How to Get Deliciously Lost in Terlingua, Texas

Highly subjective takes on life’s most interesting experiences.

The best place to disappear?

Terlingua, Texas. Disappearing is my ideal vacation. My favorite disappearing act is getting lost driving the empty roads of far West Texas. Marfa, Texas, is always a home base, and one of my favorite places on Earth. But when I am ready to disappear, I drive west out of town, through the Chihuahuan Desert to Presidio. I then head south through Big Bend Ranch State Park, where the empty, two-lane road hugs the banks of the Rio Grande as it silently winds its way through prehistoric canyon walls. Eventually, the road rises out of the canyon and an ancient landscape stretches out in front of me. I’m just miles from Terlingua, but it feels like I’m at the edge of the world. Disappearing in Terlingua was immortalized in Wim Wenders’ film “Paris, Texas.” The film opens with Harry Dean Stanton’s solitary figure crossing the empty Chihuahuan Desert as he wanders his way to Terlingua. People have been disappearing in Terlingua for years, hiding out among the ruins of the old mining town, repurposing the abandoned buildings into homes. But if you feel the need for company, conversation, or a good meal, there is the Starlight Theatre or the porch of the Terlingua Trading Company.