Hudspeth River Ranch

The Experience

For thousands of years, people have been drawn to the shade and cool waters of the Devils River. In just a few days at Hudspeth, guests can paddle and swim from pool to pool, stopping for a picnic on the shaded bank. If your stay is timed just right, catch a glimpse of bright orange fall colors from more than just the changing leaves, as thousands of Monarch butterflies stop along their migration route from Canada to central Mexico.

Hike to one of several mountain peaks and search for bald and golden eagles above or white-tailed deer, quail, turkey, javelina and aoudad sheep in the canyons below. Mountain bike the 10-mile loop through Cedar Canyon, cool off at one of the shallow river crossings, site in your firearm at the shooting range and end the day with a home-cooked meal at the ranch headquarters.

The Devils River Region

The limestone mountains lined with Spanish Dagger and barrel cactus provide context for the river's uninviting name. Large stands of pecan, sycamore and live oak trees line the riverbed and hide blue lagoons and spring-fed pools that constitute the headwaters of the most pure and undisturbed stretch of water in Texas.

Three ecological regions meet at the ranch, making it biologically diverse: Chihuahuan, Edwards Plateau and Ta­maul­ipan. The natural area provides habitat for plants, fish and wildlife native to this area, including a rare salamander and several protected fish species.

Rich in History

The ranch was purchased in 1905 by Alice Strunk's great-grandfather Claude B. Hudspeth, known as the “cowboy congressman,” first a state representative and senator and then serving in the U.S. Congress, 1919-1931.

Nearly 14,000 years prior to Hudspeth's arrival, seas of grass attracted prehistoric bison and, in turn, their human pursuers. Cave paintings and bedrock mortar holes on the ranch and nearby sites remain as a record of ancient lives and beliefs. After the first human inhabitants vanished, native american tribes inhabited the region and in the mid-1800s the U.S. military established the Texas-California route through present-day Hudspeth Ranch.

Today, the Hudspeth River Ranch's fourth and fifth generations raise cattle, sheep and goats and continue to keep the source of the Devils River flowing.