Monahans Sandhills State Park is the only publicly accessible place in Texas for this unique ecoregion, offering a direct look at a distinctive desert landscape. Ward County combines this natural setting with oil and regional history, which take concrete form in museums and historic buildings. Nature and local history offer two distinct focal points for your explorations here.
Dune Landscape and Park Experiences
At Monahans Sandhills State Park, you can explore the dunes freely; there are no marked trails. Sand disks are available to rent in the park for sliding down the dunes. If you’re interested in the equestrian area, it covers 800 acres and also has no marked trails.
The Dunagan Visitor Center provides information about the region’s plants, animals, and human history. The state park also has 25 campsites with water and electricity hookups. This lets you explore the landscape, natural history, and the history of human settlement in the same park without reducing them to a single experience.
Dunes also shape the landscape beyond the park: large areas in northern Ward County consist of active, windblown sand dunes. The regional landscape therefore extends beyond the familiar image of the park.
Oil History and Museums
The Million Barrel Tank was built in 1928 as an oil storage tank for Shell Oil Company. It covered eight acres and held more than one million barrels of oil; in 1986, it became a museum. The Ward County Museum at the Million Barrel is located along Interstate 20 in Monahans. Cooking competitions are held on the grounds regularly.
Other places in Monahans offer different ways to explore local history. The Coca-Cola Museum focuses on the history of the local Coca-Cola bottling plant and the Big Burger Restaurant. The Original Monahans Jail has been largely preserved as it looked in the late 1920s. At the Rail Car & Caboose Museum, you can tour historic railway cars from the inside. The Heritage Museum houses extensive antique collections and historical artifacts from everyday life in West Texas. The restored Holman House was an early hotel and boarding house in Monahans and is recognized as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.
The Pyote Museum also focuses on the local past: located in a county park, it displays exhibits about Rattlesnake Bomber Base and local history. Together, these museums and historic sites offer not just one historical theme, but different perspectives on the region and everyday life there.
More Things to Do in Monahans
If you’re looking for activities beyond dunes and history, Monahans is home to Ward County Golf Course, with an 18-hole course. Perch Pond offers bank fishing with rod and reel. Details about local golfing and fishing activities may change; check the latest information before your visit.
Explore more destinations: Monahans, Swisher County, Mills County, Concho, Blanco County, Lamb, Jackson County, Waller.
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