Marathon Motel & RV Park is a unique park and well worth staying at. While it is nice enough during the day, it is at night that the park really comes into its own. The wonder of the night sky and their fantastic courtyard make for a magical evening.

Nights: 2
RV Park Cost: $35 ($17.50/night)
Discounts Used: Passport America
Address: 701 Hwy 90 West  Marathon, Texas 79842
GPS: 30.208462, -103.254358
Website: www.marathonmotel.com

Pros

• Beautiful Grounds
• Discounts Available
• Full hookups, including cable
• Telescope and great night skies

Cons

• Dusty parking area

Their telescope is pretty serious. This is one of two we saw on the grounds.

Nighttime Delights

Marathon RV is most remarkable in that it specifically caters to star gazers, storm chasers, and lovers of sunsets. Their website will tell you the current and forthcoming sky conditions, and in the office, you will find start charts and an astrolabe.  They have two large telescopes on the grounds and an area specifically designed for setting up telescopes. There are level concrete pads with 110v power sources which are screened from the light of the grounds. The park is located in the most sparsely populated county in the US so the skies are very dark.

In the center of the park is a lovely Spanish style courtyard and garden. Among its attractions are a fountain, a large covered hearth fireplace, a central fire pit, and some absolutely gigantic Agave plants. By day it is pretty enough, but at night it is absolutely gorgeous and downright romantic. At sunset, it is down right jaw-droppingly beautiful. The red skies are framed perfectly by the arches and windows of the surrounding walls. While it was cold out when we were there, we lit a roaring fire in the hearth, made smores, and soaked in the beauty and solitude of the night.

This is the hearth area. Firewood and tinder are provided by the park. It was cozy, even on a cold evening.

A Quality Park

The RV Park itself is fairly small with only 19 spots and the grounds where you park are not nearly as lovely as the area by the courtyard. It’s a desert so they don’t have lush lawns, just a scattering of plants and a lot of gravel. That said, the lots were level enough, clean, and in good shape. The bathrooms were nice private suites, and the hookups worked nicely. The Internet was decent enough and cell service was good for us. The motel rooms are scattered around the park in low buildings and looked to be smallish but nice.

Considering the care that went into the grounds and good condition of the park the prices are very reasonable. They also take Passport America which halves the price for the first few days. Since we were there only two nights, staying here was a stellar bargain for us at only $17.50 a night. I liked this park so well I could see traveling there just to spend a couple nights in the courtyard stargazing and enjoying the hearth.

It’s nice during the daytime, but at night it is positively magical due to the lighting they have installed.