June is the start of the summer holidays and the time to celebrate National Great Outdoors Month! The National Great Outdoors Month reminds us to explore our nation’s abundant wildlife refuges, parks, and natural beauty and pursue the beauty and majesty of big skies and open spaces that the outdoors offers.

Whether you are into hiking, biking, or walking trails; kayaking or canoeing the many rivers and canyons; fishing; or pitching a tent in the forest; or just like chilling in the waters, there is something for everyone, right here in Texas. The Lone Star State abounds with 80 state parks, 16 national parks, four national forests, and many other outdoor spaces. The capital city of Texas, Austin itself offers umpteen nature adventures to enjoy.

Nature is calling!

Explore the Hill Country: Discover the breathtaking natural wonders of the Hill Country. You can hike scenic trails or visit enchanting state parks like Enchanted Rock, Garner State Park, Lake Buchanan, and Inks Lake State Park.

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• Enchanted Rock, located in a state park, north of the quaint town of Fredericksburg. Summer is the perfect time of the year to visit Fredericksburg because of the peach season. You can start your day peach picking in the many farms located in the hill country followed by a leisurely picnic of BBQ, jams, and peach ice cream in the enchanted woods or strolling in the charming town stores and shops. Hike the Enchanted Rock trails in the evening and watch the beautiful sunset while standing on top of the granite dome enjoy a breath of fresh air at the height of 425 ft.
• Garner State Park, is nestled in the beautiful rolling hills of Texas beside the flowing Frio River is Garner State Park. The wide expanse of the park is a beautiful landscape of hills and a wide terrain of land and river. The 1,774-acre park has breathtaking scenery with miles of hiking trails with spectacular views; comfortable log cabins and camping options, and access to  Frio River which winds through the park for water activities and is an awe-inspiring beauty of Texas.
• Lake Buchanan, is the second largest highland lake with 30 miles in length and 124 miles of shoreline, formed by the construction of Buchanan Dam. The lake is noted for excellent striped bass, white bass, and largemouth bass fishing while you take in the stunning landscapes.
• Inks Lake State Park features a rugged terrain, clear waters, and abundant wildlife. Known for its hiking trails, challenging treks, and its Devil’s Waterhole, a natural swimming area surrounded by bluffs perfect for cliff jumping. This has been a popular Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts camping destination.

Beach Trips: Head to the Gulf Coast for cool beaches. Whether it is Galveston, Corpus Christi, or South Padre Island, enjoy the sun, sand, surf and vitamin sea;)

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• Galveston Beach: With 32 miles of coastline, Galveston Beach offers a great spot to bask in the Texas sun and play in the Gulf. It has opportunities for fishing, birdwatching, kayaking, and family fun. Galveston also houses the Moody Gardens, an aquarium, a living rainforest pyramid, and a discovery museum.
• Corpus Christi Beach: Between the Gulf of Mexico and Corpus Christi Bay, more than 100 miles of sandy shores provide a variety of options. With so many beaches, ranging from calm waters to choppy surfing destinations, you can choose your beach experience.
• South Padre Island Beach: Soft sand beaches with shallow waves line the sun-soaked shores of the Gulf of Mexico, with perfect waves for family fun.  The tranquil Gulf waters and Laguna Madre Bay offer opportunities for stand-up paddling(SUP), kayaking, kiteboarding, windsurfing, birdwatching, and fishing.

Tubing and Fishing: Cool off in crystal-clear rivers by tubing or fishing. The Guadalupe River and Comal River are popular spots for water activities.

• Comal River-New Braunfels: The Comal River is a beautiful spring-fed river where the water temperature is a steady 70-72 degrees year-round. The Comal River provides a tubing experience unlike any other starting near the Wurstfest grounds and passing through Downtown New Braunfels and Schlitterbahn Waterpark. The Comal is one of the shortest navigable waterways in the United States at just 2.5 miles entirely within the city limits.
• Guadalupe River-Gruene and Canyon Lake: You can tube in the 230-mile slow cool waters of Gaudalupe River from Central Texas to the Gulf of Mexico. The popular stretches to float are in the German-Texas historic town of Gruene which sits just upstream of New Braunfels. And the other popular floating stretch is the horseshoe loop near Canyon Lake, the man-made blue lake between Austin and San Antonio. Guadalupe River begins at the Canyon Lake dam and winds through the Texas Hill Country to New Braunfels. Guadalupe River besides tubing has other recreational water activities like swimming, snorkeling, fishing, kayaking, canoeing, and rafting.

National and State Parks in Texas

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• Big Bend National Park is a picturesque national park in far west Texas bordering Mexico, with canyons, rivers, and desert wildlife. The vast wilderness of Big Bend offers camping, hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, birdwatching, fishing, boating, scenic drives, and more. It’s a hiker’s paradise with over 150 miles of desert and mountain trails. Dont miss the beautiful dark night skies, colorful sunrises, and morning and afternoon shadows stretching across orange valleys and waterways. Big Bend is vast and isolated, and in the summer it’s also very hot. Remember to keep extra cans of Gas, plenty of food, and water always, and reserve your campsite or cabins early if you want to stay inside Big Bend Park as they fill up quickly.

• McKinney Falls State Park: Just a short drive from downtown Austin, this park offers hiking, biking, swimming, bird watching, fishing, and rock formations. Swimming in the Upper Falls and Lower Falls are worth exploring.
• Monahans Sandhills State Park: More than 3,840 acres of dunes make up Monahans Sandhills State Park. Located in southern Llano Estacado, the park is accessible via Exit 86 on Interstate 20.  To those who explore its barren foothills, the park features impressive dunes, some reaching up to 70 feet (21 meters) in height. The wildlife area offers horseback riding, camping, sand surfing, sandboarding, sand football, and sand tobogganing.

Gaze at the stars: Don’t know if it’s true that stars are big and bright in Texas, but Texas does have wide-open spaces where stargazers can view the celestial glory of the night sky! Here are some of the best places to stargaze in Texas.

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• Big Bend National Park: For stargazing in Texas, or for that matter in the United States, you cannot get better than Big Bend National Park. The International Dark Sky Association ranked it a gold-tier designation for places to stargaze. Experts estimate a person can see 2,000 stars on a clear night compared to a few hundred in a medium-sized city.
• McDonald Observatory: Two hours north of Big Bend National Park in Fort Davis Mountains, the McDonald Observatory is a must-stop for any astronomy enthusiast. The observatory is part of the Astronomy Department at the University of Texas. It holds four high-powered telescopes that allow visitors to look deep into the night sky with an unmatched view of the cosmos. The largest, the 433-inch Hobby-Eberly Telescope, is used to search for planets around other stars and study far-flung galaxies, exploding stars, black holes, and more. The observatory hosts tours, solar viewings, the much-talked-about star parties, and special viewing nights using some of the largest telescopes in the world.
• Brazos Bend State Park: About 55 minutes southwest of Houston, located in the Brazos Bend State Park is George Observatory with one of the largest telescopes in the U.S. that is regularly available for public use. The 36-inch Gueymard Research Telescope brings stunning views of the solar system to the naked eye. Visitors to the observatory have seen Saturn’s rings, cloud belts on Jupiter, a total eclipse of the Moon, a bright meteor, and the Milky Way.

Austin Outdoor Adventures

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• Lady Bird Lake: Rent a kayak, SUP, canoe, or paddleboard, or take a leisurely walk along the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail which skirts the lake waters. The skyline views are stunning, especially during sunrise and sunset.
• Barton Springs Pool: A natural water spring located at Barton Creek within Zilker Park, the pool itself is three acres and surrounded by grassy embankments, with the water maintaining a comfortable 68-70°F (20-21°C) year-round! This refreshing experience offers a beautiful place to swim, sunbathe, people watch and enjoy nature!
• Barton Creek Greenbelt: It has nearly 13 miles of trails that begin near Barton Springs at Zilker Park and wind through a forest and is considered great for hiking. Barton Creek passes a swimming hole called Campbell’s Hole and another called Gus Fruh, a swimming hole known for its famed Urban Assault limestone rock wall that’s a favorite among climbers. Further ahead of the trail, there is also the Sculpture and Twin Falls, with shallow stream waters that are good for mellow kayaking and tubing.
• Mount Bonnell: Climb the 100+ steps to the top of Mount Bonnell for panoramic views of the Colorado River and the city. It’s a great spot for picnics and sunset watching. 
• Hamilton Pool Preserve: Although a bit outside Austin, this natural pool, formed by a collapsed grotto thousands of years ago melds a beautiful waterfall with a shallow blue-green swimming hole. It’s a great place to cool off in the summer, standing under the crater’s ledge to get drenched while admiring the pool’s picturesque cavern. Make reservations in advance!
• Congress Bat Bridge: An estimated 1.5 million migratory Mexican free-tail bats reside beneath the Richards Congress Avenue Bridge deck in the summers. Each night from mid-March to November, the bats emerge from under the bridge at dusk and spiral out as a blanket in the sky heading to forage for food. This unique sight is a popular tourist attraction and bat-watching experience at sunset in Austin.

And there are many many more things to explore….. Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

 

• **All the pictures are copyright of Birjis Rashed and were taken in our adventures across Texas. **