By Melissa Gaskill

A blue-black dome arcs overhead, filled with a million sparkling pinpoints from one jagged horizon to the next. No other light of any kind intrudes. Wind rattles through yucca and grasses, overcoming an otherwise total silence. This is Pine Canyon Number 4 primitive campsite in Big Bend National Park, so far from civilization that, for tonight at least, civilization may as well not exist.  

As the reach of cell phones and wireless networks extends farther and farther, and adventure-seekers roam ever greater distances (even spas are opening up in what used to be the country), it gets harder to find places like this without days of trekking or spending a fortune. Places miles from nowhere—without high-rises and big-box stores, traffic, or even other people—with stunning scenery, abundant wildlife, dark skies, and lots of solitude. Luckily for us, those places still exist here in Texas. Here are some of the best.

1. Padre Island National Seashore
2. Big Bend National Park
3. Devil’s Sinkhole State Natural Area
4. Hill Country State Natural Area Wilderness Primitive Camp
5. Palo Duro Canyon State Park
6. Lost Maples State Natural Area
7. Guadalupe Mountains National Park
8. Matagorda Island Wildlife Management Area
9. Matagorda Bay Nature Park
10. Devils River State Natural Area