After a visit to El Paso in West Texas, you’ll soon be asking yourself: “What took me so long to discover this incredible city?”
This historic town with loads of character is set along the Rio Grande River and has a population of 830,000. Its nearby Mexico neighbor just over the border is Ciudad Juárez.
One thing visitors immediately notice about El Paso is its sunny disposition. With 300 days of sun annually, the Sun City moniker is befitting. Also, with an elevation at nearly 3,800 feet above sea level, El Paso features dry weather most of the time, while afternoon winds seem to be the norm.
With several RV options in the area, a good choice with a convenient location is Mission RV Park. With 188 sites set on 15.5 acres, this is a great place to relax and get your bearings before heading out to explore the city and its many offerings.
Mission RV Park features a wide range of amenities including pull-through sites, full hook-ups, and a pet-friendly environment. Other options include showers, restrooms, laundry facilities, Wi-Fi, cable TV, a camp store, a swimming pool, and a rec room.
Mission RV Park, El Paso, Texas. Photo via CampgroundReviews.com
If you have a military connection then Fort Bliss RV Park is worth considering. With 133 pull-through sites, the park has plenty of additional amenities, including a comfortable family room with kitchen extras, a TV, free Wi-Fi access, a stair stepper, stationary bike, and two treadmills.
There’s also a laundry area, public restroom and shower facilities, and a small playground. Two outside pavilion areas with built-in grills are provided for parties or small get-togethers. A doggie walk is available, however, patrons may walk their pets wherever they wish.
Fort Bliss plays a major role in the El Paso community. As the nation’s air defense headquarters, Fort Bliss is the U.S. Army’s second-largest military installation. The El Paso military community includes 164,000 people.
Lots to see and do around El Paso
For a bit of history and culture, grab your passport and walk across the border into Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. It will cost you 50 cents walking into Mexico and five pesos to get back into the U.S. Though the Kentucky Club gets a huge amount of hype, it is worth a stop for a margarita. In Juárez, you can also find numerous quaint little shops and restaurants worth exploring, and at very affordable prices.
El Paso’s Mission Trail guides visitors to three historic missions dating back nearly 400 years. Within easy driving distance of one another, the three missions include Ysleta, Socorro, and San Elizario Presidio and Chapel. Ysleta Mission dates to 1660 and is the second oldest continually active parish in the United States.
Offering a world of culture, El Paso’s eclectic museums are unmatched in their breadth and diversity. Museum categories include archaeology, art, international art, history, and the Holocaust. All are free to the public.
Visitors can also take advantage of El Paso’s revitalized streetcar service. Six streetcars run in two loops—uptown and downtown—on a 4.8-mile track. These colorful streetcars connect the retail areas, convention center, Southwest University Park, the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), and several historic neighborhoods. Not only are the streetcars practical, but they’re fun, too!
Sports abound in Sun City. Calling Southwest University Park home are the El Paso Locomotive FC, a professional soccer team; and the El Paso Chihuahuas, a Triple-A professional baseball affiliate of the San Diego Padres. Also, the UTEP Sun Bowl football stadium that seats nearly 52,000 fans, hosts the annual college football Sun Bowl in late December.
El Paso skyline. Photo via Wikipedia Creative Commons
Pick a tee time, any time of year
The El Paso area also offers plenty of golf options, including the every-popular TopGolf. One of the best tracks in Texas is the 18-hole Butterfield Trail Golf Club. This magnificent Tom Fazio design stretches to 7,307 yards from the championship tees. The par 72 daily fee golf course is highlighted by natural sand dunes and native flora and fauna.
The golf course, which opened in 2007, has a deep connection to the past. The history of Butterfield Trail dates back to 1858 when the Butterfield Overland Mail Company operated for three years carrying mail and passengers across the country from Missouri to San Francisco. More than 700 miles of the almost 2,800-mile mail route ran across the state of Texas. Part of the original trail used still runs through the Butterfield Trail golf course property today.
A few other area courses to consider include the 27-hole Painted Dunes Desert Golf Course and 27-hole complex Ascarate Golf Course, which is operated by El Paso County Parks and Recreation.
For more information on this vibrant city, check out visitelpaso.com. You can also learn more about the local campgrounds on RV LIFE Campgrounds.
Rick Stedman is an avid golfer, RVer, and writer who lives in Olympia, Washington. Rick writes a weekly golf blog, The 19th Hole, for RV LIFE. You can reach him at rstedman@gmail.com.
Rick Stedman is an avid golfer, RVer, and writer who lives in Olympia, Washington. Rick writes a golf column, “The RV Golfer,” which is published every month in rvlife.com. He can be reached at rstedman@gmail.com.
I spent a week in this great city at Desert Oasis Park (EWS), rode my RZR in the Red Sands OHV Area, visited the National Park and surrounding Mtns. I’m also a Veteran and I found the local VFW, don’t miss this place, the most friendly people are there.
Juarez is one of the most violent cities in the world. Do not cross the border!
I wouldn’t plan on any time soon, El Paseo is the countries Covid-19 hot spot right now.
I wonder if the rzr is legal for the road in Texas (as it is in SD and AZ among others).
Not sure about recommending we cross the border into Juarez. Recall a big part of the culture is drug wars, killings, kidnapping, robbery, etc. But then again this is what I recall reading in the not to distant past. Possibly you could have addressed this in your piece. I would visit El Paso. I like the “heads up” about Fort Bliss. I would not cross the border.