CHASING WHIMSY IN EL PASO
Out where the Rio Grande bends and the Franklin Mountains rise against a sky so wide it feels almost theatrical, El Paso is creating something that cannot be duplicated. Call it borderland magic. Call it high-desert soul. Call it the particular alchemy that happens when Texan, Mexican, and Native American cultures have spent centuries braiding themselves into one glorious, sun-baked whole.
This is whimsy with an attitude all its own.
Wander Wide, Wander Wild
An hour east of downtown, Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site is home to an ancient jumble of syenite rock formations. World-class bouldering draws climbers from every continent, but the real magic lives in the pictographs painted by Jornada Mogollon hands more than a millennium ago.
Closer to town, Keystone Heritage Park and the El Paso Desert Botanical Garden makes a case for the desert as a lush place if you know where to look. Wetlands ribbon through the property, butterflies drift between native plantings, and an archaeological site dating back some 4,500 years reminds you just how long people have wandering here.
Scenic Drive Overlook, perched on the shoulder of the Franklin Mountains, serves up a view of the whole valley: El Paso on one side, Ciudad Juárez on the other. Bring a camera.
HUECO TANKS STATE PARK
El Paso has art everywhere. The Chamizal National Memorial commemorates the 1963 treaty that peacefully resolved a century-long border dispute, and it does so with murals, sculpture, and shaded walking paths.
Downtown, the El Paso Museum of Art is filled with contemporary Chicano and Mexican art, and the rotating exhibits consistently delight.
Do not miss the El Paso Downtown Art and Farmers Market, held Saturdays in Union Plaza. Handmade jewelry, letterpress prints, fresh tamales…this is where you’ll experience the city at its best.
Do some people-watching in San Jacinto Plaza, the historic heart of downtown. Grab a paleta from a nearby vendor and take in Luis Jiménez's fiberglass sculpture, Los Lagartos.
City of Art
Culture of Cool
Chuco Relic deals in vintage clothing, records, and the kind of El Paso-centric design that makes you want to move here: Zia symbols, lowrider iconography, typography pulled straight from the Sun City's storied past. It's a love letter to the city, in retail form.
So El Paso takes that same civic pride and runs it through a cheerful, colorful filter. The tees, totes, stickers and mugs are a kitsch celebration of everything from green chile to the Franklin Mountains.
Rocketbuster Boots are wearable art hand-painted, hand-stitched, and gloriously over-the-top. A visit to the workshop is a spectacle unto itself. It’s himsy, quite literally, in heels.
Monarch offers fashion, jewelry, and home goods from designers you haven't discovered yet, and Printmeikiando’s original prints and paper goods capture the desert in ink and pigment.
L&J Cafe has been serving some of the city's best Mexican food since 1927. It’s neon sign glows in that unmistakable vintage way. The booths are vinyl. The margaritas are cold and uncomplicated. Order the enchiladas and the chile relleno.
The pastries at Salt + Honey Bakery Cafe are almost too pretty to eat and the breakfast sandwiches will solve just about anything. Try the lavender latte.
Savage Goods combines a deli-cafe sensibility with the heart of a chef's tasting menu. Creative sandwiches, seasonal salads, and small-batch everything co-mingle with pastries meant to be shared.
Coffee Box resides in stacked shipping containers painted in the kind of colors that feel like an immediate shot of dopamine. Just add cold brew.
At Elemi, Chef Emiliano Marentes is doing something transcendent with heirloom corn sourced from small farms in Oaxaca and milled in-house, resulting in tortillas that are arguably the best you'll eat north of the border. The menu changes with what's beautiful that week. Trust it. Order the tasting. See where it takes you.
