Camping in Texas

Keep driving west in Texas and the state starts to feel empty in the best way. Past the Pecos the towns thin out, the sky gets bigger, and at Study Butte you're at the door of Big Bend, where the Chisos Mountains hold the last light after the desert floor has gone dark. It's a Dark Sky Park, and on a clear night it shows.

The campsites out there are backcountry, so get a park permit and give yourself time to reach them. Closer in, Bandera still calls itself the Cowboy Capital of the World, and Port Aransas lets you camp on the beach and fall asleep to the Gulf. Odessa and Midland, out in oil country, have a big cluster of RV parks, but a lot of the spaces go to oilfield crews, so call ahead.