7 Best Texas Travel Spots Your Family Will Love
Our family hasn’t taken an actual vacation in years – years I tell you! Between a lack of extra funds and a lack of extra time, travel has been on the back burner for way longer than it should have been. This year, we’re going to change that. To save both time and money, we’ll be traveling around our home state of Texas. I asked the kids and the Sexy Cowboy to help come up with a Texas travel bucket list that our family will love.
Just a heads-up, we love being outdoors, so camping and hiking spots are going to feature pretty heavy in this list.
Hamilton Pool Preserve
The Hamilton Pool Preserve is in Travis County, just about four hours south of Dallas-Fort Worth. The pool is essentially a collapsed grotto that was formed by thousands of years of water erosion. The place was open to visitors in the early 1900s, but over the decades the influx of visitors, as well as livestock grazing, did a lot of damage to the ecosystem.
Travis County purchased the land and the pool in 1985 and began working to bring it back to life and restore its natural beauty. You will need to make reservations online ahead of time to visit since they limit the daily number of visitors to the pool. The park offers hiking and swimming when allowed, and the photo opportunities are fantastic, making this one of our top Texas travel spots to visit.
Big Bend
Researching for this blog post, I discovered that there are two Big Bend parks – Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park. Both are designated as International Dark-Sky Association Dark Sky Parks. This is a big draw for us, so we’ve had the area on our Texas travel bucket list for a while now. Being a Dark Sky Park means that these are some of the best places to go for stargazing because there is no light pollution interfering with your ability to see the stars at night.
Big Bend is about a seven-hour drive from DFW, so be sure to pack those tablets and headphones and plenty of snacks.
Both parks draw thousands of visitors each year, so be sure to make your reservations online and check the websites for any information about closures in and around the parks.
Space Center Houston
Do you have a space nerd in your family? We have at least four in ours, so a trip to Space Center Houston is definitely on our bucket list.
There is so much to do! You can explore the inside of spaceships. Get an up-close look at a SpaceX rocket. Plus, there are many amazing exhibits to check out, like the Astronaut Gallery and Mission Mars interactive exhibit.
Space Center Houston offers family overnight experiences too. You can set up a tent underneath the Falcon 9 Rocket or the Independence Shuttle. Families get to take part in hands-on activities like a rocket build and launch.
Natural Bridge Caverns
Want to take a walk 180 feet below the earth’s surface? Okay, it sounds crazy when you put it that way. But exploring the caves at Natural Bridge Caverns outside of San Antonio is something every family should have on their Texas travel list during the summer.
The temp inside the caverns averages 70 degrees, making it a welcome adventure when you’ve been out in the hot Texas heat. You can see formations that are millions of years old. These caverns were discovered in the 1960s by four college students. Today, it is one of the biggest attractions in the state.
But there’s more than just caves to explore. Natural Bridge Caverns has some aboveground activities, too. You and your family can get lost in the maze. Need a little excitement? Get a pass for the Twisted Trails Zip Rails & Ropes Course. There is also a climbing park and fossil and gem mining at the caverns.
Enchanted Rock
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been obsessed with Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia. Something about this huge rock jutting out of the landscape. But a trip to the land down under is definitely not in the budget, so visiting Enchanted Rock outside of Fredericksburg will have to do.
Enchanted Rock is a natural formation of pink granite that draws hikers, climbers, and campers every year. Like any other Texas state park, you’ll want to make your reservations in advance. Nothing worse than a four-hour car ride to find out the park is full.
Float the Guadalupe
I’m a sucker for a good lazy river. In fact, it’s pretty much the only activity I’ll do at a water park. The Guadalupe is one of the best natural lazy rivers around, so this definitely goes on the Texas travel list for the summer.
Floating the river, or tubing, is one of the best ways to spend a hot summer day in Texas. Luckily, there are a lot of options along the Guadalupe River. A quick Google search will bring up a handful of companies that provide the tubes, life jackets, and a shuttle ride for this outdoor activity.
Tubing trips can range anywhere from two to six hours. You’ll want to bring plenty to drink and a lot of sunblock. Alcohol is allowed in certain areas of the river, so check for any restrictions before you plan to load up the cooler with adult beverages.
Galveston Island Pleasure Pier
Our family has visited Galveston plenty of times, but the Historic Pleasure Pier is one place we haven’t been to yet.
The pleasure pier is full of things to do when you’ve had enough of the sand and surf. There are midway games to play. You can hop on the Galaxy Wheel or the Texas Star Flyer. Get soaked on the Pirate’s Plunge. You can take the 100-foot plunge on the Iron Shark rollercoaster.
There are also rides for the little ones who aren’t quite ready for the bigger, thrilling rides. They’ll enjoy the Lil’ Captain Wheel and taking a spin in the Texas Tea. If you have some family members who don’t plan to ride anything, they can buy a pier pass. This will let them walk around and enjoy the sights.
