Published: August 07, 2007 10:00 am         

Restored Indian Lodge worth a West Texas trip

From my table inside the Black Bear Restaurant, I find myself eye-to-beak with a pair of black-chinned hummingbirds.

As I sip my coffee and munch on a fresh-from-the-skillet breakfast taco, the hummers just beyond the window pane several stories up suck nectar from a mature desert willow. I would venture that few restaurants in Texas can top the view from the Black Bear at historic Indian Lodge just outside Fort Davis.

The original 16-room Indian Lodge rose from the grassy slopes of the Davis Mountains in the 1930s as a result of the tireless labors of unemployed young men during the Depression years when eating breakfast was considered a luxury by many.

Teenager Charles Potter Brody Bassett was one of several hundred men of the federally funded Civilian Conservation Corps companies who helped build the Pueblo-style adobe inn at Davis Mountains State Park, as well as park roads and other facilities.

“It was when I quit being hungry,” Bassett told his son years later about his Davis Mountains CCC experience. James A. Bassett’s letter recounting his father’s reminisces about his CCC days hangs on the wall of the inn’s original lobby that today serves as a sort of mini museum and lounging area for lodge guests.

With its massive fireplace, polished, hand-hewn Ponderosa pine columns and vigas (beams), latillas (river cane) and handmade cedar furnishings from a CCC camp in Bastrop, the lobby is a must-see architectural showplace.

Here, too, are found historic artifacts, vintage photographs and tributes to the “Enduring Legacy” of the CCC boys. Be sure to check out the memorabilia display case that includes one of the 120,000 adobe bricks made on site in 1933 uncovered during last year’s extensive renovations, an original handcrafted cedar lamp base, a CCC pocket knife and original Indian Lodge room keys. Don’t miss the panoramic black-and-white photo of 400 enrollees from Companies 1879 and 1881, who worked in the Davis Mountain camps in what was one of Texas’ first CCC camps.

To stay at Indian Lodge is to step back into the early 20th century when automobile travel and tourism were in their infancy and life unfolded at a slower pace. But that doesn’t mean Indian Lodge’s accommodations aren’t up to modern standards.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has spent more than $4 million over the past five years renovating the original 16 (numbered in the 100s) historic rooms, as well as the 24 “modern” (200s and 300s) rooms added in the 1960s. Many of the original pine ceilings and floors have been restored, heating/air conditioning and plumbing systems upgraded and almost 200 pieces of original rustic cedar furniture refinished. In rooms that were “modernized” in the 1960s, workers removed old carpeting and suspended acoustic tile ceilings, installed wood flooring and applied a stucco finish to interior cement block walls to mimic the look of the more historic part of the lodge.

“All and all,” says Indian Lodge manager Alfred Tobola Jr., “seeing how it looks today compared to the way it was before renovations is truly amazing. The rooms were stripped down to the bare bones and totally redone with new drapery, bedspreads, carpeting, lamps and vanities added.”

Since the second and final phase of Indian Lodge’s renovation was completed in October of 2006, occupancy has been setting a torrid pace, according to Tabola. Through June of this year, just under 10,000 people have stayed at the inn. Rooms rent from $90 to $125 a night.

When guests aren’t lounging in a comfortable bed watching cable television or gazing at the amazing scenery of Limpia Canyon and the surrounding mountains, they may be found taking a dip in the lodge swimming pool, driving up nearby Skyline Drive to take in the postcard-quality sunsets or hiking on one of Davis Mountain State Park’s several trails. Wildlife watching in the 2,700-acre park is often rewarded with sightings of the unusual Montezuma quail, mule deer, javelina, antelope, fox or perhaps even a black bear at higher elevations of the Davis Mountains.

Speaking of black bear, the on-premise Black Bear Restaurant is slated next for renovation, but for now serves a fine chicken fried steak, home-style Mexican food and hearty breakfasts fit for a CCC worker. It is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, staying open an hour later on Fridays and Saturday to accommodate those heading to the McDonald Observatory star parties.

Other things to see while visiting the Fort Davis area include: the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center & Botanical Gardens; Fort Davis National Historic Site (one of the best examples of a Southwestern frontier citadel); the famed McDonald Observatory (Star Parties every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday nights); Overland Trail Museum and the 72-mile Scenic Loop through the Davis Mountains.

Indian Lodge is located inside Davis Mountains State Park State Park four miles west of Fort Davis on State Highway 118. For information about the park, call (432) 426-3337.

To make an overnight camping reservation, call (512) 389-8100. For general Texas State Park information, call 1-800-792-1112 or visit www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/.

Editors: For downloadable j-peg images of the park, please go to the TPWD Newsroom at www.tpwd.state.tx.us/news/newsroom/photo.

     

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