We stayed at Marathon Motel & RV Park in Marathon, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A motel with a small RV park in a cute small town.
Dates:
- Check in: 2022-11-27
- Check out: 2022-12-04
- 7 nights
Weather:
- Mostly sunny
- High temps ranging between 67-79°F, lows around 33-52°F
- Afternoon wind most days, up to 30 MPH gusts
Noise:
- A little road noise; occasional nearby train noise
- Some neighbor noise
Site:
- #7, pull-through, gravel
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind and in front of coach
- Very level
- Medium site: about 80 feet long by about 30 feet wide
- Full hookups:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 60 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, not conveniently located (2.5 10-foot pipes needed)
- Picnic table
- Goat’s heads!
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 86-94 Mbps down, 31-43 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
- AT&T: 40-50 Mbps down, 7-21 Mbps up, 40-70 ms ping
- Verizon: 30 Mbps down, 11 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
- Starlink: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
- Package delivery to office
- Star party
Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:
The stars at night are truly big and bright
We stayed here for a week as a base for exploring the area and absolutely loved it. The RV sites are on the basic side, but everything worked in good order. The park is a dark sky area and every night, they do a star party with multiple telescopes and lots of fun conversation about what’s visible. We also did the star party at the MacDonald Observatory, and the one in Marathon was actually better (and cheaper); there were no crowds and a personalized tour of the sky. The staff here was so helpful, going above and beyond when we had package deliveries, including one that arrived after we checked out. I cannot say enough good things about how friendly everyone was. The town of Marathon is small but has everything one needs, including restaurants, a coffee shop, and a small grocery store for the necessities. We camped at Marathon Motel and RV Park in a Motorhome.
An interactive map of the RV park:
Our site before parking:
Our site, with our truck behind:
Our site with our truck in front:
The utilities weren’t super convenient; the water was well positioned, but the sewer and electric were at the back of the site:
The Power Watchdog surge protector has a bright light; the dog face lights up white if all is well, or red if there’s an issue. But in a dark sky park, that was a bit too bright:
So I taped a bit of cardboard over it to mask that light:
A grasshopper on our windscreen Magne Shade:
The neighboring site has a bird feeder, which attracts lots of birds:
Of course, Paladin really enjoyed watching the birds:
The motel has a resident cat, Oliver, that visited our coach:
Paladin wasn’t thrilled; he hissed at the cat:
There is a train track across the road from the park, which has a few freight trains pass by each day, sounding their horn:
By the entrance:
RV check-in:
Old motel signs (established 1940):
The sign at night:
The office; friendly staff, happy to receive packages for us:
A very nice courtyard area:
We enjoy playing Pokémon, and Jenn recently got the ability to request new PokéStops (or “spinny-things”, as we call them); she added one for the courtyard:
Backside of the courtyard:
Old cart:
Water tank and windmill:
Goat artwork:
Horse artwork:
Telescope shed and domes; they do nightly star viewing here (a separate post coming about that):
Telescope domes, with our coach visible in the background:
There is an onsite cantina restaurant, but it’s currently closed due to lack of staff:
Other RVs:
Dumpsters, laundry, bathrooms, and motel rooms:
More motel rooms:
There’s an area with a deck, pond, and gardens; a little run down, but it is winter:
They have a chicken run; I enjoyed spending some time with the chickens; I sometimes miss mine:
