Travel & Outdoors
August 17, 2022
Miniature Cattle Have Ambled Into Our Hearts and Onto Our Modest Acreages
They’re cute, they’re charismatic, and they’re lil’. But these “posh pets” are still a lot of work.
Outdoors
Business
August 10, 2022
The Unlikely Rise of Slim Pickins, the First Black-Owned Outdoors Retailer in the Country
Jahmicah Dawes opened his idiosyncratic outdoors shop, in Stephenville, hoping to inspire people from all walks to explore natural spaces. Then a brush with viral fame changed everything.
Sports
August 9, 2022
The Real Dill: Powerful Texans Are Betting on Pickleball
Why a host of Texas notables, from Steve Kuhn to Brené Brown, are investing heavily in the popular sport.
Travel & Outdoors
August 5, 2022
These Veterans Have Found a Post-Service Mission: Beekeeping
Through Houston-based nonprofit Hives for Heroes, veterans trade their uniforms for bee suits, work to save pollinators, and learn mindfulness.
Travel & Outdoors
August 4, 2022
Welcome, Critters: An Experts’ Guide to Wildscaping Your Texas Garden
Learn how to attract the creatures you want and keep out the ones (ahem, deer) that you really, really don’t.
Travel & Outdoors
July 19, 2022
Paradise Lost: Where You Can’t (or Shouldn’t) Swim Right Now in Texas
The drought is taking a toll on our swimming holes, although a few favorites are still in good enough shape to help us handle the record heat.
Travel & Outdoors
July 5, 2022
View From the Top: A Texas Man Climbs the State’s 10 Tallest Peaks
Rafael Mujica bushwhacked, scrambled, and backcountry climbed his way to an achievement he says no one else has completed.
The Stand Up Desk
June 27, 2022
What Stephen Harrigan’s Late-’80s Reporting Prophesied for Galveston Bay
“Your article may be an epitaph,” the then-president of the Houston Audubon Society told the writer.
Sports
June 27, 2022
The Rise and Rise of Texas-Based BMX Superstar Brad Simms
When early pandemic lockdowns led to empty streets, Simms, a leader among Black BMX riders, catapulted himself to social media fame.
Travel & Outdoors
June 21, 2022
Wet Hot Texas Summer
38 ways to cool off in our state's springs, lakes, and more.
Travel & Outdoors
June 21, 2022
Welcome to Party Island on Lady Bird Lake
At Austin’s weekend-long floating bacchanal, it’s BYOP (as in “paddleboard”).
Travel & Outdoors
June 21, 2022
The Many Lives of Caddo Lake
The swampy network of waterways straddling the Louisiana border teems with natural wonders—and more than a few secrets.
Travel & Outdoors
June 21, 2022
Barton Springs Pool in the Dark Is Its Own World
Swimming before sunrise became a necessary ritual for novelist Elizabeth McCracken during an uncertain time. And then came the strangers.
Travel & Outdoors
June 21, 2022
Reeling in the Years at a Cabin in the Laguna Madre
My family’s shack on an island in the world’s largest hypersaline lagoon has brought us closer to the fishing—and to one another.
Sports
June 21, 2022
Kayak Polo Is the Most Joyful, Adrenaline-Fueled, Raucous Sport You’ve Never Tried
Marco who? This is the ultimate water game.
Business
June 16, 2022
Meet the Yucca Whisperer of West Texas
Near Fort Stockton, Hoven Riley has been quietly growing more than 20,000 of the prized plants, which are being illicitly uprooted from public and private lands to meet a growing demand.
Sports
June 16, 2022
Meet the “Not Smart” Texans Who’ve Run a Marathon in All Fifty States
From chronic injuries to botched courses, members of the Texas-based 50 States Marathon Club go the distance to go the distance.
Being Texan
June 7, 2022
Toad Stranglers and Sudden Summers: A Guide to Texas Weather Words
Texas has wild weather. We need a lexicon to match.
Hunting & Fishing
June 6, 2022
Microfishing Is Texas’s Tiny New Angling Trend
Inspired by an ancient Japanese tradition, it’s all about catching as many minuscule species as possible.
Film & TV
June 2, 2022
‘Deep in the Heart’ Gives Texas the ‘Planet Earth’ Treatment
The visually stunning new nature documentary, narrated by Matthew McConaughey, is a delight.
Travel & Outdoors
May 23, 2022
Texas’s Craziest Endurance Paddler Is Taking on His Biggest Challenge Yet
West Hansen and his Arctic Cowboys team hope to become the first kayakers to cross the Northwest Passage.
Critters
May 18, 2022
After the Big Year: What Came Next for the Texan Who Broke a National Birding Record
After taking her thousands of miles across 48 states, Tiffany Kersten’s adventure led her right back home.
Critters
May 10, 2022
Jellyfish in the Gulf Are as Mysterious as They Are Painful
These translucent, stinging creatures are full of secrets.
Critters
May 10, 2022
Five Texas Jellyfish—and Relatives—to Know
Brush up on (but not against!) these five gelata common to the Gulf of Mexico.
Business
May 9, 2022
Will Elon Musk Deliver on His Promise of an “Ecological Paradise” at the Tesla Factory in Austin?
The massive facility sits along two miles of the Colorado River. Environmentalists want a say in how the development might affect the waterway.
Travel & Outdoors
April 26, 2022
I Operated an Excavator All by Myself at Texas’s First Construction Theme Park
At Dig World, in Katy, anyone can drive a utility vehicle or go wild in a skid steer.
Travel & Outdoors
April 25, 2022
The Top Ten Backpacking Trails in Texas
Conquer the Guadalupe Mountains, lollygag through the loblollies in East Texas, or trace a historic railroad near Caprock Canyons.
Travel & Outdoors
April 22, 2022
Ten Truly Tree-mendous Texas Trees
Let’s pause to appreciate our leafy friends.
Travel & Outdoors
April 20, 2022
The Dirt on Curbside Composting in Texas
If you’re among the vast majority of Texans without municipal compost pickup, never fear. We’ve got four alternatives.
Critters
April 13, 2022
Go Wild at These Seven Stellar Texas Animal Sanctuaries
Listen to wolves howl, rub a hog's belly, or learn to bottle-feed a baby skunk.
Travel & Outdoors
April 11, 2022
The Great Springs Project Aims to Build a 100-Mile Hike-and-Bike Trail From Austin to San Antonio
The nonprofit effort will cost hundreds of millions and preserve 50,000 acres over the fragile Edwards Aquifer. Can it be done?
Critters
April 7, 2022
Texans, Meet Your Adorable, Bloodthirsty New Neighbors
Given the choice between an influx of vampire bats and an influx of tech bros in Patagonia vests . . .
Hunting & Fishing
April 4, 2022
When It Comes to Gulf Fish, Don’t Fear the Sheeper
Move over, speckled trout and redfish. The misunderstood, toothy sheepshead is a tasty—and sustainable—catch.
Travel & Outdoors
March 17, 2022
The “Keep Big Bend Wild” Effort Aims to Forever Protect Texas’s First National Park
Designating Big Bend as a federal wilderness area, advocates say, will ensure it stays rugged for decades to come.
Travel & Outdoors
March 14, 2022
Channeling My Inner Cowgirl on a Horse Obstacle Course
At trail challenges across Texas, riders of all levels can get back in the saddle and brush up on the basics.
Being Texan
March 14, 2022
Me and My Truck: A Love Story
For fifteen years, my 2005 GMC Sierra has, through good times and bad weather, taken me to every corner of Texas. It might be time to say goodbye, but it won’t be easy.
Critters
February 23, 2022
Meet the Texas Woman Who Punched a Shark in the Face
Conroe native Heather West was snorkeling near the Florida Keys when she fought off a six-foot lemon shark.
Critters
February 22, 2022
How the Turtle Lady of South Padre Helped Save the Kemp’s Ridley
Ila Loetscher took costumed turtles on late-night TV and founded a nonprofit that has rescued thousands of the creatures.
Travel & Outdoors
February 16, 2022
I Went Skiing in Texas
On top of Mt. Aggie, the only slope in the state, it’s all downhill from here.
Food & Drink
February 10, 2022
11 Texas Plants You Didn’t Know You Could Eat
Recipes and tips for wild and unconventional foods—from chile pequin to yaupon—that you can find in your own backyard.
Hunting & Fishing
February 10, 2022
Big Money Is on the Line at Catfish Competitions Across Texas
Lucrative tournaments built around these river monsters are booming.
Travel & Outdoors
February 7, 2022
Set to Become a State Park, Powderhorn Ranch Is an Unspoiled Coastal Paradise
One of the biggest conservation projects in Texas history, the vast parkland encompasses some 17,000 acres along Matagorda Bay.
Travel & Outdoors
February 1, 2022
What Lies Beneath the San Antonio River? A Whole Lot of Weird Stuff
Cleaning crews dredged up creepy dolls, armored catfish, rental scooters, and a staggering quantity of chairs.
Texas History
January 17, 2022
The Secrets of Bonfire Shelter
Archaeologists are uncovering new clues at a canyon where ancient Texans once hunted bison en masse.
Business
January 10, 2022
Regenerative Ranching Is Better for the Environment, but Can It Be Profitable?
These Texans think so.
Best Thing in Texas
January 10, 2022
A Rio Grande Valley Woman Just Broke the U.S. Record for Most Birds Spotted in a Year
Tiffany Kersten saw 726 species in 48 states, setting a new record for the mind-boggling achievement birders call a Big Year.
Travel & Outdoors
January 7, 2022
Folks, Please Don’t Mess With Texas Rock Art
Some idiots carved their names on prehistoric petroglyphs in Big Bend—and it's part of a disturbing spike in vandalism.
Meanwhile, in Texas
January 4, 2022
Fish Fell From the Sky in Texarkana, and No One Is Reel-y Sure Why
Cod this story be any stranger?
Texas History
December 15, 2021
The Quirky History of the Osage Orange, Texas’s Ugliest Fruit
Once eaten by woolly mammoths, and later used by Indigenous Texans and settlers for its sturdy wood, this strange plant has spread from Texas across the country.
Critters
December 15, 2021
In Search of the Jaguarundi
Every year, dozens of Texans report sightings of this elusive cat. But scientists are increasingly skeptical that it’s here at all.