Texas Hill Country Trail

11/03/2026

Register early and save!

Early-bird registration is now open for Real Places 2027! 💡

Join us May 5–7 in Austin for Texas’ premier historic preservation and heritage tourism conference presented by the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission in partnership with Phoenix I Restoration and Construction, LLC.

We're entering our second decade with:
📌 110+ expert presenters and inspiring keynote speakers
📌 60+ sessions, workshops, tours, and special activities
📌 Keynote presentations from renowned speakers
📌 Premier networking with preservation and tourism professionals
📌 Live-streamed sessions with 60-day replay access
📌 Flexible registration options

Secure your spot and save with early-bird pricing through December 11—your ticket to Real Places 2027 awaits!

Register now: http://realplaces.us

11/03/2026

What exactly is wassail?

If you've never tried it, New Braunfels has a whole festival dedicated to answering that question.

Wassail is a warm, spiced holiday drink traditionally made with flavors like apple, cranberry, orange and spices.

And every December, downtown New Braunfels turns it into a competition.

During Wassailfest, local businesses and organizations serve their own recipes while visitors wander Main Plaza beneath the Christmas lights, listen to local choirs and sample their way through downtown.

Basically: Christmas in a cup.

🎄 Wassailfest
📅 December 3, 2026
📍 Downtown New Braunfels

Photo: City of New Braunfels

10/30/2026

Imagine the Hill Country without a single porch light.

When Lyndon B. Johnson was growing up in Johnson City, electricity was still a luxury much of rural Texas didn't have. Families relied on kerosene lamps for light, windmills and horses for power, and plenty of work done by hand.

That began to change in the 1930s.

After being elected to Congress in 1937, Johnson pushed to bring federal rural electrification funding to the sparsely populated communities back home. In 1938, the Pedernales Electric Cooperative was formed, federal financing was secured, and crews began building the lines that would bring electricity across the Hill Country.

By November 1939, the first section was energized.

LBJ Library photo by Austin American-Statesman

For rural families, flipping a switch wasn't just a convenience. Electricity changed how people cooked, worked, pumped water, preserved food and lived after dark.

It's easy to take a glowing porch light for granted.

Less than 90 years ago, it represented a whole new era in the Texas Hill Country.

10/29/2026

Fall in the Hill Country isn't always bright red leaves and sweater weather.

Sometimes it's golden grass. Cypress trees beginning to turn. Cooler mornings. A limestone bluff catching the late-afternoon sun.

And a two-lane road with nowhere you need to be.

This fall, take the backroads.

Photos: , , Real County, ANNE_SEIDENSTICKER_KERR COUNTY

10/27/2026

Ten days. Five stages. 40+ bands.

And a whole lot of sausage.

Wurstfest returns to New Braunfels November 6–15 for its 65th year, celebrating the German-Texan traditions that have helped shape this Hill Country community.

Expect polka and dancing, Alpine and Bavarian music, carnival rides, cold b**r and—as the name suggests—plenty of wurst.

Some fall traditions are worth getting a little loud about.

📍 New Braunfels
📅 November 6–15, 2026 | photos:

10/21/2026

Texas Hill Country history sounds a little different here — sometimes it's the ring of a blacksmith's hammer, and sometimes it's a banjo.

The AgriCultural Museum & Arts Center in Boerne brings agricultural heritage to life with antique tractors and farm equipment, a pioneer house, woodworking and blacksmith shops, and hands-on cultural programming. Visitors can see blacksmiths at work on Saturdays, catch Bluegrass Jams on the second and fourth Saturdays, and watch for seasonal events ranging from tractor pulls to arts workshops.

It's a reminder that preserving history doesn't always mean putting it behind glass.

Sometimes, you fire up the forge, tune the instruments and invite everyone in.

🔗 https://theagricultural.org/

Instagram:

10/19/2026

🎄 Start Planning the Holidays

Fall is the perfect time to plan a holiday getaway.

Many Hill Country towns begin decorating in November, making Thanksgiving through Christmas one of the most magical times to visit.

📍Johnson City, Texas
Dripping Springs
Austin

10/14/2026

When you picture an old Hill Country ranch, you probably picture cattle.

A century ago, you might have been just as likely to see sheep and Angora goats.

The rocky, brushy country of the Edwards Plateau proved particularly well suited to sheep and goats, and wool and mohair became major pieces of the region's economy.

By the late 1800s, Kerrville had emerged as an important wool market. In Bandera County, sheep once outnumbered cattle by more than three to one. And as Angora goat ranching grew, Kerrville would eventually earn a pretty impressive nickname:

The Mohair Capital of the World.

It's a part of Hill Country ranching history that's easy to overlook today.

Cattle may get most of the cowboy movies, but sheep and goats helped shape this place, too.



Historic Photos: Russell Lee

10/11/2026

Looking for a Hill Country town with a few ghost stories to tell? Boerne has you covered.

October brings a decidedly spooky side to this historic community, with opportunities to explore local legends, cemeteries and places with more than a century of stories behind their doors.

Plan a fall visit around Boerne Ghost Tours, the Historic Cemetery Tour, Trick or Treat Trail on the Hill Country Mile, Boerne Boo! at the Patrick Heath Public Library, and Boerne Ghost Stories at the historic Kuhlmann-King Historical Complex.

Boerne Boo! adds plenty of family-friendly fun with trick-or-treating, crafts, games and costumes, while the Kuhlmann-King complex — centered around a home dating to the 1880s — gives those ghost stories an especially historic setting.

Come for the treats. Stay for the history.

And maybe don't ask what goes bump in the night.

🔗 https://events.timely.fun/e6hnx1k2/tile

Visit Boerne