If you’re new to Texas, please consider this fair warning: the state is huge! You can literally drive all day in a straight line and never leave the state. As you consider the places listed here, don’t let the mileage scare you—driving 150 miles in West Texas often takes less time than driving across town in a major city. It is usually a lot less stressful too! With the small towns you have to pass through, plan to average about 60 miles per hour if you tend to max-out the speed limits.

MUSTS:

Follow these tips and you'll have a car load of happy roadies.

Abilene State Park

www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/abilene      16 miles

            My friends keep telling me how pleasantly surprised they are by this park. It offers all kinds of camping facilities—from screened cabins to vacant tufts of grass. It also has fishing, nature trails, and a swimming pool during the summer. It can be a little hard to find, so read the directions on the website, and be sure to keep a keen eye out for signs pointing you in the right direction. Lake Abilene, one mile from the park, has boat ramps and additional fishing opportunities.

 

Arlington, TX

www.arlington.org        164 miles

            Arlington, Texas is on I-30, half-way between Ft. Worth and Dallas. It hosts the Texas Rangers, the Dallas Cowboys, Six Flags Over Texas, Hurricane Harbor Water Park, Palace of Wax/Ripley’s Believe it or Not, and an Air Combat simulation school for tourists. Arlington’s goal is to be the most entertaining town in Texas, and they do a great job.

 

Fredericksburg, TX

www.fredericksburg-texas.com         176 miles

            This authentic German Hill Country town is booming—despite its quaint appearance along Main St. There is a lot going on here, including a locally famous winery, an Oktoberfest the first weekend of October, a beautifully decorated Christmas park, and tons of kitsch shopping. Look at their calendar of events—this is the most active little town I know of. This would make a great two day trip and is noted for quaint hotels/bed & breakfasts. Besides, you can’t hit all the shops in one day!

Fredericksburg is famous for its peaches, and when they are in season, many orchards will let you go out and pick your own (for a fee). Fredericksburg is a completely different side of Texas. The drive is especially beautiful when the wildflowers are in bloom during the spring.

RECOMMENDED:

These may not be “must sees” for everyone, but they do have great points of interest and provide for an enjoyable day.

Brady, TX

www.bradytx.com           105 miles

            Brady is the “Heart of Texas.” (The monument demarking the true geographical center of Texas is fifteen miles north of town, on HWY 377.) Brady has an attractive Court House with several pieces of military weaponry and a gazebo adorning the grounds. An historical marker honors the county’s name sake, Ben McCulloch, Indian fighter, Texas Ranger, Confederate Officer, and US Marshal. Across the street is a store called Evridge’s (www.evridges.com). They claim to have everything, and they just about do! You could easily spend an hour in the store without ever getting bored or looking at the same thing twice.

            Brady hosts the famous World Championship Barbeque Goat Cook-Off on Labor Day weekend each year. The event draws about 30,000 people (5 times to town’s population), and has been featured as one of the Food Network’s “All American Festivals.” The weekend also includes an Arts & Crafts Fair, a 5K run, and various other games and events for family fun. I have friends who won’t miss it.

 

Mason, TX

www.masontxcoc.com          134 miles

            This is the prettiest county in all of Texas. I’ve never seen a prettier stretch of road than the highway between Mason and Fredericksburg when the spring wildflowers are in bloom. From mid-May through mid-October there is a very active bat cave southwest of town. It is the world’s tenth largest summer habitat for the Mexican free-tail bat, and several million bats call it home during the five-month season. The site is open to the public from 6 pm to 9 pm Thursday – Sunday, May – October.

            This is also the only county where the state gem, topaz, is found. The Chamber of Commerce occasionally organizes topaz hunts, so check the website if you’re a fan of geology.

            Don’t miss Cooper’s Barbeque on the south side of town. You may want to take a cooler along to store extra meat for later!

 

Stamford, TX

www.stamfordtx.com           40 miles

            Established (in part) by Texas’s first Swedish emigrant, Stamford offers a lake, 9 holes of golf, and the world’s largest amateur rodeo. The rodeo, called the Texas Cowboy Reunion, is held every July and draws over 500 participants. This rodeo comes with all the trimmings, including cowboy poetry readings, barbeques, and dances.

 

San Angelo, TX

www.sanangelo.org         92 miles

            Driving to San Angelo for a November wedding shower offered me one of the best views of fall foliage I’ve ever seen in Texas. Oranges, browns and reds adorn the trees along the highway nearly the whole way there. Places to pull over and take pictures are few and far between, so keep a keen eye. Once you arrive in San Angelo there are a variety of things to do. Most interesting to me are the River Walk, Miss Hattie’s Bordello Museum, and the San Angelo Outlaws hockey team. In September San Angelo hosts the only blues festival I am aware of in this part of the state, the Cactus Jazz and Blues Festival.

 

Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX

www.dallascvb.com/visitors      www.fortworth.com          150 - 180 miles

            “The Metroplex” is HUGE, and offers absolutely everything you could want in terms of shopping, nightlife, culture, traffic jams, amazing restaurants, and so on. Dallas, the farther of the two cities, is only 180 miles west of Abilene on I-20. It has a very cosmopolitan feel and a beautiful downtown featuring gorgeous office buildings, museums, landscaping, and outdoor sculptures. It may seem a bit rushed and pretentious if you’ve grown up in a smaller city. Grapevine Mills, a suburb on the northwest side of Dallas, offers the Grapevine Mills Outlet Mall and a day’s worth of discount shopping. Find it online (www.grapevinemills.com) for stores and sales.

            Ft. Worth has much more of a cowboy/country feel than its counterpart. Several districts of Ft. Worth have been undergoing major renovations and rehabilitations over the last decade, and the town is getting prettier all the time. In keeping with their cowboy tradition they claim the largest Honky-Tonk in the world: Billy Bob’s Texas. Just about every major Country Music performer comes through here. At another end of the spectrum, however, Ft. Worth also claims the nation’s second largest Museum of Modern Art. Distinctly un-cowboy, the architecture of this building was inspired by Japan. Look around the Ft. Worth website for coupons to attractions as you plan your trip.

            This is a great trip during long weekends when you can spend a few days exploring the cities.