Travel & Outdoors
How to get around the park, sleep under the stars, and deal with the wildlife.
You know about Emory Peak, Santa Elena Canyon, and the Window. But when’s the last time you actually made the pilgrimage to our largest national park? Whether you’re a hiking greenhorn or a backpacking pro, here’s a guide to inspire you to get away from it all.
The state’s top offerings, from 277 craft beers on the wall to country music’s big night.
A century after it was first proposed, Houston’s Hermann Park is finally in full bloom.
The state's top offerings, from the most artful of autos in Houston to every reader's paradise in San Antonio.
The state’s top offerings, from celebrating small towns through film to celebrating spring with a good old-fashioned hoedown.
The state’s top offerings, from Willie and Merle in New Braunfels to the wild, wild West in San Antonio
The state’s top offerings, from gangsters in sixties-era Austin to broncobusters in present-day Houston.
Feeling jittery? Stressed out? Let these wellness retreats remind you of the true meaning of R&R.
The state’s top offerings for a musical spring break, from a moving Elliott Smith tribute in Dallas to a dazzling production of “Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat” in Houston.
The state’s top offerings, from paying tribute to Mexican baseball players in San Antonio to commemorating International Women’s Day in Houston.
The state’s top offerings, from flying sky-high in Austin and big, bold ideas in Dallas to the dark side of toys in Tyler.
The state’s top offerings, from James McMurtry’s latest album to something else your heart will likely desire.
The state’s top offerings, from taking a trip down the Tunnel of Love to taking a trip to Valentine for Valentine’s Day.
The state’s top offerings, from a glorious trip down the rabbit hole in Austin to toasting the Oscars in Big D.
The state’s top offerings, from what infinity feels—and sounds—like to another reason to commemorate February 2 that doesn’t involve any groundhogs.
The state’s top offerings, from a punk rock icon in Austin to a different kind of hunting in Canyon.
The state’s top offerings, from seeing Jay Duplass in the flesh to seeing sky high out West.
The state’s top offerings, from paying tribute to Dr. King and his methods of nonviolence to paying tribute to the fallen heroes of 9/11.
The state’s top offerings, from the best chefs in the Twitterverse to brunching it up gospel-style.
The state’s top offerings, from reveling in Georgia O’Keeffe’s Texas works to ringing in the new year with the Ronettes.
The state’s top offerings, from a Christmas comeback to Christmas Zombies.
The state’s top offerings, from a partridge in a pear tree to twelve drummers drumming and everything in between.
The state's top offerings, from a book reading full of quirky drawings and even quirkier words in San Marcos to a giant tamalada in San Antonio.
The state's top offerings, from the magical theramin to the merry Mercado de Paz.
The state's top offerings, from the best new-but-not-so-new musician to hail from Denton to forty Chihuahuas running as fast as their little legs can go.
It’s the favorable acreage-to-other-humans ratio that draws most visitors, who come for the space that this Chihuahuan Desert outpost has in spades.
The state's top offerings, from masters of mariachi music in San Antonio to a fancy fashion designer in Austin.
The state's top offerings, from lauding Lone Star filmmakers in Fort Worth to visualizing the future of Waller Creek in Austin.
The state's top offerings, from a fancy Formula One race to Day of the Dead delights.
The state's top offerings, from digging in to the facts and fiction surrounding history's real-life Dracula to witnessing Texas's fiercest basketball rivalry.
The state's top offerings, from skateboarding fanaticism to fifteen-foot-tall Popsicles.
Let the other out-of-towners swarm the Alamo while you slip away to Southtown, a two-square-mile swatch just a few blocks below San Antonio’s touristy epicenter.
Bag that buck—or quail, or oryx—and then put your feet up at one of these luxury hunting lodges.
The state's top offerings, from the art of meteorological turbulence to getting scared silly at the drive-in.
The state's top offerings, from witnessing Big Tex's new moves at the state fair to rescuing Mother Earth at SXSW Eco.
The state's top offerings, from death-defying dancers in Austin to all things shrimptastic in Galveston.
Saved by Prickly Pear A hiker gets trapped in Big Bend. It was a gorgeous Tuesday morning in April 2010, and Merritt Myers was going on a hike. Hiking was a form of spiritual therapy for Myers—the Austinite had trekked in the Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, even Machu…
In the lower Rio Grande Valley, where 95 percent of the area’s native habitat has been eroded over the past two centuries by agriculture and development, the 2,088-acre Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge represents one of the last untamed corners of South Texas. With 450 types of plants, at…
In the three and a half years since Seth Patterson began managing the Sabal Palm Sanctuary, he has received regular phone calls from would-be visitors wondering where Mexico begins. That’s because, to reach the sanctuary, which is home to one of the last stands of old-growth palm forest in…
It was oh-dark-thirty, so I could not yet make out the improbable oak trees dotting the South Texas brush. Still, as I piled into the van with a group of birding enthusiasts from as far away as Ontario and Boston, it did not escape my notice that our guide,…