Things to do in Midland
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Midland
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months, with warm days, cool evenings, baseball from April, and golf and preserve walks at their best.
Hottest months, highs from the mid 90s to over 100. Outdoor picks become dawn or after dark activities.
Windy spring season, when dust can cut visibility on Interstate 20 and spoil dune and swimming drives.
Mild winter bargain, with January averaging a high near 61 and a low near 31, and golf often playable.
Still hot, but the last RockHounds homestands play and autumn evenings begin to soften late in the month.
What's on
- Midland RockHounds Home Opener Usually early April
Opening week at Momentum Bank Ballpark starts the April to September baseball season.
- Summer Mummers Summer weekends, June to August
Melodrama and olio at the Yucca Theatre.
- Texas Star Party Late April to May
A major amateur astronomy gathering near Fort Davis, pairing naturally with a McDonald Observatory night.
Best things to do in Midland
Permian Basin Petroleum Museum
The best oil museum in America, with Permian reef geology, boomtown stories, historic rigs and Chaparral race cars.
Bush Family Home State Historic Site
A restored 1950s Bush family home that shows ordinary Midland life in the young oil city of the early 1950s.
Museum of the Southwest
An art museum, children's museum and planetarium around the 1934 Turner Mansion, and Midland's best family campus.
Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center
The Permian Basins flagship hall for touring Broadway, symphony and big name concerts, shared by Midland and Odessa.
Momentum Bank Ballpark
RockHounds Double-A baseball on warm nights, with Friday music, Saturday fireworks and cheap seats close to the field.
Big Sky Drive-In Theatre
A pet friendly drive-in showing double features under huge West Texas skies, with a big concession menu.
Yucca Theatre
Home of Summer Mummers, the beloved summer melodrama and olio with popcorn thrown at intermission.
Haley Memorial Library and History Center
A quiet Western history library and centre holding the first bell that hung in the Alamo, for serious readers.
Where to stay in Midland
Downtown
evening dining and events
The only base with walk to dinner life, around Wall Street dining and the convention centre.
Northwest Midland
families, tournaments and value
Newer Loop 250 hotels near the sports complex and ballpark, with north side dining a short drive away.
Interstate 20 corridor
road trippers passing through
Highway frontage stays built for one night stops between Dallas Fort Worth and the Davis Mountains.
Think twice about
- Highway 80 and Business 20 motel strip
Older motel strips that Midland forum experts advise against basing in. Choose Loop 250 or downtown instead, and check recent reviews for any specific property.
- South Midkiff older extended-stay cluster
Older extended stay properties here drew warnings in Midland forum advice. Prefer newer Loop 250 hotels and verify a specific property before booking.
Best restaurants in Midland
Venezia Restaurant
Northern Italian special occasion dining under a glass domed atrium, with handmade pasta and a 500 label cellar.
Cowboy Prime
A polished steak and seafood house by chefs Felipe Armenta and Graham Elliot, with sushi and weekend brunch.
Opal's Table
Downtown's fine dining fixture for ribeye with truffle butter, lamb chops and cocktails in The Basement lounge below.
Wall Street Bar & Grill
The downtown steakhouse workhorse where Midland business actually eats, tested by the city's largest review volume.
Cancun Grill
Midlands best supported Mexican table, praised for its corn noted queso and filet and bacon tacos.
Clear Springs Restaurant
A long running seafood and Texas comfort room that Midlanders use for generous, unpretentious group dinners.
Luigi's Italian Restaurant
Family style Italian and pizza at mid range prices, the relaxed alternative to Venezia's ceremony.
KD's Bar-B-Q
Counter style Texas barbecue on a tray, the city's best cheap group meal before a RockHounds game.
Outdoor things to do in Midland
I-20 Wildlife Preserve
An urban playa wetland with boardwalks and rich birdlife, and easily the best early morning walk in Midland.
Sibley Nature Center
Short interpretive trails through West Texas plant communities that teach you the Llano Estacado as you walk.
Hogan Park Golf Course
Midlands municipal golf home, 36 holes across two courses in a big city park, priced for locals not resorts.
Midland Country Club
A private Ralph Plummer championship course of about 7,483 yards, playable only with a member connection.
Ally Outdoors
A well reviewed indoor shooting range, and Midland's most practical active outing in extreme heat or bad weather.
Monahans Sandhills State Park
About 3,800 acres of pale dunes an hour west, where you rent a sand disc at headquarters and slide all morning.
Balmorhea State Park
The worlds largest spring fed pool, clear 72 to 76 degree water with fish and turtles, about two hours away.
Davis Mountains State Park
Skyline Drive viewpoints and cooler high country hiking in the Davis Mountains, best as a Fort Davis overnight.
Best hotels in Midland
Wyndham Midland Downtown
Midlands only full service downtown tower, with a rooftop lounge, outdoor pool and the convention centre opposite.
Four Points by Sheraton Midland
A dependable modern hotel near the sports complex and ballpark, ideal for tournaments and RockHounds weekends.
My Place Hotel-Midland, TX
A kitchenette extended stay hotel on Interstate 20 that reviewers rate highest in Midland at a budget price.
Is Midland expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $110 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $190 a person |
| Splurge | $380 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center: weeks ahead
- Yucca Theatre: weeks ahead
- Woodhouse Spa - Midland: a few days ahead
- Hogan Park Golf Course: a few days ahead
- Monahans Sandhills State Park: a few days ahead
- Balmorhea State Park: a few days ahead
- Davis Mountains State Park: a few days ahead
- McDonald Observatory: weeks ahead
- Book Wagner Noel headline shows, Summer Mummers weekends, spa appointments and top steakhouse weekend dinners early.
- Reserve state park day passes ahead for Monahans and Balmorhea, and McDonald Observatory Star Parties days to weeks ahead.
- Book hotels early for midweek oil business periods, opening week baseball and event weekends, when rates spike.
Is Midland safe?
- The main risks are heat, spring dust and high wind on Interstate 20, and heavy oilfield truck traffic.
- Hydrate seriously in summer, fuel up before day trips, and never drive back from Fort Davis at night after a Star Party.
- There is no single downtown danger zone. The lodging caution covers the older motel strips listed under areas to avoid.
Midland travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- The Odessa Meteor Crater rates about 3.2 out of 5, so treat it as a brief stop if passing, never a destination.
- Downtown outside an event is very quiet, so a downtown base buys dining and the tower hotel, not street life.
- Do not pack Midland's in town sights into one dense day. One main sight, one good meal and one evening event is the right shape.
Getting around Midland: public transport and more
- Midland requires a car. Fly into Midland International Air and Space Port and rent there.
- Downtown Wall Street is the centre, Loop 250 rings the newer north and west, and Interstate 20 crosses the south.
- Odessa and the Wagner Noel hall are about 20 miles west, Balmorhea about two hours, and Fort Davis about two and a half.
Who Midland suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Midland your trip
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