Top Cook Off Tip #1: Renting an RV
The desert doesn't care how tough you are. Your lodging should.
There's no polite way to say it: Terlingua is a long way from everywhere. That's most of the charm. You come down Highway 118 or 170, the cell bars drop off, the Chisos Mountains show up on the horizon, and then you're at the Original Terlingua International Championship Chili Cook-Off — the granddaddy of all of them, running since 1967, four nights of chili, BBQ, margaritas, dancing, and live music on a hillside in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert.
What you sleep in matters out here. Nights get cold, days get hot, and the wind has opinions. Which is why we're glad to announce that Outdoorsy is the Presenting Sponsor of the 59th Annual Original Terlingua International Championship Chili Cook-Off, November 4–7, 2026 — and they're making it a whole lot easier to show up in something with four wheels and a mattress.
What Outdoorsy actually is
Outdoorsy is an RV rental marketplace — think of it as booking a stay, except the stay comes with you. Thousands of RV owners list their vehicles: pop-up campervans you can park anywhere, travel trailers you tow behind your truck, and Class C motorhomes with a shower and a kitchen. They operate in 4,800+ cities across the country, so wherever you're starting from, there's likely a rig nearby.
You browse, you compare, you message the owner, you book. No dealership, no lot, no counters.