There’s never a shortage of options for new escapades across the largest state in the lower 48. With Texas’ bounty of landscapes, people, foods, and cultures, it can be hard to know where to begin. To provide a little travel inspiration for your new year, we’ve chosen a bucket list activity for each month. Find old treasures shining anew, artistic happenings too exciting to ignore, and fanfare in unexpected places. While the square mileage of our state might make hitting all 12 a challenge, this is Texas, and we’ve got to dream big, right?
JANUARY
Write your name on the desk at Hancock Hill in Alpine
Long before virtual school became commonplace, remote learning had an entirely different meaning in Alpine. Searching for a quiet place to study in 1981, three Sul Ross State University students decided to lug an old metal desk and chair up the slopes of Hancock Hill directly behind their dormitory. Under the blanket of the West Texas sky with picturesque views of the Chihuahuan Desert, their new learning space soon became popular for hanging out and meditating. As time passed, visitors scribbled names, anniversary dates, poems, and thoughts—both profound and meaningless—throughout the desk’s battered surface and inside notebooks kept within the drawers.
The original desk is gone after years of bathing in the sun, but the university replaces it once each desk’s surface is filled. Today, guests still eagerly trek the 1.8-mile loop trail with pens and markers ready to leave their signatures behind. Navigating the hike is made easy with printed and digital maps. But if you get lost, don’t worry.
