Lodging is rapidly becoming scarce! If we are going to do this we MUST make some reservations soon. The lodge inside the park is booked.
I have been touting Terlingua as the place to stay, but Dave pointed out that it is about 110 miles further than Marathon. Good point, but availability in Marathon is doubtful. Marathon Motel is booked for Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th. They have a couple rooms available for Sunday the 15th. I did not call the Gage Hotel in Marathon. http://www.gagehotel.com 800-884-4243.
An alternative would be Alpine, 31 miles past Marathon. I have not called, but according to the web, two motels there, Oak Tree and Best Western, are booked. Others are probably available.
I have found a place only 68 miles further than Alpine, about 100 from Marathon. Longhorn Ranch Motel: http://www.terlinguatx.com/longhorn.html
As of this morning they have 16 rooms available for Saturday and Sunday nights. I didn?t ask, but I assume they are also available Friday night. This looks good to me. FYI, somewhere I ran across a link that indicated a San Antonio Jeep club stayed there. Anyone know anyone in ?SAJE??
A disadvantage is that it is about 10 miles from ?town? where the store and other eating-places are. In the middle of town (the highway intersection) are the Mission Lodge and Big Bend Motor Inn. http://www.texbesthotels.com/terlingua_mission.htm & http://texbesthotels.com/bigbend_motorinn.htm These are owned by the same company and are across the street from one another. I didn't call, but I assume they have availability. (I?ve stayed there before.)
The Terlingua Ranch Lodge is several miles away on a dirt road. http://www.terlinguaranch.com I didn?t call them because I thought that no private baths might turn a few people off. One advantage here would be for those who would like to camp. From the web site it sounds to me like their campsites are better than the RV sites at the Longhorn.
Of course people wanting to camp will probably do so inside the park. The Cottonwood campground is about 30 miles from town (Study Butte / Terlingua). That campground is near the beginning of the River Road, along which is some of the best primitive camping. Campers may want to make reservations too. If you are thinking of primitive camping, contact me.
Thoughts, feelings, ideas, suggestions?
I suppose we don?t all have to stay at the same place. Personally, I vote for the Longhorn. If there is a consensus, I propose that everyone that can do so make a commitment now. If you can let me know how many rooms, I?ll take care of reserving them. People who decide at the last minute can probably get in at the Mission or the Motor Inn.