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Get Your Tickets Today!
CDRI Chuck Wagon Cookout & Auction Fundraiser!

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4 Weeks
Until the 
CDRI Chuck Wagon Cookout & Auction Fundraiser
 August 19th
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​CDRI is celebrating its 30th Cookout & Auction Fundraiser!

We're excited to welcome back auctioneer Martin Stringer, musician Rick Ruiz, and award-winning chuck wagon cooks Glenn and Patty Moreland.

We have some exciting items lined up for the Auction that include great weekend get-away adventures which are guaranteed to add some spice to this year's event, along with the art shown below! 
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Check back often for more images to come!
Dinner includes brisket, sausage, beans, salad, homemade bread, & peach cobbler, along with beer, wine or tea.

          Our Hiking Trails


All of our trails are earthen paths. Some are uneven due to their composition of rock and soil. We recommend wearing closed-toe shoes with rubber soles. 

Interpretive Guide Booklets for the Modesta Canyon Trail and Clayton's Overlook are sold at the Powell Visitor Center Information Desk.

Modesta Canyon Trail: (2 mile loop) A moderate to strenuous hike that starts out across 1/4 mile of grasslands, with a 200 foot descent into a narrow canyon with extrusive igneous rock on one wall of the canyon and intrusive igneous rock on the other wall of the canyon. At the bottom of the canyon are Texas Madrone trees, and a natural spring feeding into a couple of small pools which host a fragile ecosystem of tree frogs, salamanders and crayfish. The trail continues to Lion’s Head Hill, returning to the Powell Visitor Center along the upper rim of the Canyon. 

Clayton’s Overlook: (1.5 mile loop) A moderate hike that ascends 220 feet to the hilltop where you can take in a 360 degree view of the area.  An interpretative geology exhibit at the top of the hill provides a detailed description of the formation of each of the mountains in view, including excellent illustrations of the formations.

Outside Loop: (2.5 mile loop) A strenuous hike that includes  Modesta Canyon, Lion’s Head Hill, a spectacular view of a ryholite quarry and Clayton’s Overlook. You get it all on this trail.

Upper Loop Trail: (0.5 mile) A moderate hike amid a variety of grasses.

Hummingbird and Butterfly Trail: (0.33 mile loop) Inside the Botanical Garden, among the outcropping of rocks just beyond the Pollinator Garden, is this easy hike providing pretty vistas and interesting rock formations.

Botanical Gardens are in Bloom
Chihuahuan Rain Sage in bloom in the Garden.

​The mission of the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute is to promote public awareness, 
appreciation and concern for nature generally and the natural diversity of the Chihuahuan Desert region specifically, through education, the visitor experience, and through the support of research.


Gift Shop Items!
Visit Us!

Year-round: Mon-Sat: 9 am to 5 pm 
Open Sundays April-Oct. 12:30 pm to 5:30 pm
​Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, & New Year's

Located four miles SE of Fort Davis 

43869 Hwy 118, PO Box 905
Fort Davis, TX 79734
Phone: 432-364-2499