texas hill country

[garmp]

Thinking about texas hill country for a late April early May trip.
Where is the Texas Hill Country? Apparently there is no set geographical boundaries. Some say near Austin, others say near San Antonio. OK, I'm lost.
We'd like to spend a couple of weeks in the area looking for waterfalls, springs, history and in general interesting sights and good food. COE & State parks are our preference. Military can work if needed.
So where to, to see what?


Thanks

[3940wez12]

We stayed at Potters Creek COE, and really liked it. The town of Canyon Lake is 8 miles away, and has a nice grocery store and a number of restaurants. Wimberly is a neat little town with quaint shops, the Wimberly Glassworks, etc. We were there the second week in April and most of the blue bonnets had already bloomed, but there were lots of other wildflowers adorning the roadside. BTW, when they say "Hill Country" that's exactly what they mean!

[mikefos]

Lady Bird Municipal Park in Fredericksburg is great. A beautiful park, especially on the loop where you can watch small planes at the airport. It is central to about everything the Hill Country has to offer, and their rates are reasonable. We live here now, but have stayed at Lady Bird Park as well as other RV parks in the area prior to that.

[garmp]

Thanks for the great suggestions/opinions.
How's the crowds that time of year? Are reservations recommended? We're not big on reservations cause we're not really sure when we'll be where, unless we got to. Have to look into more COE parks and possibly a side trip to the River Walk for the DW!
By the way, the fossil info sent the DW over the top. Now the Hill Country is a must!
Next we need eateries, but not big on Tex-Mex. Peppers & us don't agree.
Thanks all.

[Heisenberg]

Garner State Park hands down.

[ljr]

I’m not sure of the exact boundaries of “Hill Country” either. I spent a couple weeks at Davis Mountain State Park awhile back. It’s near the Ft Davis Historical Site. The name escapes me but there’s an observatory down the road also. Marta is nearby. It’s sort of an artsy hippie settlement that’s worth exploring. Lots of free roaming wildlife in the park.

If you travel with a dog, mine strongly recommends the ice cream parlor across from Ft Davis. They have a Milkbone & 1/2 scoop ice cream sundae just for dogs.

One heads up. It’s in a signal black hole. No cellular or OTA TV.

[Bob806]

We've camped at 2 different state parks in our 2 visits there (Pedernales Falls and Guadalupe River). Both were fantastic, but if we go again I'd stay at Guadalupe River. When we were at Pedernales, we visited Inks Lake and the swimming was great, but I thought the campsites were too close together.

[texasjayco]

I live in the Hill Country, and would be glad to help with your trip. But that's a lot of info for a reply here!! There's SO much to do in the HC!!

Your timing is good...might encounter some rainy days, but you will beat the crazy heat of June-Sept.

We also prefer the COE and State parks, and some of our favorites are, Pedernales Falls SP, Guadalupe River SP,
Potters Creek on Canyon Lake

Mark

[wanderingdawgs]

As someone else mentioned, try to plan your trip when the bluebonnets are blooming. We liked Cranes Mill COE campground on Canyon Lake and Inks Lake State Park for touring the area. Lots of beautiful drives around the area and lots of good BBQ.

[padredw]

It may be hard to define the borders of the Texas Hill Country, but you will know it when you are there.

We always make Fredericksburg our base for visits to the Hill Country. This is one place where we actually prefer the KOA. We have been going there for a good many years and know the spots where we want to stay in the campground. We can visit Luckenbach, Boerne, Llano, Kerrville, LBJ historical sites, Enchanted Rock, and even San Antonio if we wish while staying at the KOA in Fredericksburg.

And yes, Inks Lake State Park is great, but Fredericksburg is better for a hub. Sometimes we move over to Inks Lake for a couple of nights.

By all means, plan your visit for early April to see the bluebonnets in all their glory. Not every year is a really good one, but we usually find some good spots along the Willow City Loop

[afidel]

There's some good to ok wineries in the area and some of the best BBQ in the country along with some of the best Tex Mex.

As far as natural beauty, to me it was kinda meh the three times I visited my friend's place, neither the stark rusticness of the desert Southwest nor the impressiveness of the great forests of the East. If it wasn't for the food, drink, and friendship I doubt I'd go back but my buddy has fallen in love with the area and is never going to leave so as usual beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[BB_TX]

If you go 30 miles west of I-35 at Georgetown, or Austin, or San Antonio you will be in the hill country. And it goes much farther to the west and north and south. Lots of towns each with their own character. But I agree on Fredericksburg. Or Kerrville. Or Llano. Or Marble Falls. Or ...........

[EgorKC]

Fredericksburg is perfect spot to base at. WWII Pacific War museum is outstanding as is the Admiral Nimitz museum. It is historically ethnic German so that cuisine is plentiful. In addition to what others mentioned look at visiting Greune Tx. north of New Brunsfel. Eclectic shops, historic town and a couple great restaurants. Boerne TX is another town with unique shops. We liked the Restaurant along the small creek that goes through town. Has Duck in the name but the rest escapes me. They have a great menu including local game meats.

Greg

[wthibeaux]

Our favorite, Inks Lake State Park near Burnet.

[Isaac-1]

I would describe the Texas hill country as a roughly 50 mile wide strip ranging from Uvalde on the south end, up through Kerrville, and Frederickburg to Waco at the north end.

Off hand I can't think of any major waterfalls in the hill country though there are multiple spring fed rivers that are popular for tubing float trips. These include the Rio Frio at the south end and the Guadalupe in the central region. Garner State park is on the Rio Frio and is one of the most popular state parks in Texas, I have read RV check in can take over 2 hours during the busy season, there are also numerous commercial RV parks along the Rio Frio (I counted over 25 in a 12 mile stretch of road just north of Garner state park a while back). Also in this region is Lost Maples State natural area. If you are considering Fredericksburg, think about staying at Lady Bird Johnson public park, it is a 300+ acre public park with golf course nature trail,etc. When I was there in May they were in the process of renovating the RV park, installing new power posts, and building a dog park next door. The local general aviation airport adjoins the rv park, but don't let that worry you as there are few if any night time flights, and even few daytime flights. If you have any interest in World War II history, you must go to the National War in the Pacific Museum in Fredericksburg, plan 2 full days to see the museum, there is a reason the tickets include 2 days worth of admissions.

On the nature side of things check out Waco Mammoth national historic site for the fossil pit https://www.nps.gov/waco/index.htm

If fossils interest you may also check out Dinosuar Valley state park at the north end of the hill country in Glen Rose https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/dinosaur-valley

[Jay_Pat]

If you are into wine, lots of wineries in Fredericksburg and East to Johnson City.
Outside Stonewall is LBJ's ranch. It includes a tour of most of the downstairs area of the Texas Whitehouse. Lady Bird narrates many home movies of LBJ. Their cars are on display. The airplane hangar that was used for news breifings is still there as is a jet he used.
Don't know anything about Bandera. Might be a good day trip.