New year, new longings for escape. We asked Texas Monthly staffers where they’re planning—or aspiring—to visit this year. This is a well-traveled bunch when it comes to the vast expanse of our state, but there are still places they have yet to check off their lists, or locales they want to revisit for special reasons. We hope you find some inspiration for your own travels in these Texas (and Mexico) destinations.
Milking the Texas State Parks Pass for All It’s Worth
Texas is home to almost ninety state parks, and I haven’t been to nearly enough of them. I sought to change that last October when I purchased a Texas State Parks Pass, which gives me free admission to all parks for a year (as well as camping and store discounts). I’ve since enjoyed many day trips to those closer to home—Brazos Bend, Huntsville, Stephen F. Austin, Buescher—but this year I’d like to set my sights farther. Ever since Balmorhea State Park reopened in 2024, I’ve been drawn to the bright blue water of that spring-fed pool, one of the world’s largest. Driving out there is a commitment, though, so I hope to couple the visit with some hikes at nearby Davis Mountains State Park and a stay at the newly renovated Indian Lodge. —Emma Balter
Cruising Along the Mother Road
I’m really looking forward to an early-spring reporting trip (maybe reporting trips) to points north, where I will traverse the wide-open expanses of the Texas Panhandle via the remnants of historic Route 66, which celebrates its centennial this year. I call Austin home, and as a denizen of the Hill Country, the relative pancake flatness of that part of the state has always felt strikingly exotic to me. From Shamrock to McLean to Groom to Amarillo to Vega to Adrian and on to Glenrio, and then probably back again, I can’t wait to see sights—including the Tower Station and U-Drop Inn, the Devil’s Rope Museum, Cadillac Ranch, and the Mother Road’s actual midway point, in Adrian. Send me any recommendations! —David Courtney
A Weekend Packed With Small-Town Charm
I’ll be spending some time exploring Brenham this spring, when wildflowers will make the short drive from Austin a colorful blur. I’ve visited a few times for weekend stays at a friend’s ranch, but I’ve yet to truly indulge in all that Washington County’s biggest town has to offer: a famed sandwich shop known for its homemade pies, a dreamy rose garden and nursery, and a brewery where every beer is named after a song the brewers love. I’m hoping to catch a good show at the town’s intimate nonprofit playhouse, Unity Theatre, and maybe a burger at Danny’s, an elevated bistro. Antiques mecca Round Top is less than half an hour away, but Brenham has a few lower-key vintage shops of its own that I plan to dig through. My weekend there will be free of hard plans and full of meandering strolls through the town’s charming downtown streets. —Amanda O’Donnell
Paying Respect to a Piece of Abandoned Texas History on the Border
In the fifties and sixties, Rio Vista Farm, in Socorro, was one of five intake centers for the bracero program, a temporary agreement between the U.S. and Mexico that allowed Mexican nationals to work legally stateside to address labor shortages, especially in agriculture. Staff members at Rio Vista processed more than 80,000 Mexican braceros annually. Each of them was examined and fumigated with DDT—a powerful, now-banned insecticide—before getting their assignment. Today the abandoned site is easily missed from the road. A friend from nearby El Paso took me to Rio Vista Farm briefly during a local taco trip several years back. Two plaques on a stocky stone block were the only signage I saw, not exactly conspicuous for a site that was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2023. Otherwise, the former government station was all but ruins. Rio Vista is currently undergoing a restoration, including the creation of a new museum, funded by private grants and $2 million from the state budget. I’ll be going back this year to see how the site has changed since my last visit, as such an important locale should, and to spend more time on hallowed ground. —José R. Ralat
Mining a Colonial Mexican City’s Past and Present
I visit Mexico up to five times annually. These trips take me from northern cities to southern mountain villages. But one destination evades me year after year: Guanajuato. The colorful, historic mining town is known for baroque and neoclassical churches, small plazas, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and winding, hilly alleyways. It’s those paths that have long attracted me, like Salsipuedes (Exit if You Can) and Callejón del Beso (Alley of the Kiss), so named because its balconies are so close that neighbors can kiss without leaving their homes. I’m also intrigued by Guanajuato’s subterranean streets, which once redirected floodwater, and the Museo de las Momias, a collection of naturally mummified bodies. This year, it’s Guanajuato! —José R. Ralat
Flying Into Big Bend Ranch State Park
Planes are a bit like time machines, and when it comes to the Big Bend region, a pilot’s license changes the travel math entirely. What’s usually an all-day, nine-hour haul from Austin becomes a relaxed two-and-a-half-hour flight. As someone with a long-standing love of Big Bend, I find that kind of shortcut hard to resist. This year I’m finally planning to land my Cessna 182H, a four-seat piston-engine plane, on the airstrip inside Big Bend Ranch State Park, the largest state park in Texas and a place I’ve admired for years. The goal is simple: Make West Texas feel close, if only for a weekend. —J. B. Sauceda
The SpaceX rocket-launch site at Boca Chica Beach.GettyCatching a Rocket Launch on South Padre Island
Picture your typical beach vacation: lazy days on the sand, wearing your best Hawaiian shirt to a different seafood joint every night, and . . . staring hundreds of feet up at the top of a giant rocket? That’s the trip to South Padre Island my family has in mind this spring, and in a perfect world, we would time it with a SpaceX rocket launch. Last time we were in SPI, in May 2024, we made the drive around South Bay to the launch site at Boca Chica Beach. When a launch isn’t imminent, you can get shockingly close to the pad. The only things between us and a partially stacked rocket a couple of football fields away were a few Keep Out signs staked in the dunes. Next time we won’t be as close, because we hope to see one blast off. —Mike Snyder
Every night of the Houston rodeo, the national anthem is sung as a rider gallops around NRG Stadium with the American flag and a sparkler.Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via GettyA New Yorker’s First Rodeo
I started hearing about it not long after I moved to Texas from my native New York, eager voices telling tales of a three-week-long spectacle of cowboy-coded merrymaking: livestock running amok, superstars belting out hits, and crowds a million strong milling around the carnival grounds, all in service of the sort of display unimaginable to anyone from up north. They were talking, as you well know, about the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the largest event of its kind in the world. The closest thing to a rodeo I’ve seen up close was the tandem of traipsing ponies I once observed at a small ranch in New York. I had no other choice but to get a ticket; March can’t come soon enough. —Jack Sullivan
Kiddos’ First Big Bend National Park Trip
One of my first getaways upon returning to my home state after about fifteen years of living too far north was a several-day escape to Big Bend National Park. I climbed up a bit higher than intended on a trail, tentatively looked out across the desert from the cliff, and thought, “My son would one hundred percent jump off of this.” That was four years ago. My three kids, who are twelve, ten, and six, now have slightly more impulse control—enough, my husband and I have decided, that it’s time. This spring break, we’re making Big Bend the first stop on a West Coast road trip. On the agenda: an RV, spooky stories in Terlingua, and a scenic hike. Okay, maybe we’ll stick to the relatively flat Santa Elena Canyon Trail. I still don’t trust that kid. —Sandi Villarreal
Revisiting an “If You Know, You Know” West Texas Tradition
West Texas is my home away from home. It’s the place where I spent the most formative years of my twenties, working as a reporter in the small border town of Presidio, and a place I always return to. This year, I’m especially looking forward to revisiting Presidio’s drag races, which take place every month or so. The Presidio International Speedway, revamped in 2019, sits on the edge of town and hosts bracket racing, in which beat-up work trucks line up against souped-up muscle cars. One year a kid even raced with his mom’s Tesla. It’s a scene and a guaranteed good time. Townsfolk and those visiting from across the border gather to tailgate amid the sounds and smoke. —Sasha von Olderhausen
Checking off Cowtown at Last
After six and a half years of living in Texas, I’ve visited all of the state’s biggest cities except for Fort Worth, but I’m planning to fix that this year with a long weekend in the city. I’ve bookmarked many of the shops and bars that my colleague Katy Vine mentioned in her recent write-up of Fort Worth’s Near Southside, and I’m looking forward to visiting the Amon Carter and Kimbell art museums. (I don’t think my husband will be interested in the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame, but maybe I’ll visit that on my own while he does some crate digging at Record Town or Panther City Vinyl.) —Anna Walsh
La Quemada, an archaeological site outside Zacatecas.GettyA High-Risk (to Some), High-Reward Mexican Escape to Less-Trodden Ground
When planning a spring break trip to Mexico this year with our four-year-old daughter, my partner and I considered Los Cabos, Mexico City, and Oaxaca. But we landed on a more unconventional destination: Zacatecas, an old silver-mining town of 138,000. The city is known for its baroque colonial architecture; narrow, sun-soaked streets; and rich history. Visitors can take in the pink shades of the Centro Histórico from a cable car that crosses part of the city.
Some people (hi, Mom!) think we’re crazy. The U.S. State Department has issued a “do not travel” advisory for the state of Zacatecas due to “terrorism, crime, and kidnapping.” However, homicides have recently plummeted in the region, and we will be spending the week with our friends who split their time between Texas and Zacatecas and also have a four-year-old.
We’ll stick to the touristy parts of the city, enjoying the museums and sampling the regional specialties of asado de boda (a rich pork stew traditionally served at weddings) and mezcal. We are planning side quests to La Quemada, an archaeological site about 35 miles south of the state capital, and Sierra de Órganos National Park, a peculiar landscape of rock towers that has served as a backdrop for many westerns. —Forrest Wilder
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