Ghost lights, mystery lights…call them what you want, but the Marfa Lights, flickering beneath the Chinati Mountains, have been capturing travelers’ imaginations for over a century. On many nights, the mystery seems to be whether you're merely seeing car headlights in the distance, though convincing-enough descriptions of mysterious lights on the horizon date back long before there were cars. Try your luck at this viewing area, equipped with benches, binoculars and restrooms, 9 miles east of Marfa on Hwy 90/67.
Look south from the viewing platform and find the (real) red blinking light. That's where you will (or won't) see the lights doing their ghostly thing. The cowboy who first reported seeing them in 1883 thought they were Apache signal fires, while a helpful placard explains they’re ‘an unusual phenomenon similar to a miracle.' You’re most likely to enjoy it if you can channel your inner preteen, and simply choose to believe that something really exciting has just happened.
