all of our years of traveling! That includes five years fulltiming and many years part-timing before that. Now you’re scaring me. (Not really. I have faith in RVers.)
The Midwest is going to be all-new territory for us…we’re counting on you to lead the way…
I love to color outside the lines! I love the bug sculpture. I love the colorful hacienda, I love the beautiful western saddle, I love the way you spent New Years….I love your menu choices. Only thing I didn’t love about this post is the ice in those beautiful margaritas!
Haha, coloring outside the lines is the only way to live! We kinda do that by traveling full-time…but there are those who color with even more abandon. Love visiting those places!
So…I don’t like frozen margaritas, but I never thought about margaritas with no ice at all. I tend to like lots of ice in my drinks (cubed, never crushed!). Maybe I need to expand my horizons?
Oh, you just can’t just post a couple of pics….enjoying them all and makes us want to return. Travels with strangers reminds us of the travels we have shared with some awesome people, kind, gentle, generous and most of all you long for a trip with some of them. Wouldn’t that be incredible, miles of roads ahead and camping with them at night. Maybe that is what coexisting camping would be like. Or perhaps it would be days of ‘Sweetwater’, where you birded, paddled and hiked with the best friends the road has to offer. It was so fun spending a couple of hours with you on Friday enroute through S.C. Till next time….
Julie, I have a hard time narrowing down photos, as you know. I’m trying, though!
We really enjoy caravanning with good friends. It would be wonderful to share a trip with you two! Thanks so much for taking the time to meet up with us in our travels…good memories, and more to come! And thanks again for all of the yummy treats. :-))
What eclectic places. I don’t suppose there are a lot of vegetarians? Your pink sunset trailer fits right in with all of the colorful interiors.
Sheila, I don’t know about the vegetarian population, but all of the restaurants offer vegetarian options. Lots of artists in both towns, too!
Our old stomping grounds. Glad you had the chance to explore. BTW – The locals pronounce Marathon as Marthn. Kinda all squished together with a dollop of TX drawl… Happy trails.
We’re sorry we didn’t make it there while you were working in the park. Now we understand why you kept returning year after year! Hope you guys are well.
You guys are always having too much fun! Keep it up!
John
John, we’re trying to keep up with you two!! Wish our paths were crossing in our travels…have fun in Africa! :-)
They stuffed a goat? And the goat was the mayor? But the goat likes beer? So. Confused.
Haha… just kidding. (Not really…I’m still lobbying for you to get a pet goat. A real live one!!)
These both seem like super interesting places to check out. Between the prickly pear margaritas, Moroccan food, and the lovely Gage Hotel, label me officially ‘intrigued’!
Yeah, the whole goat thing is a bit confusing, isn’t it? Clay Henry the goat was the elected mayor of Lajitas (next door to Terlingua) until he was killed in a drunken brawl with his son. There have since been several more goat mayors…no one else seems able to win the election. I think Clay Henry’s great-grandson is the current mayor. :-)
I still want a goat, but not a cranky drunken one. You guys would enjoy both of those quirky towns!
The amazing places you two manage to find is astounding. Love the pics and your pose is model perfect.
Thanks, Brenda! These are both fun towns, and well worth a visit should you make your way to Texas.
What cute little towns! Thanks so much for the tour. I like the sound and look of Terlingua. It’s interesting how many little “ghost towns” are resurrected by the art community. Finding those jam sessions is such fun. There was a deli in Ajo that we stopped at several times for lunch because the local retirees would meet for a daily jam. Always good music.
I’m glad you enjoyed the tour, Pam. It’s true, there are so many towns brought back to life by artists—I always think of Bisbee! Ajo has been on our list for several years, and for a variety of reasons we’ve missed it. But hopefully we’ll make it there this fall!
I want to go to both of these little towns. What a great way to ring in another year. Sounds like our kind of fun.
They’re both great little towns, LuAnn. We loved starting the year in Big Bend!
The Starlight Theatre sounds like a good time. Oh yeah, yum dinner and drinks which were out of the usual. Score!
If you’re ever in the area, don’t miss the Starlight Theatre and an afternoon on the porch. Dinner and drinks at the Gage Hotel were superb!
Boy do I wish I’d known you were going to Terlingua. Our niece has an amazing place off the grid that they built call the Javalina Hideout. Look it up on line. Love your pictures of Terlingua. David has visited there on his Big Bend trip but he didn’t take enough or as great pictures as yours. Frozen waterfall in December in way south Texas? Boy I would never guess that. Wonder how they make a prickly pear margarita? Cactus juice? Really? I’m such a gringo. Great closing shot.
Sherry, I would have loved to have seen your niece’s hideout! With no apparent building restrictions in Terlingua, there are some interesting places. And people. Yes, prickly pear margaritas really are made with juice from the prickly pear cactus fruit. And they’re delicious!
Definitely our kind of place – both these little gems! The old cemetery is magical. Great pic of you, I think it’s my new favorite. Sounds like a perfect, albeit chilly, New Years spot. I love that these remote desert places attract the artistic who turn them into such special destinations.
Jodee, these truly are your kind of places. You would have a blast in both Terlingua and Marathon! And we loved being there for the holidays, even though it happened to be really cold while we were there (unusually so).
What awesome towns! I’d heard of Terlingua, but not Marathon. That margarita sounds amazing! Your RV looks good in pink!!!
Lisa, if you ever make it back to Texas, be sure to put Big Bend, Terlingua, and Marathon on your list. And don’t miss the prickly pear margaritas. :-) Haha, yeah, I like our RV in pink!
We did the reverse of your visits, we stopped first at Marathon before entering Big Bend NP then Betsy was camped at Terlingua. And I so agree with you these cute small out of the beaten path towns do have something to offer to us who venture that far. Thanks again for taking me back except that I don’t recall getting me a Margarita at that resto :)
ML, I think you need to return just for the margaritas! They were the best we’ve ever had. We love the off-the-beaten-path places just as you do. There’s so much more to explore…
Looks like you guys picked a great place to spend the holidays, there’s nothing better then finding the quirky and unexpected.
Great post!
Thanks, Tim. We were really happy spending the holidays in and around Big Bend. The weather was great for hiking, and it was SO much fun to experience the holiday celebrations in Terlingua and Marathon!
Well I finally got around to reading this post and am very impressed.Next time we head to Big Bend I definitely want to stop in Marathon and Terlingua. We just dropped the trailer at airstream factory for general maintenance. Heading now for a week in Chicago with granddaughter Rebekah(& Paul and Megan )Where are you now? the weather in Ohio is cool but sunny today
Pat, I think you and Sheldon will enjoy Marathon and Terlingua. Both are certainly colorful and unique! We’re currently in Louisville, drinking bourbon and getting ready for a day at the Kentucky Derby on Thursday. When in Rome, right? :-) Have fun in Chicago—we’re heading there in a couple of weeks, so I look forward to your blog!