53km from Davis Mountains State Park Campground · 3 unitsThe Valentine Texas Bar — Camp Behind the Diviest Bar in America
You're parking behind The Valentine Texas Bar in Valentine, Texas. Population: 73. Nearest other bar: 73 miles. Nearest reason to check your email: none.
The site is open desert ground behind the bar with room for RVs or tents. It's flat, it's dry, and the stars out here hit different when there's not a single streetlight competing. This is Jeff Davis County dark sky country: McDonald Observatory is 30 minutes east, and on a clear night (which is most nights), the Milky Way looks like somebody spilled it.
Walk around the building and you're at the bar. Cold beer, good people, and the kind of energy that only happens in a place this far from everything else. The bar opens sporadically, on a whim, so check ahead or just roll the dice. If we're open, you'll know. If we're not, you've still got one of the best campsites in Far West Texas all to yourself.
What's nearby: Prada Marfa is right up the road (you're going to take the photo, everyone does). Marfa is 35 minutes west for galleries, restaurants, and the mystery lights. Big Bend National Park is south. The Davis Mountains are east. Blue Origin's launch facility is just over the ridge. You're camping at the intersection of art, space, and absolute nowhere.
This is primitive camping. No hookups, no wifi, no concierge. There's a sky full of stars, a bar in the desert, and the kind of quiet that reminds you what your brain sounds like when it's not being yelled at by your phone.
Best for: road trippers, vanlifers, motorcyclists on US-90, anyone who looked at a map and thought "what's out there?"