We found the best hike at Fort Davis National Historic Site!

While we were camped at Davis Mountains State Park, we didn't have any phone signal. So we drove several miles to the tiny town of Fort Davis, Texas, to make calls or publish blogs. We got to know the Guatemalan Food Truck, the Stone Village Deli (and their yummy cookies), and the city park on these trips to town to get some computer time. This little town is also the home of the Fort Davis National Historic Site, so we stopped in for a free visit compliments of our national park pass. Fort Davis was built in 1854, to protect travelers on the San Antonio-El Paso Road. Today it is one of the best preserved frontier military posts in the country. Mark stood in front of the long line of houses that were built as the officers' quarters, and are still in remarkable shape. 

We also visited the enlisted men's barracks that have been refurbished to look as they did in the 1800s.

Some of the buildings only have a portion of the walls still standing, while others are left only with their foundations remaining. There are enough buildings left to give visitors a fine understanding of life at Fort Davis.

We visited the fort six years ago, so ours was a briefer tour this time. After watching the national historic site film and walking through the fort hospital, we started the real reason for our visit. We were taking the hiking trail that starts right in the fort hospital's back yard.

These large black rocks are the result of a volcanic eruption thousands of years ago. Our hike today took us straight up through the boulders of black lava.

Flat desert hikes are all right, but we love the addition of big boulders to scramble around.

Our wildlife sighting of the day was this desert lizard, enjoying the nice sunny weather that we were liking as well.

A close-up shows the intricate detail of that scaly lizard. We marvel at the large boulders and tiny details of nature as we wander God's wonders!

We were entertained with the 1.5-mile hike through the rocks to get the top.

Once at the very top, a bench was provided to take in the aerial view of historic Fort Davis.

We also looked over the surrounding rock formations from the comfort of that bench.

So why would anyone leave that bench to scramble onto the furthest rock and dangle his legs over the canyon? That's just what Mark does.

From there, he could get the best aerial view of the backyards of that row of officers' quarters where he had stood earlier.

This is Mark's favorite kind of hike, with some high views and rocks to scramble up and over. He blended in with the rocks this day.

You would think he would be satisfied to just stand on top of a rock on the right side of the picture below.

But no, he would rather bush whack his way to the middle of the picture.

While bush whacking, some of those bushes whacked him right back. Mark discovered cat-claw mimosa bushes, with their barbs that actually look and feel like a cat's claw. He came out of that little hike with some good scratches.

There's also some scratchy things underfoot, like this barrel cactus with its red-tinged spikes.

Some of the plants underfoot were actually not prickly at all. We stopped to admire this purple verbena that must be very tough to sprout and prosper among the black lava rocks.

We had a good day exploring Fort Davis National Historic Site, and we claim the 3.3-mile trail that starts there as the best hike in the Davis Mountains.