The Texas Hill Country
Texas, with the windows down
Wildflower drives, spring-fed swimming holes, honky-tonk Saturdays, and fifty wineries between the live oaks — across the rolling back roads of Central Texas.
What is the Hill Country?
A region the size of a small state, stitched together by limestone, water, and wildflowers.
West of Austin and north of San Antonio, the land buckles into the rolling, oak-studded hills of the Edwards Plateau. Cold springs surface as jade-green rivers. German and Czech settlers left dance halls and Sunday houses. And every spring, the roadsides erupt in blue.
It is, in short, the Texas of the imagination — only closer, friendlier, and easier to get to than you think.
Read the full story →
Destinations
Where to point the truck
Fredericksburg
30.275°N 98.872°WGillespie County
German roots, a Main Street of biergartens and shops, and the gateway to Texas wine country. The unofficial capital of the Hill Country.
Enchanted Rock
30.507°N 98.820°WLlano & Gillespie
A massive pink granite batholith that hums and ticks as it cools at night. Climb it by day, then stay for some of the darkest skies in Texas.
Wimberley
29.997°N 98.099°WHays County
An arts town built around water — Jacob’s Well, Blue Hole, and the Cypress Creek. Market days, galleries, and the bluest swimming in Texas.
Gruene & New Braunfels
29.738°N 98.104°WComal County
A 19th-century river town wrapped around the oldest dance hall in Texas, with the Guadalupe and the spring-fed Comal running right past the door.
Bandera
29.726°N 99.074°WBandera County
The self-proclaimed Cowboy Capital of the World — dude ranches, honky-tonks, and trail rides along the Medina River.
Marble Falls & the Highland Lakes
30.578°N 98.273°WBurnet County
A chain of dammed Colorado-River lakes ringed by granite hills — boating, lakeside dining, and the spring carpet of bluebonnets at Muleshoe Bend.
Johnson City & the LBJ Ranch
30.277°N 98.412°WBlanco County
Boyhood home of a president and the Texas White House. In December the whole town lights up; in spring the roadsides run blue with wildflowers.
Hamilton Pool & the Pedernales
30.342°N 98.126°WTravis County
A collapsed grotto where a 50-foot waterfall spills into a jade-green pool. Reserve ahead — this is the most-photographed swimming hole in Texas.
Boerne
29.795°N 98.732°WKendall County
A German-founded town on Cibolo Creek with a Hill Country Mile of shops, a 100-acre nature center, and a cathedral-sized cave ten minutes out of town.
Kerrville & the Upper Guadalupe
30.047°N 99.140°WKerr County
The river town at the top of the Guadalupe — a mile-long riverside park, a Western art museum, and a community rebuilding after two hard summers.
Lost Maples & the Sabinal Canyon
29.816°N 99.570°WBandera & Real Counties
A relict stand of bigtooth maples in a steep canyon on the Sabinal River — and the best fall color in Texas, for about three weeks a year.
Dripping Springs
30.190°N 98.087°WHays County
The Gateway to the Hill Country — the first Dark Sky Community in Texas, a distillery-and-brewery corridor on US-290, and the road to Hamilton Pool.
Llano & the Granite Country
30.759°N 98.675°WLlano County
A courthouse-square town on a clear river, surrounded by the oldest exposed rock in Texas — and a barbecue reputation that pulls people across the state.
Ways to wander
Pick your kind of trip
However you like to travel the Hill Country — by tasting room, river bend, two-step, or telescope — there's a thread to follow.
Swimming Holes & Spring Rivers
Cold, clear, and limestone-blue all summer — from Hamilton Pool to the Comal.
Explore
Wine Country
Fifty-plus wineries along the 45 miles of Wine Road 290, plus the back roads off it.
Explore Wildflower Drives
Bluebonnets and paintbrush set the roadsides on fire every March and April.
Explore Dance Halls & Live Music
Two-step under century-old rafters at Gruene Hall, Luckenbach, and beyond.
Explore
Smoke & Barbecue
Post-oak smoke, brisket by the pound, and pit lines worth the wait.
Explore
Dark Skies & Stargazing
Some of the darkest skies in the eastern U.S. — bring a blanket and look up.
Explore
Fall Color & Autumn Drives
Bigtooth maples, rust-red cypress, and about three weeks of the best color in Texas.
Explore
Caves & the Underground
The same limestone that makes the springs makes the caves — and several are open to walk through.
Explore
Bats, Birds & Wild Things
Three million bats out of a railroad tunnel at dusk, and two songbirds that nest nowhere else on earth.
ExploreItineraries
Trips, already mapped
3 days · Weekend The Fredericksburg Wine Weekend
Tasting rooms on US-290, a climb up Enchanted Rock to earn your dinner, and a beer at Luckenbach where everybody’s somebody.
- Fredericksburg Main St.
- US-290 Wine Road
- Enchanted Rock
- Luckenbach
4 days · Road trip The Swimming Holes Loop
Chase the cold, clear water from Blue Hole to Hamilton Pool to a lazy tube down the Guadalupe. Pack a towel and a reservation.
- Blue Hole, Wimberley
- Hamilton Pool
- Guadalupe River
- Comal River
2 days · Weekend Honky-Tonk & Smoke
A long weekend of brisket, two-step, and back-road dance halls — Gruene to Luckenbach with a barbecue stop in between.
- Gruene Hall
- Smoke break, Driftwood
- Luckenbach
- Bandera
3 days · Autumn The Fall Color Run
Bigtooth maples at Lost Maples, cypress on the Frio, and a Cowboy Capital nightcap — the three weeks a year Texas does autumn properly.
- Kerrville
- Lost Maples
- Garner State Park
- Bandera
2 days · New moon A Dark Sky Weekend
Time it to a new moon: bats out of a railroad tunnel at dusk on Friday, the Milky Way over pink granite on Saturday.
- Dripping Springs
- Old Tunnel State Park
- Fredericksburg
- Enchanted Rock
7 days · The whole region The Grand Tour
A week-long horseshoe from Boerne to Llano and back — caves, cowboys, wine, granite, barbecue, water, and a dance hall to finish.
- Boerne
- Bandera
- Kerrville
- Fredericksburg
- Llano
- Marble Falls
- Gruene
Right now · Summer
Find the cold water
When the heat sets in, the spring-fed rivers and swimming holes stay cool — and the peach stands are full.
- River tubing & swimming holes
- Fredericksburg peach stands
- Bat flights at dusk
The Journal
Stories from the back roads
Three Million Bats, One Abandoned Railroad Tunnel
August and September are peak emergence at the smallest state park in Texas. Here’s how to get a seat.
Read the story →Chasing Bluebonnets: Six Drives for Peak Wildflower Season
A First-Timer’s Guide to the Fredericksburg Wine Road
Where to Swim: Nine Spring-Fed Holes Worth the Drive
Two-Step 101: A Night at Gruene Hall
Return to the Upper Guadalupe
When the Maples Turn: Timing Fall Color in the Hill Country
Fall Festival Season, Sorted
Don't be a stranger —
Get the Hill Country in your inbox
Seasonal trip ideas, wildflower reports, festival picks, and the swimming holes worth the drive — about twice a month. No spam, just back roads.
★ You're on the list. Check your inbox to confirm.
Something went wrong on our end — email hello@txhillcountrytravel.com and we'll add you by hand.
Not ready to subscribe? See what's on this season →