El Paso Tours

SOLD OUT SCOOT YOUR BOOTS TO WATCH THEM BE CUSTOM-MADE. El Paso is cowboy boot country and two of the city’s most famous specialty boot makers couldn’t be more different. Lucchese Bootmaker has been in business 137 years and employs 250 people, turning out thousands of pairs of boots annually that have been loved by everyone from LBJ to Bing Crosby. Rocketbuster Handmade Custom Boots created their first pair for Roy Rogers, and since their boots have become icons. The company produces just about 400 pairs a year in their downtown El Paso shop, with the average wait 4-6 months and prices from $750 to about $3,500.

Difficulty: Minimal, walking in the factories.

Maximum of 10 participants.

A.M. tour.

THE ARTISTRY OF EL PASO. There are not many venues in which you’ll find 7,000 works of art dating from the Byzantine era to Canaletto and Van Dyck — in a former Greyhound Bus station. But you will at the Museum of Art in the city’s revitalized downtown. And a few yards away, the Museum of History has the nation’s only interactive, digital wall telling the story of El Paso — touch the screen to learn a bit of the city’s history or add your own contribution. You’ll also tour the fascinating, 2,000-seat, Plaza Theater, built in 1930 and still in use, with its 1,700-pipe Wurlitzer organ.

Difficulty: Minimal — some steps to climb.

Maximum of 10 participants.

A.M. tour.

HUECO TANKS STATE PARK. Named for the natural depressions that hold rainwater, the area boasts thousands of Native American pictographs (images carved in stone) of jaguars, deer and humans; some o the images are believed to be 1,500 years old. A park ranger will lead this tour.

Difficulty: Medium/challenging — this is not on a paved trail, so those with mobility issues are cautioned against selecting this option.

Closed-toe shoes, bring a hat, sunscreen, water. Maximum of 25 participants.

A.M. or P.M.

THE MISSION TRAIL AND SAN ELIZARIO (PM) – Three missions along a nine-mile trail present part of the area’s 350 years of colonial history. They are the oldest churches in Texas, and all still celebrate Mass. Guides will explain the importance of, and differences between, the adobe structures. At their Cultural Center, the indigenous Tigua Native American tribe will demonstrate ancient dances and their ritual bread baking.

Difficulty: Minimal, bring a hat, sunscreen.

Maximum of 20 participants.

A.M. or P.M.

UTEP: THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-EL PASO. The campus architecture dates to an April 1914 issue of National Geographic: Noting the similarity of mountainous Bhutan in the Himalayas, shown in the magazine, to the location of the campus, architect Henry Trost designed the first four buildings in the style of Bhutanese dzongs (monastic fortresses), with massive sloping walls and overhanging roofs. All future construction has followed style and the kingdom of Bhutan presented UTEP with a hand-carved wooden temple to be erected on the campus. A brief walk apart are two museums, one featuring works by noted artists, the other focusing on contemporary pieces by students and faculty. Additionally one museum is surrounded by more than 600 species of plants found in the surrounding Chihuahuan Desert.

Difficulty: Minimum, walking includes a couple of flights of stairs, sloping campus grounds.

Maximum of 20 participants.

P.M.

PM SOLD OUT AZTEC CAVES TOUR HIKE: In the Franklin Mountains, which form part of El Paso’s horizon, a guide will lead a 3.5-mile, roundtrip, hike to these caves while discussing desert wildlife and geology.

Difficulty: challenging — This uphill climb takes about 3 hours in total, and is recommended only for experienced hikers. If enough people request a less-challenging trek, our hosts will see if that can be added. Bring a hat, sunscreen and water, wear appropriate shoes.

Maximum 10 participants.

A.M. or P.M.

MOUNT CRISTO REY HIKING: This is on a well-maintained dirt trail measuring about 4.4 miles roundtrip, with relatively gentle switchbacks and regular views of Mexico. The area formerly known as Mule Drivers Mountain was re-named for a 29-foot-tall statue of Christ.

Difficulty: Challenging — Participants should be aware of the altitude (about 4,700 feet) and the length of the trip (about 3 hours), before selecting this tour. Bring a hat, sunscreen and water, wear appropriate shoes.

Maximum 20 participants.

A.M. or P.M.

PM SOLD OUT HISTORY OF THE OLD WEST: El Paso was a dusty village on the road connecting Albuquerque and Mexico City until the railroad reached it in the 1880s. Soon, the town attracted gamblers, thieves, and cattle rustlers and became known as the “Gunfight Capital of the World.” This tour looks at the city in the second half of the 19th century. Stops include Concordia Cemetery, which holds about 60,000 bodies; the most famous is that of outlaw John Wesley Hardin, who as a 15-year-old killed his first victim. Hardin went on to gun down somewhere between 27 and 40 more. Other stops on the tour include the Magoffin Home, a 19-room house of an area pioneer. It is advised that participants should wear long pants and hard-soled shoes.

Difficulty: Minimal.

A.M. or P.M.

DAWN PHOTO SHOOT IN THE MOUNTAINS: A local photographer will guide our shooters at sunrise into the Organ Mountains just north of Las Cruces. Our group will stay to shoot in the morning light.

Difficulty: Modest –you’ll be walking on uneven ground. Bring a hat, sunscreen and water, wear long pants and hard-soled shoes.

Maximum of 10 participants.

A.M.

A GOLF OUTING; THE BUTTERFIELD TRAIL GOLF CLUB. Designed by Tom Fazio and considered one of the nation’s top municipal courses, the par-72 course uses natural sand dunes, native flora and spectacular mountain backdrops to create memories. Of note: Participants will have to pay a discounted greens fee of $55, which includes a cart and water, and if needed, $40 for rental clubs with a sleeve of balls.

Maximum of 16 participants.

A.M.

Full Day Tours (SOLD OUT)

ALL ABOUT JUAREZ: Crossing the border is as easy as walking a few blocks and over the bridge spanning the Río Grande from El Paso’s downtown into the center of Juárez. The city of about 1.8-million residents has demonstrated admirable resilience having overcome years of violence. Learn about its character from Juarences, as you visit the Burrito Lady for a morning snack before touring the Museum of the Revolution’s exhibits on the 1910-1920 political struggle. One room is devoted to the journalists who covered the revolution and has an impressive camera collection. Our walking tour includes the 17th-century mission church, the 20th-century cathedral and the open-air mercado(free time included). Lunch at the bustling Nueva Central restaurant is followed by the legendary Kentucky Bar for margaritas. Wander the grounds at Casa de Adobe, a small museum smack at the border and former seat of the 1910 revolution.

Difficulty: Minimal, with much walking.

Participants MUST bring their passports or GOES cards. Bring sunscreen and a hat.

Maximum 20 participants.

BORDERLAND EATS: Chef Oscar Herrera says his earliest lessons in cooking came from helping in his family kitchen but also watching Julia Childs’s shows on PBS. All grown up, Chef Oscar is known to locals for creating a muy popular restaurant in neighboring Juarez and then, heeding the demand, opening a similar restaurant on the U.S. side of the border. He will lead our participants through an El Paso market, gathering locally grown items, and then will take the group back to his restaurant to prepare a meal from his purchases.

Difficulty: You only need to bring your appetite. Maximum of 15 participants.

LAS CRUCES AND OLD MESILLA. Located less than an hour’s drive from El Paso is Las Cruces, New Mexico’s second-largest city. This area, along with the neighboring hamlet of Mesilla, is noted for farming pistachios, pecans, chili peppers, and wine grapes (Las Cruces has the oldest vineyards in the U.S.). Stops include the Chili Pepper Institute, the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. The central district of Mesilla is on the National Register of Historic Places, with whole blocks of homes made of adobe. We hope to meet with J. Paul Taylor, an educator and civic leader, now in his late 90s and once known as the “conscience of the state legislature.’’ There will also be a tasting of margaritas.

Difficulty: Minimal.

Maximum of 10 participants

HIKING, HORSES & HARLEYS: A soft-adventure trip that takes you city slickers into the country. A half-hour after leaving the hotel, you’ll begin a hike through the ruggedly handsome Franklin Mountains. Even novices can handle this 45-minute trek. Next, you’ll be fitted to a saddle to climb aboard a horse for a gently paced taste of the Old West. Your reward: lunch and a tasting at New Mexico’s oldest winery, La Vina. The vineyard manager got his classroom and hands-on experience in Chile. Your final adventure: riding behind local motorcyclists on a half-hour trip along scenic Highway 28, arriving back at the hotel.

Please note: Participants WILL NOT DRIVE the ‘cycles but will ride behind the driver.

Difficulty: Moderate—participants need to be able to hike on uneven ground as well as ride horses and be willing to be a motorcycle passenger.

Maximum of 10 participants.

ALAMOGORDO AND WHITE SANDS. This area capsules events from the geologic forces that shaped the Earth to mankind’s continuous testing of rocketry. Plus, there is a small zoo with the world’s friendliest bobcat, Annie, mountain lions, foxes, free-range peacocks and a walk-through aviary. Close by is the New Mexico Museum of Space History, chronicling the area’s location of post-WWII rocketry. Artifacts include pieces of WWII-era V2 rockets fired from the nearby White Sands Missile Range and gifts from Apollo and Space Shuttle astronauts elsewhere view the numerous steps in processing locally grown pistachios and visit a museum that tells the story of mankind’s history in this wide valley that features the famed white “sands.” The sands are actually gypsum, dissolved over the eons from nearby mountains — visitors sled down the gypsum dunes as if on snow. A museum in the missile range chronicles the history of rocketry, from the first atomic bomb detonated in 1945 in the vast missile range, and displays about 60 rockets.

Difficulty: Modest – some walking uphill on paved surfaces and on the shifting “sands’’.

Wear comfortable shoes, bring sunscreen.

Maximum of 12 participants.

NEW WALKING JUAREZ Due to the extraordinary popularity of the Juarez day tour, we added another one in order to accommodate all those who wanted to explore this historic city. It varies only slightly from the All About Juarez tour. This one will be led by an expert from the Binational Affairs Office, which offers walking tours of Juarez on a regular basis. You’ll walk across the Paso del Norte bridge just like hundreds of people do every day, then tour the museums and historic sites of downtown Juarez including the Museum of Revolution, Guadalupe’s Mission, the Old Presidential Building and the downtown market. Lunch will be at Kentucky Bar, home of the original margarita—ask for the story as you sip a bit of Juarez history and mixology expertise. At the end of the tour you’ll cross back over the bridge into El Paso. (Specific elements of the tour may change at organizers’ discretion.)

Difficulty: Minimal, but much walking.

Participants MUST bring their passport and, ideally, their Global Entry card of other Trusted Traveler card (unlike airports, land crossings require the physical card).

Bring sunscreen, a hat and comfortable walking shoes

Maximum 25 participants