Recommended Area Daytrips
One of the goals of the Sibley Nature Center is to get people out exploring west Texas. If you take these trips, please feel free to share your photographs of the trip with us.
Daytrip: Feral Hog Hunt
Lots of West Texans are hunters. Feral hogs have become a menace to the landscape and even to humans, so guide services now arrange hog hunts. This graphic story may disturb some people -- if you think it might disturb you, do not read it! It is an honest accounting of a well managed hog hunt. Until feral hogs are eliminated, folks will pay money to go hunt hogs.
Read the daytrip report... (PDF document)
Daytrip: Geocaching in Windlands and Tumbleweed Parks, Midland, Texas
Geocaching is a great excuse to get out of the house, let the kids get some
education and exercise, let mom have some fun hunting for hidden treasure and
seeing things she might not otherwise see, and let dad play with his “big-boy toy,” his GPS receiver. We took a short one- to two-hour walk in Windlands
and Tumbleweed Parks in Midland, TX, and saw six caches and several other
interesting things.
Read the daytrip report... (PDF document)
Daytrip: Hummer House, Christoval, Texas
Want to have a wonderful weekend or just a Saturday get-a-way?
Then head your car toward Christoval, Texas to the Hummer
House, owned and operated by Dan and Cathy Brown. What a
time you will have exploring nature, whether you rent one of the
three cottages or just spend the day enjoying nature.
Read the daytrip report... (PDF document)
Daytrip: Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve, Mason, Texas
This little known site is a quick drive from the Llano, and worth investigating for
wildlife and conservation aficionados, enough so that the 170 miles is distance well covered.
Read the daytrip report... (PDF document)
Daytrip: Big Spring State Park, Howard County, Texas
March provides the first hints of spring to West Texas. Even in a dry year like 2008, there is plenty to find as you walk along the trails and roads of the State Park.
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Daytrip: Scurry County, Texas
The Colorado River cuts across the southwestern quarter of Scurry County. For a number of miles the river runs between rocky sandstone bluffs. Several creeks, including Bull Creek, join the river. It has remained “wild country,” ranch country still owned by families of some of the original settlers.
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Daytrip: Observing the Lesser Prairie Chicken
Hundreds of thousands of prairie chickens once lived on the Llano Estacado. Now only an estimated 5000 remain in Texas.
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Daytrip: Colorado City to Lomax
A person can go to Colorado City from Midland on Interstate 20, and it takes about 90 minutes. Or, a daytripper can take a much more scenic and historic route and feel free to pull of the road just about anywhere to admire things of interest.
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Daytrip: Pumpville to Geddis Canyon
South of Sheffield is rough and lonesome country. Part of it is now a new natural gas field. Watch out for the bumpgates -- if you do not know how to go through them, you will put dents in your vehicle! The roads are gravel and are travelable except after a rain, when the roads sometimes get washed away.
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Daytrip: Shafter Lake – A salt lake or salt playa
Salt playas are harsh environments. The soil is alkaline (high pH). Few plants can live in alkaline soils.
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Daytrip: What glories August rains bring
When late summer rains come to the sanddune region, a "fifth season" occurs – a second spring full of glorious wildflowers.
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Daytrip: Coke County, Texas
A daytripper knows something is different about Coke County, Texas, when they go over the divide between Sterling City and Robert Lee.
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Daytrip: You never know what you'll see on a daytrip
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Daytrip: On the road to the world's greatest lizard race
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Daytrip: Llano River canoeing
This canoe trip would be a very long day trip, but it can be done – or you can camp in the wonderful South Llano River State Park. The South Fork of the Llano River, south of Junction is a wonderful river for canoeists of all skill levels.
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Daytrip: Los Medanos, the Red Sanddunes just east of the San Simon Sink, northwest of Jal, New Mexico [May 7th, 2006]
The land is checkerboarded, meaning that some of it is privately owned, some of it is owned by the state of New Mexico, and that some is federal land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It is very tough country – heat and rattlesnakes can kill a blithely ignorant individual!
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Daytrip: A west Texas archaeological dig
Check out images from an April, 2006 field trip in which eighth graders from Andrews, Texas, became archaeologists on a ranch outside of Matador in Motley County.
Read the daytrip report... and the accompanying essay...
Daytrip: On the Trail of the Lesser Prairie Chicken
Lesser prairie chickens are found in Andrews, Gaines, Terry, Yoakum, Cochran, Bailey, Wheeler, Hemphill, Gray, Donley and Lipscomb Counties in the panhandle of Texas. A person can visit the Muleshoe Federal Wildlife Refuge and have a chance of seeing one … or be very lucky and see one fly across the road whenever their car is passing through very sandy soil.
Read the daytrip report... and the accompanying essay...
Daytrip: Motley County
Even though we're calling this trip to Motley County a "day trip," it's best planned as an overnight trip due to the abundance of interesting sights, including dripping springs, beautiful pools, and creeks that trickle all winter. There is also an abundance of history to be gleaned from the remains of ancient settlements.
Read the daytrip report... and the accompanying essay...
Daytrip: Borden County
Deborah and I love to explore west Texas. We always discover things 
we want to know more about. We would love for people to email us at the email address on the website if you know more. If people know of links that help people learn more about Borden County, we would love to add them to this story as well. (This includes information about ranches that cater to hunters or campers, as well as historical information!) We love Borden County!