Spotlights on upcoming events, quirky trip themes, fascinating histories, and behind-the-scenes explorations of the history, heritage, and culture of Texas. Read about it and then get out there and experience it for yourself!
Mountain Trail Region
5 West Texas Escapes for a Digital Detox and a Dose of History
In West Texas, the horizon stretches endlessly, cell signals fade, and time itself seems to slow. For travelers seeking more…
Brazos Trail Region
Plot Twist: Your Next Texas Road Trip Is a Literary One
If your “to-read” pile is as ambitious as your travel bucket list, Texas might just be your next chapter. This…
Hill Country Trail Region
Hin nach Texas! How German Immigrants Shaped the Lone Star State
In October of 1845, Pastor Adolf Fuchs immigrated with his wife and seven children to Texas. He was a Lutheran…
Forest Trail Region
Ghosts in the Guestbook: Haunted Stays Across Texas
Across Texas, historic hotels and inns preserve more than fine architecture and storied pasts, they also carry tales of the…
Hill Country Trail Region
Historic Road Trip: San Antonio
When San Antonio visitors venture beyond the River Walk area, they find a remarkable range of heritage tourism sites in…
Tropical Trail Region
Historic Road Trip: South Texas Coastal Bend
The Texas coast stretches 350 miles from South Padre Island to the Louisiana border, extending through a wide variety of…
Brazos Trail Region
Historic General Stores in Texas
There are few things that feel more authentically Texas than stopping at a little general store and picking up some…
Brazos Trail Region
Visit Eight State Historic Sites to Experience the Republic of Texas Era
Step back in time and experience the period of the Texas Republic in person or virtually at one of these…
Hill Country Trail Region
Kerrville, Main Street City, Celebrates Its Musical Heritage
This spring, come to Kerrville for the music, stay for the history!
Hill Country Trail Region
Barbecue And Brew
My husband Josh and I have never been the type to frequent chain restaurants or order the same take-out week…
Historic Hotels And Lodging: Sam Houston May Not Have Slept Here
Nothing beats a good night's sleep followed by a full day's worth of adventure. It's why we travel.
Hill Country Trail Region
All Aboard: A Trip on the Hill Country Flyer
My wife and I are always looking for fun family activities to do with our seven-year-old son, Parker, especially anything…
Forest Trail Region
Missions
When you think of missions in Texas you might imagine benevolent brothers in brown robes ringing bells, or spending hours…
Tropical Trail Region
Refugio to Zapata: Texans at War
War has always played a major role in shaping the state’s history.
Wildlife Refuges
The state’s wildlife refuges are some of the first places in our history set aside for the protection of wildlife…
Tropical Trail Region
Republic of the Rio Grande
The Rio Grande Valley, home to balmy weather, subtropical species, and lots of wintering Texans, spent a brief period of…
Forest Trail Region
Outlaws and Legends of the Big Thicket
The natural characteristics of the historic Big Thicket in east Texas made it an ideal setting for ghost stories and…
Plains Trail Region
Old Tascosa and a Shirttail to Hang On To
Once known as “Cowboy Capital of the Plains,” the community of Old Tascosa provided an easy crossing along the Canadian…
Zoos and Aquariums
As we’ve gained a greater understanding of the natural environment around us, we’ve begun to reevaluate our system for the…
Lakes Trail Region
North Central Texas During the Civil War
During the 1850’s, many North Texans were subsistence farmers from the Upper South and Midwest; areas with little or no…
Brazos Trail Region
Rosenwald Schools
In 1917, the Rosenwald Fund, established by Sears, Roebuck and Company CEO Julius Rosenwald, provided matching finances to communities who…
Tropical Trail Region
South Padre Island to Laredo: Steamboats and Borderland Culture
Imagine a balmy stretch of the Rio Grande River flowing calmly in a 19th century morning light. Drifting fog lifts…
Historic Texas Jails: “I Swear, Sheriff! The Horse Is Mine!”
The state's first penitentiary was completed in Huntsville in the mid-1800s, and its first prisoner was a horse thief from…
La Salle Odyssey — 17th Century Thriller
Early exploration across pre-statehood Texas unravels over the course of several centuries, providing history enthusiasts with real life adventure stories…
Forest Trail Region
Modern Architecture
What exactly is “mid-century modern?” Wire furniture, egg lamps and the Jetsons? The designation refers to a particular style that…
Historic Churches: No Confession Required
Veteran heritage travelers know a little secret they like to pass on to folks who share their love of exploring…
Plains Trail Region
Quanah Parker Trail: Follow the Arrows into History
The Comanche Indians once dominated vast areas of North America—and yet, forced onto reservations, they left little record of their…
Part 6: Texas Heritage Trails at 50: New Directions
On several occasions private sponsors helped make the Trails materials available. At the outset, in 1968 and 1969, Pearl Brewing…
Part 5: Texas Heritage Trails at 50: Travelers Take to the Trails
Communities blessed by being included wrote to thank the governor, but there were also predictable and numerous and complaints regarding…
Part 4: Texas Heritage at 50: Launching the Trails
The team came to see the roadway as a designated system of existing highways complemented by new construction, where recreational…
Part 3: Texas Heritage Trails at 50: Planning the Trails
It was the carefully organized papers of Professor Urbanovsky that the university archivist recalled, that cracked open the door and…
Brazos Trail Region
Part 2: Texas Heritage Trails at 50: Texas Takes Action
Although tourism had emerged in the 1950s as the state’s fifth largest industry, Texas could not by law use tax…
Part 1: Texas Heritage Trails at 50: Beginnings
To those who care about preservation, travel, and local history, this phenomenal transformation has an interesting history of its own…
Schools and Universities
Funding for a Texas university system began as early as 1839 when the Congress of the Republic of Texas dedicated…
History “Buon Fresco”: Historic Murals in Texas
The tradition of mural painting in Texas, much of it accomplished during the early part of the 20th century, derived…
The Public Green
Establishing city and county parks for public use has a long tradition in America, one that was perhaps a reaction…
Historic Houses: To The Manor Born
When is a house not a home? When it's a museum.
Great Western Trail: The End Of An Era
The Great Western Trail stretched from South Texas to Nebraska, becoming the primary cattle driving route for Texas by 1879…
Forts Trail Region
Nature in the Forts Trail Region
The Forts Trail Region offers plenty of opportunities for exploring nature alongside history. The Trail, after all, was once considered…
Carnegie Libraries: Builder of Literacy
Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist and one of the country’s most important philanthropists of the 19th century, believed public libraries provided…
Going With The Flow
Water Recreation
Texas may have a reputation as dry, dusty cowboy country but that’s only because Hollywood westerns don’t usually feature waterskiing…
Bankhead Highway
The birth of auto trails meant the birth of the road trip.
Plains Trail Region
Route 66
Although much of the original route has been physically displaced, the spirit of Route 66 stills survives along the original…
Genealogy: The Search Is On
In the past, learning about your unique heritage meant asking your family members lots of questions.
Caves/Caverns: What Lies Below
Longhorn Cavern, nine miles south of Burnet, has perhaps the most well-documented history out of all the caves in the…
To The Ramparts!: Historic Forts And Presidios
The defense of a territory as big as Texas required investing big resources into the effort-materials and man power, especially-a…
Mountain Trail Region
Birding and Wildlife Watching
Our Texas Mountain Trail non-profit organization partnered with Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Texas Pecos Trail to develop a…
Kingsville To Raymondville: A Wild Horse Desert Turned Ranching Empire
Cattle still reign supreme in Texas, thanks in part to Captain Richard King and his partner Mifflin Kenedy, two of…
Hill Country Trail Region
Something Old, Something New: Adult Getaway in the Texas Hill Country
“I think it’s crooked,” I said to my husband, Sean, as I examined the painting I had hung a few…
Historic Depots: Whistle Stop Tour Or Just The Ticket
From Brownsville and Burton up to Mount Vernon and across to Sierra Blanca, train depots in Texas serve as museums…
Historic Trails And Highways: Road Trip To Retro!
Antique horse trails aren't the only discovery options for historic routes in Texas.
