Rocky Mountain Outdoor Writers and Photographers
Fort Davis, Texas Tuesday – Friday, October 1-4, 2024
2024 Rocky Mountain Outdoor Writers and Photographers Conference
Be sure to ink these dates in your calendar NOW! Fort Davis offers a delightful variety of attractions and activities… something for everyone. Details on organized field trips, workshops, and presentations will be listed soon, as well as a variety of things you will want to do on your own.
The top attractions to Fort Davis include the darkest skies in the world. Fort Davis is located in the world’s largest International Dark Sky Reserve. This year’s RMOWP conference will be held during the new moon. We will highlight astrophotography, including a Star Party at the historic Prude Ranch (https://www.prude-ranch.com/).
We have arranged for an exciting, guided tour of the rugged Davis Mountain Conservancy (https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/davis-mountains-preserve/) and its fragile Sky Island ecosystem, which is a cooler, wetter landscape surrounded by an arid lowland desert. The Davis Mountains Conservancy boasts over 110,000 acres, including Mount Livermore, the second-highest peak in Texas (8,300 feet). It is home to the greatest concentration of bears and cougars in Texas. It is also home to a wide variety of flora and fauna found nowhere else in the state.
The Davis Mountain State Park (https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/davis-mountains) offers scenic views, hiking, and biking trails. The area also boasts 400 species of birds. The park has three, first-class bird blinds for viewing. The area has a rich history of ancient peoples, pioneers, and cowboys. We’ve arranged a ranger-led walk and tour at the park.
The Chihuahua Desert Research Institute (http://www.cdri.org/) includes Modesta Canyon, a unique riparian canyon with a year-round spring, and Clayton's Overlook, a dome with spectacular views from all directions. CDRI offers over five miles of hiking trails, in addition to the recently renovated Desert Botanical Gardens, the Maxie Templeton Cactus Museum Collection, a bird blind, and the Heritage Mining Exhibit. We’ve arranged a walking tour, culminating in a luncheon near CDRI’s bird blind.
In addition, we encourage you to enjoy the following:
• The town of Fort Davis and its historic walking tour (https://fortdavis.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/walkingtour.pdf)
• Take the 75-mile Davis Mountain Loop drive (https://texashighways.com/adventures/postcards-davis-mountains-scenic-loop/)
• Visit the McDonald Observatory (https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/)
• Visit the Chateau Wright winery (https:chateauwright.com).
• Also, Fort Davis is within three hours of Big Bend National Park, Guadalupe National Park, and Carlsbad Caverns National Park, as well as many Texas state parks, historic areas, and petroglyph and pictograph sites.
