The Greatest Locations in Texas to Journey to This 12 months

New yr, new longings for escape. We requested Texas Monthly staffers the place they’re planning—or aspiring—to go to this yr. This is a well-traveled bunch in the case of the huge expanse of our state, however there are nonetheless locations they’ve but to examine off their lists, or locales they wish to revisit for particular causes. We hope you discover some inspiration on your personal travels in these Texas (and Mexico) locations.

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Milking the Texas State Parks Pass for All It’s Worth

Texas is dwelling to virtually ninety state parks, and I haven’t been to just about sufficient of them. I sought to vary that final October after I bought a Texas State Parks Pass, which supplies me free admission to all parks for a yr (in addition to tenting and retailer reductions). I’ve since loved many day journeys to these nearer to dwelling—Brazos Bend, Huntsville, Stephen F. Austin, Buescher—however this yr I’d prefer to set my sights farther. Ever since Balmorhea State Park reopened in 2024, I’ve been drawn to the intense blue water of that spring-fed pool, one of many world’s largest. Driving out there’s a dedication, although, so I hope to couple the go to with some hikes at close by Davis Mountains State Park and a keep on the newly renovated Indian Lodge. —Emma Balter

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Cruising Along the Mother Road

I’m actually trying ahead to an early-spring reporting journey (possibly reporting journeys) to factors north, the place I’ll traverse the wide-open expanses of the Texas Panhandle by way of the remnants of historic Route 66, which celebrates its centennial this yr. I name Austin dwelling, and as a denizen of the Hill Country, the relative pancake flatness of that a part of the state has at all times felt strikingly unique to me. From Shamrock to McLean to Groom to Amarillo to Vega to Adrian and on to Glenrio, after which most likely again once more, I can’t wait to see sights—together with the Tower Station and U-Drop Inn, the Devil’s Rope Museum, Cadillac Ranch, and the Mother Road’s precise halfway level, in Adrian. Send me any suggestions! —David Courtney

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A Weekend Packed With Small-Town Charm

I’ll be spending a while exploring Brenham this spring, when wildflowers will make the quick drive from Austin a colourful blur. I’ve visited a couple of instances for weekend stays at a good friend’s ranch, however I’ve but to actually bask in all that Washington County’s greatest city has to supply: a famed sandwich shop recognized for its selfmade pies, a dreamy rose garden and nursery, and a brewery the place each beer is known as after a tune the brewers love. I’m hoping to catch a superb present on the city’s intimate nonprofit playhouse, Unity Theatre, and possibly a burger at Danny’s, an elevated bistro. Antiques mecca Round Top is lower than half an hour away, however Brenham has a couple of lower-key classic outlets of its personal that I plan to dig by way of. My weekend there will probably be freed from onerous plans and stuffed with meandering strolls by way of the city’s charming downtown streets. —Amanda O’Donnell

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Paying Respect to a Piece of Abandoned Texas History on the Border

In the fifties and sixties, Rio Vista Farm, in Socorro, was certainly one of 5 consumption facilities for the bracero program, a brief settlement between the U.S. and Mexico that allowed Mexican nationals to work legally stateside to handle labor shortages, particularly in agriculture. Staff members at Rio Vista processed greater than 80,000 Mexican braceros yearly. Each of them was examined and fumigated with DDT—a robust, now-banned insecticide—earlier than getting their project. Today the deserted web site is definitely missed from the street. A good friend from close by El Paso took me to Rio Vista Farm briefly throughout a neighborhood taco journey a number of years again. Two plaques on a stocky stone block have been the one signage I noticed, not precisely conspicuous for a web site that was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2023. Otherwise, the previous authorities station was all however ruins. Rio Vista is presently present process a restoration, together with the creation of a brand new museum, funded by personal grants and $2 million from the state budget. I’ll be going again this yr to see how the positioning has modified since my final go to, as such an essential locale ought to, and to spend extra time on hallowed floor. —José R. Ralat

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Mining a Colonial Mexican City’s Past and Present

I go to Mexico as much as 5 instances yearly. These journeys take me from northern cities to southern mountain villages. But one vacation spot evades me yr after yr: Guanajuato. The colourful, historic mining city is thought for baroque and neoclassical church buildings, small plazas, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and winding, hilly alleyways. It’s these paths which have lengthy attracted me, like Salsipuedes (Exit if You Can) and Callejón del Beso (Alley of the Kiss), so named as a result of its balconies are so shut that neighbors can kiss with out leaving their properties. I’m additionally intrigued by Guanajuato’s subterranean streets, which as soon as redirected floodwater, and the Museo de las Momias, a group of naturally mummified our bodies. This yr, it’s Guanajuato! —José R. Ralat

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Flying Into Big Bend Ranch State Park

Planes are a bit like time machines, and in the case of the Big Bend area, a pilot’s license modifications the journey math totally. What’s normally an all-day, nine-hour haul from Austin turns into a relaxed two-and-a-half-hour flight. As somebody with a long-standing love of Big Bend, I discover that form of shortcut onerous to withstand. This yr I’m lastly planning to land my Cessna 182H, a four-seat piston-engine airplane, on the airstrip inside Big Bend Ranch State Park, the most important state park in Texas and a spot I’ve admired for years. The objective is easy: Make West Texas really feel shut, if just for a weekend. —J. B. Sauceda

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Catching a Rocket Launch on South Padre Island

Picture your typical seaside trip: lazy days on the sand, sporting your greatest Hawaiian shirt to a unique seafood joint each evening, and . . . staring a whole lot of ft up on the prime of an enormous rocket? That’s the journey to South Padre Island my household has in thoughts this spring, and in an ideal world, we might time it with a SpaceX rocket launch. Last time we have been in SPI, in May 2024, we made the drive round South Bay to the launch web site at Boca Chica Beach. When a launch isn’t imminent, you will get shockingly near the pad. The solely issues between us and {a partially} stacked rocket a few soccer fields away have been a couple of Keep Out indicators staked within the dunes. Next time we received’t be as shut, as a result of we hope to see one blast off. —Mike Snyder

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A New Yorker’s First Rodeo

I began listening to about it not lengthy after I moved to Texas from my native New York, keen voices telling tales of a three-week-long spectacle of cowboy-coded merrymaking: livestock working amok, superstars belting out hits, and crowds 1,000,000 robust milling across the carnival grounds, all in service of the type of show unimaginable to anybody from up north. They have been speaking, as you properly know, concerning the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the most important occasion of its form on the planet. The closest factor to a rodeo I’ve seen up shut was the tandem of traipsing ponies I as soon as noticed at a small ranch in New York. I had no different selection however to get a ticket; March can’t come quickly sufficient. —Jack Sullivan

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Kiddos’ First Big Bend National Park Trip

One of my first getaways upon returning to my dwelling state after about fifteen years of residing too far north was a several-day escape to Big Bend National Park. I climbed up a bit increased than supposed on a path, tentatively appeared out throughout the desert from the cliff, and thought, “My son would one hundred percent jump off of this.” That was 4 years in the past. My three youngsters, who’re twelve, ten, and 6, now have barely extra impulse management—sufficient, my husband and I’ve determined, that it’s time. This spring break, we’re making Big Bend the primary cease on a West Coast street journey. On the agenda: an RV, spooky tales in Terlingua, and a scenic hike. Okay, possibly we’ll persist with the comparatively flat Santa Elena Canyon Trail. I nonetheless don’t belief that child. —Sandi Villarreal

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Revisiting an “If You Know, You Know” West Texas Tradition

West Texas is my dwelling away from dwelling. It’s the place the place I spent probably the most early life of my twenties, working as a reporter within the small border city of Presidio, and a spot I at all times return to. This yr, I’m particularly trying ahead to revisiting Presidio’s drag races, which occur each month or so. The Presidio International Speedway, revamped in 2019, sits on the sting of city and hosts bracket racing, wherein beat-up work vans line up in opposition to souped-up muscle vehicles. One yr a child even raced together with his mother’s Tesla. It’s a scene and a assured good time. Townsfolk and people visiting from throughout the border collect to tailgate amid the sounds and smoke. —Sasha von Olderhausen

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Checking off Cowtown at Last

After six and a half years of residing in Texas, I’ve visited all the state’s greatest cities aside from Fort Worth, however I’m planning to repair that this yr with an extended weekend within the metropolis. I’ve bookmarked lots of the outlets and bars that my colleague Katy Vine talked about in her current write-up of Fort Worth’s Near Southside, and I’m trying ahead to visiting the Amon Carter and Kimbell artwork museums. (I don’t suppose my husband will probably be within the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame, however possibly I’ll go to that by myself whereas he does some crate digging at Record Town or Panther City Vinyl.) —Anna Walsh

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A High-Risk (to Some), High-Reward Mexican Escape to Less-Trodden Ground

When planning a spring break journey to Mexico this yr with our four-year-old daughter, my companion and I thought of Los Cabos, Mexico City, and Oaxaca. But we landed on a extra unconventional vacation spot: Zacatecas, an outdated silver-mining city of 138,000. The metropolis is thought for its baroque colonial structure; slender, sun-soaked streets; and wealthy historical past. Visitors can take within the pink shades of the Centro Histórico from a cable automotive that crosses a part of town.

Some folks (hello, Mom!) suppose we’re loopy. The U.S. State Department has issued a “do not travel” advisory for the state of Zacatecas because of “terrorism, crime, and kidnapping.” However, homicides have lately plummeted within the area, and we will probably be spending the week with our pals who break up their time between Texas and Zacatecas and still have a four-year-old.

We’ll persist with the touristy components of town, having fun with the museums and sampling the regional specialties of asado de boda (a wealthy pork stew historically served at weddings) and mezcal. We are planning aspect quests to La Quemada, an archaeological web site about 35 miles south of the state capital, and Sierra de Órganos National Park, a peculiar panorama of rock towers that has served as a backdrop for a lot of westerns. —Forrest Wilder