I'm a New Yorker who thinks West Texas is one of the most underrated winter destinations. Here are 8 things I love to do when I visit every year.

Besides going somewhere with warmer weather than New York, I also enjoy traveling to a place that's quiet and empty so I can escape from the city buzz. In 2017, I visited West Texas for the first time, after a recommendation from one of my good friends in Austin.

I've returned almost every winter to enjoy solitary hiking and to explore desert ghost towns. The weather is cool and crisp and the people are few and far between. Here are 8 great things I like to do when I visit West Texas, and why you should plan your next winter trip there.

Big Bend is one of my favorite National Parks because it feels truly wild, with unique desert flora, and dramatic mountains. I love going in the winter and staying in Marfa because, in my experience, it means avoiding crowds since spring and summer are the busiest months for the park.

There are thermal hot springs I like to hop into if it's too chilly to hike. But if it's a nice day, one of my favorite hikes to do is Emory Peak, a 10.5 mile loop up to the highest point in the park. When there are clear skies, I can see the Chihuahuan desert below and the entire Chisos Mountain Range.

Marfa is a small desert town in West Texas, about a two-hour drive north of Big Bend and about six hours from Austin. The town is known for its art scene, and I've also found it to be filled with quirky artisanal shopping spots.

I love spending the day wandering around, grabbing a coffee and the local paper from the Sentinel, and window shopping on Highland Street. I always check out Wrong Marfa, which sells handmade accessories and art, Garza Marfa, which has clothes, ceramics, textiles, and leather furniture, and Ocotillo Botanica, where I browse home goods, herbal teas, and wellness products.

While Marfa is filled with chic art galleries on the main road, there's also one slightly out of town, The Chinati Foundation, that I think is worth the five to 10 minute walk. The foundation is an immersive art installation and gallery based on the ideas of Donald Judd, an American artist associated with minimalism, whose work is spread throughout Marfa.

The foundation itself is a 340-acre site on a former military base, with a building housing art works as well as sprawling grounds with massive sculptures. Throughout the grounds there are huge concrete blocks littering the desert. It took my breath away wandering through them the first time I visited because of their size. Indoors, there are other permanent installations, smaller sculptures from Judd and Robert Irwin, an artist known for his work with photography and light.

Marfa is essentially a ghost town with very few residents and businesses, but it's filled with incredible art, in my opinion. After checking out the Chinati Foundation, I like to visit three galleries that are within walking distance of each other and I think have great art. Ballroom Marfa is a contemporary museum that often has film exhibitions when I've been, the Judd Foundation has two properties downtown that have Donald Judd's preserved studios and library collection, and Inde/Jacobs gallery has minimalist artworks by Judd as well as other artists.

And, while I don't go on every trip because it's 26 miles from Marfa, I think Prada Marfa is worth checking out when time allows. It's a permanent art installation that's a building designed to look like a Prada boutique, and it even has Prada products like bags and shoes inside. I think it makes for a fun photo opportunity, and I made sure to take a photo of my dog in front of the store on my last visit.

Located near Fort Davis in West Texas, Balmoreha is a 46-acre state park with a spring-fed swimming hole. The natural pool is 1.3 acres and up to 25 feet deep, and in my experience always has crystal clear, temperate water.

It's open year-round, including in the winter, and I think it's a fun place to enjoy swimming and even scuba diving. I've been here at least five times, and the last time I rented scuba gear from the Dive Shop to swim as deep as I could in the pool, and caught glimpses of turtles, catfish, and lots of smaller fishes.

Since I think it's one of the best places for BBQ in West Texas, Convenience BBQ is a spot I've returned to on every single trip I've taken here since 2019.

Not only do they have incredible house-made sausages like the pork al pastor sausage or jalapeño Swiss sausage, they also have brisket that I think is perfectly cooked and melts in my mouth. The sides in my opinion are equally delicious. Some of my favorites are the lightly dressed potato salad, the buttery cornbread, and the green chile mac and cheese.

The McDonald Observatory, located near Fort Davis in the Chihuahuan Desert, is home to one of the largest telescopes in the Northern Hemisphere. It's right in the middle of the desert nestled underneath some of the darkest skies in the world as part of the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve. Visitors here can take guided tours of the research telescopes during the day, and attend night sky constellation tours and star viewing parties at night.

I'm always amazed at the stars I see here, and love peering through their massive telescopes. The guides always kindly point out constellations, and help direct you to identify different planets and globular clusters. When I visited for a star viewing party in the winter, it was also a treat that the observatory had hot chocolate available for purchase.

Located right outside of Marfa is El Cosmico, a hotel and campground that has a variety of DIY as well as more luxurious stays. I've stayed in one of their vintage trailers, which had a kitchenette and AC and heating. They have spacious, single-room teepees too with heated mattress pads, but I prefer their safari tents at a slightly lower price.

Most accommodations have communal bathhouses, and I also always make sure to book one of the wood-heated tubs for a relaxing soak under the stars. El Cosmico also hosts musicians at least one night a week, either on a stage adjacent to the office, or in an outdoor amphitheater which also plays host to the Trans-Pecos Music Festival every year. Staying at El Cosmico in my experience is the perfect way to wind down after a day spent exploring the West Texas landscape.