If You Like
Outdoor Adventure
There's no shortage of things to do in Texas for those who love spending time outdoors. And this is true not only in regions like the Hill Country and West Texas, but also in the large cities, where hike-and-bike trails and golf courses allow you to get away from the brick and mortar.
Big Bend National Park, West Texas. This mammoth park in Texas's elbow is all about playing outdoors in every way imaginable, from hiking, bicycling, and horseback riding to fishing, bird-watching, and getting out on the water. Avoid this park at the height of summer or you'll feel like you've stepped into a furnace.
Enchanted Rock State Park, between Fredericksburg and Llano. The "enchanted" pink granite dome, at 425 feet tall, makes the park popular with rock climbers. Others come to hike or simply look at the sky—bird-watching by day, star-gazing by night.
Natural Bridge Caverns, near New Braunfels and San Antonio. Want to go below the earth's surface to cool off and get a different perspective? Here you travel down 180 feet and then walk through a maze of beautiful rock formations.
Franklin Mountains State Park, El Paso. Hike, bike, or ride a horse through this park near the New Mexico border. The best parts of a trip here are the visual rewards you get from atop: views of El Paso beneath you.
Art
The big cities all have traditional sprawling art museums, and little ones, too. Here are a few we like and think you will too.
Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth. Art from Western artists like Charles M. Russell and Frederic Remington are showcased at this repository of American masterpieces, including paintings, sculptures, and photographs.
Blanton Museum of Art, Austin. On the campus of the University of Texas, this is the largest university art museum. It holds works from across the ages, including Renaissance art and contemporary Latin-American art.
Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo. Not a museum at all, but a single exhibit, this is Texas's prime example of roadside art: 10 Cadillacs planted into the ground, their tails up in the air behind them.
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas. In its 23,000-piece collection, Big D's premier art museum features everything from European paintings to decorative arts to Asian sculptures.
Elizabeth Ney Museum, Austin. This place is a bust. Literally: sculptures and busts here include those of Texas legends Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin. Elizabeth Ney's sculpturing studio is set up here as well.
Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. World-famous, this collection (housed in a building designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) is both vast and diverse, with sculptures by legends like Matisse and Rodin among its offerings.
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth. It only holds 350 works of art, but the traveling exhibitions and the exclusivity of its selection are what make the Lois I. Kahn-designed Kimbell one of Cowtown's most suprising (and acclaimed) finds.
McNay Art Museum, San Antonio. This museum has a homey feel, which makes sense, given that it's housed in a private mansion once owned by artist and oil heiress Marion Koogler McNay. The 24 rooms showcase the talents of Cézanne, Gauguin, and Picasso, among others.
Menill Collection, Houston. Holding just shy of 15,000 pieces of art—all rather eclectic—the Menill Collection is one of the many cultural institutions making up Houston's Museum District, near Rice University and the Medical Center.
The MEXIC-ARTE Museum, Austin. Hoem to traditional and contemporary Mexican and Latino art, the medium-size museum includes such unusual finds as ritual masks.
