Texas Highways Magazine

Photographer Kenny Braun discovered Wes Cooksey Park in Uvalde County while on assignment for this month’s feature story about the Nueces River (Page 44). “A local recommended that I check it out,” said Braun, who is based in Austin, “and it was inde

If the idea of hitting a crowded neighborhood swimming pool has you uneasy this summer, consider taking a dip in one of Texas’ many spring-fed swimming holes. There’s generally more space to spread out, the natural environment makes for a prettier ba

Michael Barnes and Joe Starr, the co-authors of this month’s feature “In Search of Forgotten Rivers” (Page 36), have taken road trips together since attending the University of Houston in the 1970s. They started tracing Texas rivers before GPS was in

LAST SUMMER, I DROVE INTO THE NUECES CANYON FROM LEAKEY ON RANCH ROAD 337, one of the storied Twisted Sisters drives favored by weekend motorcyclists. I was looking for what I suspected was one of the most pristine bodies of water in Texas, a Hill Co

Thank you for the enlightening article by Michael Hurd about Juneteenth in Texas (and beyond) in your June issue, and thank you, Mr. Hurd, for sharing your personal memories, history, and experiences, which added depth and color to the important hist

After nearly three months cooped up at home without traveling much farther than our local grocery stores, our staff is looking forward to future trips to some of our favorite Texas spots as well as exploring new ones. The first time I saw this month’

The kids were darting in and out of the surf at Matagorda Beach, filling buckets of water to pour into their sandcastle moat, when my 9-year-old daughter approached me with a thought. “I’m so glad I was made a human,” she said amid the rumble of roil

I don’t have to close my eyes to go there in my mind. I didn’t close them when I was sitting in the second row of my grandmother’s funeral while my mind’s eye watched the summer breeze ripple the surface of Lake Sam Rayburn, my lime-green O’Brien sla

The Cable Cabin, a block east of Lindbergh Park, hosts up to 20 guests spread over the main cabin, which sleeps nine. There are also two classic RVs and two vintage Cavalier travel trailers. 201 N. San Antonio St., Camp Wood. 512-300-6656; cablecabin

After gushing up from cold springs, the James River’s crystal-clear waters wind through a narrow, verdant canyon before joining the Llano River at a shoal of smooth stones just south of Mason. Farther north, the Pease River runs in ribbons from the c

Dip a toe in the blue-green swirls of the Frio River and brace for the shiver that’s sure to ripple up your leg. The chilly Frio (frío is Spanish for “cold”) snakes through the Hill Country for 200 miles, drawing tubers, paddlers, swimmers, and rope-

On Galveston Island’s east end, behind a rusting chain-link fence, the concrete bones of an old structure sit between a residential home and a metal-sided warehouse. Aside from a state historical marker out front, there’s little sign this overgrown l

Terry Brooks doesn’t really know where the name for his restaurant Crab-N came from. Something he does know, however, is that it takes more than a hurricane and a global pandemic to prevent his popular coastal spot from doing what it’s always done: s

Growing up in a South Texas household of outdoor enthusiasts made fishing along the Gulf Coast a routine family affair. We spent our springs hooking red drum in the bays and our summers pulling king mackerel, amberjack, pompano, and red snapper from

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone more fully connected to Texas history than J.P. Bryan. A relative of Stephen F. Austin—his great-great-grandmother was Austin’s sister—Bryan grew up in Freeport with a dad who served as the president of the Texas

Carolina Gold rice was introduced to North America in 1685 and became the most valued rice in the country by the time of the Civil War. South Carolina farmers grew it as a cash crop, producing millions of pounds. Without enslaved labor, though, comme

The bovine skull came into view as we rounded a bend on the Rio Grande, setting a scene like the desert backdrop of a Wile E. Coyote cartoon. With its muzzle down, horns up, and carcass stretched as flat as a carpet, the cow had apparently come to th

1910 Texans have always had a reverence for water, perhaps because we live on the edge of where it’s abundant and where it is not. In this 110-year-old photo, Roy Brown rows with friends on the Guadalupe River in Kerrville. The Guadalupe flows 230 mi