What are your favorite outdoor things to do in Texas?

frisbee golf in Pease Park...

 

Sit on the back deck of my lake house and look at the water.

 

I love fishing while enjoying some ice cold cervesas.

Swimming is always fun too.

One of my favorite places to camp is Pace Bend State park in Austin. I have a favorite spot that is up on a cliff which has a little pathway down to the water to swim. Plus, you can hit up Hamilton's Pool which is just down the road.

Nothing like jumping into 60 degree water when it's 100 outside.

 

Schlitterbahn
Picnics
Swimming

and of course sex...

cause, you know, it's summer, people suppose get...you know.

 

Go inside

 

i tubed the guadalupe river a couple of weeks ago. there's a serious drought and we pretty much had to walk a quarter of the time. that doesn't sound too bad but when you realize it's all uneven footing on slippery ass rocks, it's not all that fun.

i went to galveston this past weekend. it's the cheapest family outing ever and the kids always have a blast. i didn't catch any fish though.

 

How are things down there; I was told that it would never be the same. Better than expected?

 

relaxing at little arkansas on the blanco river... maybe my favorite place on earth

fishing and living it up in rockport

floating the frio in concan or garner

hiking the greenbelt (really want to camp out at enchanted rock sometime)

just driving the back roads of the hill country on a nice day, jamming some tunes, maybe sipping on a tallboy (yeah, i said it)... particularly around wimberley, dripping springs, canyon lake, etc.

 

definitely better than expected. we did have this one "moment". we were hungry and wanted some Church's chicken. There's one right on Broadway on the way to Stewart Beach. Half a mile away we spot the Churchs sign. Looks intact. Awesome. Except the building itself was in complete shambles. Went down a couple more blocks to the Popeyes.

 

Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels
After dark walk on the rock piers in Galveston
Astros when the roof is open
Volleyball at a family event
Seaworld in San Antonio


Here's one from my wife even though technically this is both inside/outside. Shopping at the San Marcos outlet mall.

 

If it's not for the summer, I love Big Bend National Park. Summer time would be way too hot. I used to every year between Christmas and New Year.

Have a meal at the Gage Hotel.

The park is about the size of the state of Rhode Island. There are forgotten old burial grounds out there, with faded markers from the late 1800's. They aren't on any trails, you just have to find them. It's a blast. There are abandoned old mines, ghost towns, hot springs with bullet holes from Pancho Villa Raids, scenic hikes, mountains, scenic canyons, wildlife, crazy cacti, and even some hidden hot springs which you also have to find.

It's a great place to explore the Texas wilderness. The terrain is rugged, and it might seem tough while you are there, but after a few days there, and a return trip home it will give you a whole new respect.

It's also near Pecos, so if you have any interest you can stop buy and see Judge Roy Bean's old stomping grounds.

I personally like the primitive campgrounds near the river. Some campgrounds are in the middle of barren wastes and aren't good, some are in the Mountains but may be too cold at night if you are there in the winter.

 

Read/post on ClutchFans with my laptop

 

Here's a virtual tour of the Gage where you could stop for a meal while enjoying the outdoor activities at Big Bend.

The best Blueberry Cobbler I ever had in my life came from this place. It was absolutely amazing.

<object width="400" height="230"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=4923519&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=4923519&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="230"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/4923519">Gage Hotel video</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user909470">Alex Rod</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

 

Wow, I was just there. We didn't stay, but just wanted to walk through it. The video doesn't seem to show the stuffed panther in the lobby. It's in Marathon, TX. Marathon, Alpine, and Marfa are all very worth a look.

We stayed in the Big Bend, luckily snagging the Roosevelt Stone Cottages that overlook the "Window" in the park. Just an amazing week, never over 80 degrees either.

 

Wow! That's awesome. When I've been there and hiked to the window, I always wondered how those cottages were. I can't believe the weather was never over 80 degrees. I was there once in early March and it was 105.

That sounds like a good trip.

 

Not really. If you're into hiking, 3-4 days would show you all the best hikes. The park is incredibly huge, but most of it is rolling desert with mesas, etc.

Now, if you're a geologist, this is apparently heaven on earth and you'd like to spend a few weeks. We saw several geology groups (and student groups) during the few days we stayed there.

Unless you're an outdoor enthusiast freak, I would suggest a few days in the park, and a couple of days in Alpine or Marfa or Marathon on either end of your park stay. Far west Texas is incredibly different than our Southeastern home, or even Austin or San Antonio.

 

Yeah a couple of days is good. If you wanted you could do one of the rafting trips, or 3 day horse and rafting trips. I've never done any of them, but I've heard they are pretty fun. Santa Elena Canyon with Smugglers cave seems like it would be cool to raft through, and I always see rafting groups when I've hiked through there.

Were there a lot of blooms this time of year? I realize it's very late spring, but I just wondered if there were any cactus blooms.

Once in the winter when I went, it actually snowed, and it was odd to see cactus with snow on top of it.

Sorry if I'm annoying you with the questions. I haven't been in a few years, and I guess I'm really missing it.

 

The last time I was in Texas I spent alot of time outdoor fixing houses which was fun. Growing up enjoyed biking and playing B-Ball outdoors a lot. None of that is particular to being in Texas though.

My mom loved looking at the wildflowers along the Texas highways in the spring. She used to really love the drive from Houston to Austin in March.