Shinedown and Santana are both booked into the Don Haskins Center this year, Los Tigres del Norte sells the place out every time they come through, and UTEP basketball still packs the lower bowl on a Tuesday night — so if your group is coming up I-10 from Las Cruces for any of it, the question that actually matters isn't "who's playing." It's where 20 or 30 people in one vehicle actually park, and whether that spot is closer to the doors than the lot everyone else just paid for. That's what this guide answers.
TLDR: Don Haskins Center sits at 151 Glory Road on the UTEP campus in El Paso, about 46 miles and roughly an hour up I-10 from Las Cruces. Parking is sold at the lot entrance on the day of the event — UTEP's parking partner, Goldmine Collective, takes card payments only, so bring plastic, not cash. A charter bus or party bus skips the per-car math entirely — one vehicle, one drop near the arena, and everybody rides home together instead of splitting into a caravan for the drive back down the interstate.
Why Rent a Bus to Don Haskins Center Instead of Driving Separately
A Don Haskins Center trip from Las Cruces is a real road trip, not a quick hop across town — 46 miles each way, per TravelMath's driving distance calculator, which puts most groups into two or three cars if everyone drives themselves. Two or three cars means two or three parking payments, two or three sets of headlights to keep track of on I-10 in the dark, and nobody in any of those cars gets to just enjoy the show without thinking about the drive home.
A Las Cruces party bus or charter bus rental collapses all of that into one pickup and one drop. Everyone climbs in at the same spot in Las Cruces, the group arrives at the arena together instead of trickling in across three different lots, and there's no designated driver to argue over for the ride back. Whether the trip is a concert, a UTEP Miners game, or a group heading in for a private event on campus, comparing vehicle options for a Don Haskins Center run takes about as long as it takes to read this paragraph — fill out the quick form or call 575-888-8620 and the pricing comes back in minutes.
Charter Bus & Party Bus Drop-Off at Don Haskins Center
Don Haskins Center sits at 151 Glory Road, El Paso, TX 79968, on the UTEP campus, sharing its access roads with Sun Bowl Stadium next door. The UTEP Ticket Center building sits directly beside the arena at 2901 N. Mesa, per the official UTEP Ticket Center page, which is a useful landmark for a first drop here — it's the building right next to the arena entrance, not a separate stop across campus.
Parking at Don Haskins Center: Card-Only, Sold Per Event
Don Haskins Center parking is sold at the lot entrance on the day of the event only, and UTEP's parking partner, Goldmine Collective, takes card payments only — no cash accepted — per the venue's own official Don Haskins Center parking policy. Rates aren't posted in advance and shift by event, from a midweek game to a big touring concert, so a group driving in on its own should build "everyone needs a working card, not cash in hand" into the pregame plan.
The same official policy carries a warning worth knowing before anyone stages near campus: parking in the surrounding restaurant lots, business plazas, or grocery stores gets vehicles towed. That's exactly the kind of risk one bus circling once for a legal, authorized spot avoids that seven or eight separate cars hunting for anywhere open near the arena don't.
Here's the math that actually matters for a group: a 30-person crew driving separately needs roughly seven or eight cars, each one swiping a card at its own lot entrance and hoping the lot closest to the arena still has room by showtime. One charter bus or party bus needs exactly one authorized spot — one search for the closest available option for that specific show, not seven or eight people separately gambling on it.
I-10 Access for a Charter Bus or Party Bus at Don Haskins Center
The most direct route onto campus from I-10 is the Schuster/UTEP exit (18A), which feeds onto Sun Bowl Drive right past the arena. On a big concert or rivalry-game night, that exit backs up fast with everyone funneling toward the same ramp at once — the Executive Center Boulevard exit (16) works as a lighter alternative when 18A is jammed, a call that's easy to make from the seat of a full-size coach and a lot harder to make solo in your own car with a GPS telling you to sit in the backup anyway.
The Las Cruces to El Paso Corridor: Party Bus Rental for the I-10 Run
Las Cruces to Don Haskins Center is about 46 miles and just under an hour on I-10 East in normal traffic, per TravelMath's route data. That's a real corridor, not a five-minute hop, and it's the single biggest reason groups moving between the two cities for a concert or a UTEP game find a charter bus rental worth the call: it's genuinely a road trip, and road trips are exactly where splitting into separate cars costs the most in coordination.
A Las Cruces concert bus rental for a Don Haskins Center show means the group leaves from one spot in Las Cruces — a home, a hotel, a workplace parking lot — and the bus handles the whole I-10 stretch both ways. Nobody has to be the designated driver for the trip back after a late show, nobody's checking their phone for who's still behind them on the highway, and the whole group arrives at the arena at the same time instead of staggering in over twenty minutes.
Groups splitting time between both cities on the same trip should also know the Las Cruces side has its own venue guide: NMSU's home arena gets the same treatment in the Pan American Center transportation guide, and Aggie football is covered in the Aggie Memorial Stadium guide — useful if the same weekend includes a stop on both sides of the state line.
What Size Charter Bus or Party Bus Fits Your Don Haskins Center Group?
Group size is really the only question that decides vehicle choice for a Don Haskins Center trip — the arena itself doesn't have any unusual size restriction for buses staging or dropping nearby, so the right pick comes down to headcount and how much room everyone wants for the ride.
| Vehicle | Typical seats | Best for | Key amenities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14-passenger Sprinter limo / Sprinter van | Up to ~14 | Small friend groups, a couple's night out to a concert | Leather seating, USB charging, tinted privacy windows |
| 20-passenger party bus / 25-passenger party bus | ~20–25 | Birthday crews, bachelor/bachelorette groups catching a show | Built-in bar area, LED lighting, Bluetooth sound system |
| 15–35 passenger minibus | ~15–35 | Office groups, UTEP student organizations, family groups | Reclining seats, strong A/C for the I-10 run |
| 40–56 passenger charter bus | Up to 56 | Large fan groups, season-ticket blocks, big concert crews | Overhead storage, WiFi, power outlets, onboard restroom |
For a Las Cruces group making the full I-10 drive, the minibus and full-size charter bus are the two most requested picks — the onboard restroom on the larger coach is worth having on an hour-plus drive each way, especially after a late-ending concert. See the full vehicle lineup for every size in between, or call 575-888-8620 to talk through headcount.
Don Haskins Center Bus Rental Prices
To give you an idea of what a Don Haskins Center trip runs: a Sprinter limo for a small group typically prices around $150–$300 an hour, a 20–30 passenger party bus runs roughly $200–$400 an hour, and a 40–56 passenger charter bus generally lands around $150–$300 an hour or $1,200–$2,200 for a full day, which is the more common structure for the round-trip Las Cruces run. The real number depends on the date, the vehicle, how many hours the trip covers, and how much demand there is on that particular concert or game night — the fastest way to see an actual figure for your date is to fill out the quick form or call 575-888-8620, which takes about a minute.
Splitting one flat rate across a group of 25 or 40 people almost always beats everyone separately paying for gas up I-10 and their own card-only parking spot — and it means one predictable number for the whole trip instead of a dozen separate ones. Check the Las Cruces party bus prices page for a broader breakdown by vehicle size.
Concerts at Don Haskins Center in 2026: What Changes on Show Night
The Don Haskins Center concert calendar is loaded into early 2027, and every one of these dates changes the parking situation on campus for a few hours before and after doors. Confirmed shows include Shinedown on August 2, Santana & The Doobie Brothers on August 16, Los Tigres del Norte on September 11, Alejandro Fernández on September 19, Chayanne on October 1, Yandel on October 18, Mon Laferte on October 23, Don Omar on October 25, Morrissey on November 6, and Morat on February 28, 2027 — per the UTEP Office of Special Events schedule, which is the best place to confirm doors times and any updates before your date.
Every one of these shows runs paid parking sold at the lot entrance on the day of the event, card only — a detail that surprises first-timers who show up expecting to pay cash at the gate like they would at a football game. Doors typically open about an hour before showtime, and lots fill from the front back, so a group that isn't already parked and walking in twenty minutes before doors is often looking at a longer walk from farther out. A concert bus rental sidesteps the whole question — the bus handles finding the closest available spot for that specific show while your group is still riding down I-10.
UTEP Miners Basketball at Don Haskins Center
Don Haskins Center has been the Miners' home court since 1977, and it's a genuinely loud building — the octagonal bowl seats close to 11,900 for basketball. UTEP joined the Mountain West Conference on July 1, 2026, which means the 2026-27 home schedule brings a new set of conference opponents through El Paso — worth checking the official UTEP Miners basketball schedule once it's posted for exact dates.
Game-night parking follows the same pay-per-event, card-only pattern described above for both men's and women's games — Goldmine Collective sells spots at the lot entrance regardless of which team is playing. A group of UTEP students or alumni heading to a rivalry game gets the same benefit as a concert crew: one bus, one drop, no per-car parking math on a night when the lots fill early.
Don Haskins Center Bag Policy and Other Show-Night Rules
Don Haskins Center runs a clear bag policy for every event, per the venue's official clear bag policy: bags must be clear plastic, vinyl, or PVC and no larger than 12" x 6" x 12", or a one-gallon clear freezer bag, or a small clutch no bigger than 4.5" x 6.5". Non-clear backpacks, fanny packs, mesh bags, and oversized bags get turned away at the door, and outside food and beverages aren't allowed in either — so it's worth telling the group before the bus even leaves Las Cruces, nobody wants to find out at the entrance that their bag or their gas-station snack isn't going in.
Bringing gear for a big group? The undercarriage storage on a full-size charter bus handles jackets, blankets, and anything else that doesn't need to go through the door with you, which keeps the actual bag everyone carries in small and compliant without anyone having to leave something behind in the car.
Getting to Don Haskins Center from El Paso International Airport
For groups flying into El Paso to meet up for a Don Haskins Center show, El Paso International Airport (ELP) sits about 8 miles from the arena — roughly a 12 to 15 minute drive off-peak. One bus can collect the whole group at baggage claim and run straight to the arena or a hotel instead of splitting everyone into separate rideshares on arrival day; the full pickup-zone breakdown is in the El Paso International Airport shuttle guide.
Who Rents a Bus to Don Haskins Center
The trips that come through this site for Don Haskins Center fall into a few clear groups. Concert crews catching a touring act like Santana or Chayanne want the rolling pregame energy a party bus provides on the way in — the Las Cruces concert transportation page has the full rundown above. UTEP fan groups and season-ticket blocks lean toward a sporting event bus rental for the same reason any fan group does: nobody wants to be the one who has to leave the game early to beat the parking crunch.
Birthday groups and bachelor or bachelorette parties treat a concert night as the whole event — a birthday party bus rental or a bachelor and bachelorette party bus rental works the show into a bigger night out. And UTEP student organizations, corporate groups with suite seats, or private parties booking the arena for a graduation or special event can line up transportation through the Las Cruces group transportation services page or the private event bus rental page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Don Haskins Center located?
Don Haskins Center is at 151 Glory Road, El Paso, TX 79968, on the UTEP campus, right next to Sun Bowl Stadium. From Las Cruces, it's about 46 miles and just under an hour up I-10 East.
How much does parking cost at Don Haskins Center?
Parking is sold at the lot entrance on the day of the event, and UTEP's parking partner, Goldmine Collective, takes card payments only — no cash — per the venue's official parking policy. Rates aren't posted in advance and can shift between a midweek game and a big touring concert, so checking closer to the date is the safest way to know the exact price.
Is there free parking at Don Haskins Center?
Current venue policy doesn't list a free option — parking is sold per event at the lot entrance, card only, through Goldmine Collective. Lots fill from the front back on big show nights, so arriving well before doors matters more than hunting for a free spot.
How far is Don Haskins Center from Las Cruces?
About 46 miles and roughly 50 to 60 minutes on I-10 East, depending on traffic. A charter bus or party bus from Las Cruces handles the whole round trip so nobody in the group has to drive it themselves.
What's the bag policy at Don Haskins Center?
Bags must be clear plastic, vinyl, or PVC and no larger than 12" x 6" x 12", or a one-gallon clear freezer bag, or a small clutch under 4.5" x 6.5", per the venue's official clear bag policy. Non-clear backpacks, fanny packs, mesh bags, and oversized bags are turned away at the entrance, and outside food or drinks aren't allowed in either.
Which I-10 exit gets a bus closest to Don Haskins Center?
The Schuster/UTEP exit (18A) feeds directly onto Sun Bowl Drive next to the arena and is the most direct route in. On a busy concert or game night, the Executive Center Boulevard exit (16) is a lighter alternative when 18A backs up.
How much does it cost to rent a bus to Don Haskins Center?
To give you an idea: Sprinter limos typically run $150–$300 an hour, 20–30 passenger party buses run roughly $200–$400 an hour, and 40–56 passenger charter buses generally run $150–$300 an hour or $1,200–$2,200 for a full day. Pricing shifts with the date, vehicle, and hours needed — fill out the quick form or call 575-888-8620 for pricing on your actual date.
Is there a closer airport than El Paso International for a Don Haskins Center trip?
El Paso International Airport (ELP) is the closest, about 8 miles and a 12 to 15 minute drive from the arena. One bus can pick the whole group up at baggage claim and run straight to the venue or a hotel.
Book a Don Haskins Center Bus Today
Whether it's a Santana show in August, a UTEP rivalry game now that the Mountain West schedule is underway, or a birthday night out that starts in Las Cruces and ends at the Don, comparing vehicles for a Don Haskins Center trip takes about a minute online. Lascrucespartybuscompany.com compares a large network of providers serving Las Cruces and the El Paso corridor, so there's a real vehicle for a party of 6 or a party of 50 — no account needed, no obligation, and pricing back fast. Fill out the quick form or call 575-888-8620 any time to get your group moving.
