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Indian Lodge Restored and Refreshed

By Melissa Gaskill
Photos by Sonja Sommerfeld

April 2025 Issue

Indian Lodge

A venerable West Texas lady is restored and ready to receive callers once again. The lady in question, Indian Lodge in Davis Mountains State Park, reopens this spring after renovations.

The work included touches to spiff up the lodge's appearance, such as new landscaping and repainted furniture inside and out, as well as improvements to its structure, such as new guest room doors and new windows throughout the property.

Paul Boudreaux, lodge superintendent since May 2024, says other additions include a new central air conditioner, new irrigation systems in the courtyard areas, accessible walkways and new landscaping around the rooms. The pool was resurfaced and now sports pergolas with shaded seating and resort-style furniture.

Park interpreter Chris Ewing says the project, which began in January 2023, addressed some things the park had been wanting to tackle to improve the guest experience. The more energy-efficient windows in the rooms and pergolas shading the doorways should leave visitors feeling cooler in the desert park, and improved lighting and accessible parking make it easier to get around the property.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built the original 16-room facility, called Indian Village, in the 1930s. It was designed to evoke the Native American and Spanish architecture of the Southwest. In the 1960s, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department built a 24-room addition that included a dining room, meeting room and the pool.

The onsite Black Bear Restaurant also got a facelift, with new kitchen equipment and lighting. The restaurant is now open seven days a week. “It's a combination of a sit-down restaurant along with grab-and-go service,” Boudreaux says.

Funding for the $3.5 million project came from a legislative appropriation through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department capital repair program.


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