Pinto Canyon Road
After the first 32 paved miles of Pinto Canyon Road out of Marfa, wheels hit gravel and things get interesting. The 20-odd-mile stretch of unpaved road is often high-centered and always ROUGH – as in, shatter-your-incisors rough. If you want to drive PCR, you'll need a vehicle with considerable ground clearance; all-wheel-drive couldn't hurt. Those afraid of heights will also want to keep in mind that Pinto Canyon Road is flanked by precipitous drop-offs in several places. When I drove this road solo in 2020, I didn't see another vehicle or even another soul from the time I left Marfa until I reached Chinati Hot Springs two and a half hours later. I had zero mobile phone service for practically the entire trip. It's pretty inhospitable country, so if you want to try it but you're afraid of breaking down and being stranded, you might want to buy or at least rent some sort of satellite-based communication device. All that said, the intensity of the desolation and the magnitude of the geology make the drive worth it. Pinto Canyon is dominated by the dome-topped hulk of Chinati Peak – you can see it just right of center in the background of this drone photo. Oh, and that rutted dirt track weaving its way through the terrain on the left and also the far right? That's Pinto Canyon Road. [image captured with a DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone]