Alpine lies in the high desert of West Texas, at roughly 4,500 feet, in a basin between the Davis Mountains to the north and the long, empty country that runs south toward Big Bend. It is a railroad and ranching town of just under six thousand that has quietly become the logical base for anyone heading into the park, and also a college town, because Sul Ross State University sits on a hill above the main street. The result is better coffee than you would expect at the end of a long highway.
The place feels like the hinge of the region. Marfa, with its art-world reputation and its mysterious lights, is about thirty-five kilometres west, and Fort Davis, the old frontier army post under the mountains, is about the same distance north. The scenic loop through the Davis Mountains is a very good ride, climbing and twisting through volcanic rock with real elevation change in a country that otherwise looks flat. South from Alpine, Texas 118 runs about a hundred miles through ranch country, past Study Butte and Terlingua, the old quicksilver mining town turned ghost town turned chili-cookoff, before reaching the park entrance.
Riding here is about distance and light. The roads are long, straight, wide and quiet, with the occasional gentle swell and a crosswind that can lean on you hard. Surfaces are generally good, but cattle guards, livestock and wildlife on the road are common, and javelinas and deer are active at dusk. Summer afternoons are fierce, with temperatures that make a full jacket an act of faith, so start early and carry more water than you think you need. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, and winter mornings can be properly cold at this elevation, though usually clear and bright.
This is the place to fill the tank and the water bottles, because services thin out south of here. There is fuel in town and several places for food, from tacos to burgers, and the stretch to the park has only a few stops, so do not gamble on the needle. Once you ride out of Alpine heading south, the sky gets enormous and the mountains give way to the Chihuahuan Desert. It is a good problem to have.