Photo: A Snowy Autumn Day in the Chisos Mountain of Big Bend
While fall in much of the state brings only slightly cooler temperatures, pockets like the higher elevations of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park feature a seasonal display of trees dressed in oranges and yellows. Photographer Darren Huski was fortunate to encounter a rare fall-winter combination when, he recalls, he “arrived in the park in a blizzard and awoke to find the Chisos a mixture of vivid color and fresh snow." Read More »
Vintage: High School Homecoming Heritage in Fort Worth
Fort Worth photographer Calvin Littlejohn (1909-93) captured this Friday night scene, complete with traditional homecoming mums, at I.M. Terrell High School. The school opened in 1882 as Fort Worth’s first black school under segregation and operates today as the I.M. Terrell Academy. Read More »
Fall Getaway: Follow the Butterfly Trail in the Valley
The Texas Butterfly Festival promises visitors “the best butterflying in America.” It might seem like hyperbole were the claim not backed up by the fact that the Rio Grande Valley contains a greater diversity of butterflies than anywhere else in the country—more than 300 species and counting, or roughly 40 percent of the butterflies in North America. You can see a great deal of them at the festival, which takes place the first week of November at the National Butterfly Center in Mission. All of those butterflies—condensed within a region that’s easy to traverse over a weekend—make a fall tour of the Valley a must-do on any Texas bucket list Read More »
Qualify for Boston at This Marathon in Marathon
At fun runs across the country, it’s not uncommon to see participants goofily dressed in animal costumes for effect, but at Marathon 2 Marathon, a race occurring each October in West Texas, it’s the spectators who assume the role of the beast. In this case, though, the antelopes, rattlesnakes, javelinas, roadrunners, coyotes, and jackrabbits are real. Exotic wildlife, a big sky, and an expanse of high-desert landscape are integral components of M2M, the Boston Marathon-qualifying run held in Marathon, named after the city in Greece that inspired the modern-day race. Last year’s event, the 16th annual, more than tripled the size of the town, considered an entry point for Big Bend National Park. The community of around 420 souls welcomed nearly 540 registrants, along with family and friends. Part Trans-Pecos Mardi Gras, part fundraiser and community-builder, M2M steers runners through the beautiful, windswept prairie along US 385 and into downtown Marathon. “It is the biggest event that Marathon has, and everyone is touched in some way by M2M,” says Marci Roberts, the race director and a Marathon resident. “Since 2011, the race has given $60,000 to local organizations, including the school, the volunteer fire department, the library, and the clinic. That may not sound like much for a big city, but for us it is huge.” Read More »
Historical Treasures Await on This Rarely Traveled Stretch of Big Bend’s River Road
Drive west along Farm-to-Market Road 170 from the border town of Presidio, leaving all convenience stores and gas stations behind, and you’ll travel two slim lanes of humped, serpentine blacktop, its edges collapsing like desert crust. The road’s convolutions mirror the Rio Grande to the left but after just a few miles, the river’s water diminishes, occasionally disappearing altogether. In its place, dense mesquite thickets and catclaw thrive along its dry bed, a thorny border wall of its own making. Read More »
This Fredericksburg Restaurant Features a Rare All-Texas Wine List
Asign above the door to Cabernet Grill in Fredericksburg tells patrons what they need to know about the restaurant: “Texas Wine Spoken Here.” Fluently, in fact. Cabernet Grill has landed on Wine Enthusiast’s “America’s 100 Best Wine Restaurants” two years in a row with an all-Texas wine list—a feat even the most Texas-centric restaurants haven’t achieved. Read More »
An LBJ Enthusiast Retraces the Route of Her School Field Trips in Search of History—and Herself
Every May, after the bluebonnets had faded from the hills around Marble Falls, my classmates and I would pack sack lunches, board a diesel-powered school bus, and hit the road. The annual field trip was the last major educational event before the school year ended. Or was it? Read More »
Eh-Ha-Ha! Downtown Galveston Concert to Remember Influential Gulf Coast Cajun Fiddler
The Galveston Historical Foundation on Saturday will celebrate Harry Choates music with a free concert at Hendley Green with a performance by Gulf Coast musicians Kevin Anthony & G-Town, who’ve recently recorded an album of Choates’ songs. Read More »
The Daytripper’s Top 5 in Brownsville
Down at the Southern tip of our state, Tex-Mex is more than just a food group—it’s an entire way of life. And here in one of our most vibrant border cities, the cultures of two countries blend together into one incredible day trip. (And yes, I’m considering Texas a country.) This town started with a “bang” and continues to excite everyone who visits. Read More »
A Masterpiece in the Heartland: New Book Tells the Story of Fort Worth’s Kimbell Art Museum
In 'Of the First Class: A History of the Kimbell Art Museum,' author Tim Madigan chronicles the beginnings of one of the nation's great art museums in what was then an unexpected place, Fort Worth Read More »
Texas Highways’ New Managing Editor and Writers-At-Large Share Their Favorite Travel Discoveries
Often, the most gratifying parts of travel are the places or moments that take us by surprise. In honor of recent staff promotions, I asked our newly minted managing editor and writers-at-large to share a rewarding discovery they’ve made in their nearly 70 combined years of writing about Texas. I hope their revelations inspire one of your own. Read More »
On the Road with Tiki, the Traveling Macaw of Texas
Originally from Trinidad, Tiki the macaw has set claw in 204 of the state's 254 counties, participating in dozens of parades and other events. Read More »
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