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Travel & Outdoors|
January 21, 2013

Into the Wild

Out of more than half a million acres of state parks and natural areas, we’ve chosen the ten best trips—where to camp, what to do, and what to look for when you head to the nearest town

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Feature|
January 20, 2013

Writing Life

The long, slow, quiet, thoughtful, weird, brilliant, often-interrupted, never-compromised career of John Graves, who died July 30, 2013.

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Feature|
January 20, 2013

Dirt and Light

James H. Evans has been photographing Big Bend for twenty years. But never before has it looked so, well, big.

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Sports|
January 20, 2013

How to Dove Hunt

The SeasonFor many hunters, Labor Day weekend is synonymous with the soft coos of the mourning dove. Every year, roughly 350,000 people in Texas are seduced by this avian siren song and harvest about five million of the four-ounce birds—that’s about 30 percent of the total number shot in the

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The Culture|
January 20, 2013

How to Shoot a .22

Rites of passage dot the path to becoming a true Texan—riding a horse, having your picture taken with Big Tex—but few are as iconic as learning to fire a rifle. Although there are a variety of types, beginners often train with a .22-caliber. “That’s because there’s minimal recoil, and the

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Travel & Outdoors|
January 20, 2013

Marfa Best Western

In Donald Judd’s last interview before his death, in 1994, the artist explained that he’d first come to Marfa two decades earlier because he “just wanted a place in the Southwest for the summertime.” Whether he intended it or not, this far West Texas town has since become the

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The Culture|
January 20, 2013

The Old Country

I've become a sort of pessimistic accepter of the changes that have beset the Hill Country in recent years, unacceptable though many of them may be. But I'm grateful for having experienced the hills earlier, when change was slight—and grateful too for corners and stretches still untouched.

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The Culture|
January 20, 2013

How to Tie a Texas Rig

Modern-day bass fishing owes its enormous popularity to two game-changing events. First, in 1949, Nick Creme rocked the angler community with the creation of the plastic bait worm. Roughly ten years later a fisherman on Lake Tyler, weary of snagging his hooks on submerged timber and vegetation, speared a plastic

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The southeast edge of the South Rim, in the Chisos Mountains.
Travel & Outdoors|
January 20, 2013

Climb Every Mountain

Whether you want to ride a horse, bomb down a mountain-bike trail, hike up a hill, relax in a hot springs, scale the face of a giant granite boulder, or just sit on your tailgate and look at a pretty sunset, there’s a lot to do on and around the

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Feature|
January 20, 2013

. . . And the Rest

Pajarito Mountain If you really want to get away from the crowds, scoot over to Los Alamos, thirty miles west of Santa Fe. The nearby Pajarito ski area is almost as top secret as the town was when the Manhattan Project begat the atomic bomb there in the forties. Four

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Travel & Outdoors|
January 20, 2013

Field Trip

Besides books and my own mistakes, I’ve learned almost everything I know about wildflowers from volunteering at the National Wildflower Research Center, Lady Bird Johnson’s visionary gift to Texas. Perhaps my inexperience was evident on my application, because the volunteer coordinator wisely placed me where I couldn’t do much harm,

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Travel & Outdoors|
January 20, 2013

Six Simple Steps to Meadowhood.

1Find Yourself Texas has a range of soils and climates. To know what to plant, you have to know where you are among its ten vegetational regions.2Flower Plot Pick a sunny, well-drained site for your meadow. When choosing which flowers to plant, think about bloom times, size, and color.3Go

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Travel & Outdoors|
January 20, 2013

Lady Bird’s Place

During the infamous drought of 1996, roadside wildflowers frizzled and fried. But at the National Wildflower Research Center, just southwest of Austin, blossoms, shrubs, trees, and grasses were sleek and sassy. Why? Because 1995’s rains watered 1996’s flowers, thanks to the largest rooftop rainwater-collection system in North America. One of

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Travel & Outdoors|
January 20, 2013

Shore ’Nuff

The best beaches in Texas for—among other summertime pursuits—shelling, strolling, birding, fishing, treasure hunting, turtle herding, solitude, and surfing, dude.

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The Culture|
March 31, 2012

Rick  Reichenbach, Lighthouse Keeper

Reichenbach is the caretaker for the Aransas Pass Light Station. Built in 1855 to mark entry into Corpus Christi Bay, the now privately maintained lighthouse—which is on the National Register of Historic Places and is owned today by H-E-B CEO Charles Butt—is the only manned lighthouse in operation on the

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Hunting|
October 31, 2011

Eat, Prey, Love

For decades, a treasured plot of Hill Country land meant one thing to the men in my family: a chance to kill lots of deer. Today, it means something different.

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Feature|
May 31, 2011

Outdoors 101

Nothing marks an expert camper more than a mastery of the essential skills, so study up on these backwoods tricks before your next expedition.

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Feature|
May 31, 2011

Chinati Mountains

Where it is: 20 miles north of PresidioWhat you’ll do: Explore remote West Texas by Jeep and on footWhere you’ll sleep: In one of five cabins built by the former ownersWhat you’ll learn: Legend has it that the name is Apache for “pass,” but no one knows for sure

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Feature|
May 31, 2011

Bastrop

Where it is: 1 mile east of BastropWhat you’ll do: Hike through a pine forestWhere you’ll sleep: In a charming historic cabinWhat you’ll learn: Pine trees can live more than three hundred years If there has ever been an enchanted forest in Texas, the Lost Pines Forest would be

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Feature|
May 31, 2011

Enchanted Rock

Where it is: 24 miles south of Llano What you’ll do: Climb a 425-foot batholith in the middle of the Hill Country Where you’ll sleep: Three primitive camping areas for those who like to get away from it allWhat you’ll learn: The name is thought to come from the Tonkawa,

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Feature|
May 31, 2011

Garner

Where it is: 33 miles north of UvaldeWhat you’ll do: Float, eat, and danceWhere you’ll sleep: The cabins and campsites in Old Garner are much sought-after. Book early—but bring earplugsWhat you’ll learn: The proper way to two-step Garner State Park’s charms are no secret. In fact, it is arguably

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Feature|
May 31, 2011

Brazos Bend

Where it is: 28 miles southwest of HoustonWhat you’ll do: See more waterfowl than you thought existedWhere you’ll sleep: In a tent under tall elm treesWhat you’ll learn: If the alligator is hissing, you’re too close (trust me) Even if this park consisted only of the rectangle of forest

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Travel & Outdoors|
May 31, 2011

Balmorhea

Where it is: In Toyahvale, 192 miles east of El PasoWhat you’ll do: Bask in the splendor of West TexasWhere you’ll sleep: In a comfy bed in a historic lodge or innWhat you’ll learn: How about scuba diving? The pool at Balmorhea is the best freshwater diving in Texas. Contact

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Feature|
May 31, 2011

Bentsen–Rio Grande

Where it is: 2800 S. Bentsen Palm Dr., MissionWhat you’ll do: Look at birds. Eat. Look at birds. Sleep. Look at birdsWhere you’ll sleep: Book a spot at a local RV parkWhat you’ll learn: Chachalacas are named for their call, a rowdy cha-cha-lacWe imagine that a lot of people visit

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Feature|
May 31, 2011

Ray Roberts Lake

Where it is: 10 miles north of Denton What you’ll do: Biking, horseback riding, and kayak­ing, but don’t forget to stop and watch the sunset Where you’ll sleep: Camp near the water’s edge, which is close to numerous sites in Quail Run What you’ll learn: How to speak mountain-biker, as

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Feature|
May 31, 2011

Caprock Canyons

Where it is: 3.5 miles north of QuitaqueWhat you’ll do: Hike the rough breaks between the Caprock and the Rolling PlainsWhere you’ll sleep: In your tent at the mouth of South Prong CanyonWhat you’ll learn: The park is home to the state’s official bison herdThe colors are what strike you at Caprock Canyons

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Feature|
May 31, 2011

Huntsville

Where it is: 6 miles southwest of Huntsville What you’ll do: Relax and unwind under the East Texas pines Where you’ll sleep: Claim your spot in one of five serene camping areas What you’ll learn: Want to fish but don’t know how? Register for one of the TPWD’s Go Fish!

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Rick Bass|
January 1, 2011

Stuck Truck

The mud was deep and wet and cold and there was nothing to do but dig. And dig. And dig.

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The Culture|
October 31, 2010

Mike Wheat, Game Warden

Wheat was born in Pasadena and grew up near Cuero. After graduating from college and the Texas Game Warden Training Center, he was stationed in Tyler County for five years before transferring to Ochiltree and Hansford counties in 1996. He lives in Perryton.I credit my dad with my love for

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Rick Bass|
August 31, 2010

Fish Story

One more trip—would it be the last?—to Toledo Bend Reservoir with my dad.

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