Hill Country Travel Blog
The Hill Country is Wine Country!
In the past two decades or so, the wine industry in the Hill Country has exploded with growth. That’s easy to see, with new wineries opening at a rapid pace...but we, and some of our readers, have questions. How are productive wine regions discovered? Are there official wine producing areas, and if so, how are they designated as such? This article will dig a little deeper into these questions and more.
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A Handy Hill Country Q & A
At Backroads Reservations, we’re especially aware that the Texas Hill Country is reliant in a big way on tourism. We’re proud to welcome people here, and to introduce them to our own little corner of heaven. With that said, we’re also aware that everyone can’t be from here; we have a tongue-in-cheeksaying that “I’m not from Texas, but I got here as fast as I could.”
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A Park By Any Other Name: Hill Country WMAs
Visitors to the Texas Hill Country are generally aware of the state, county, and city parks available to them for recreation and relaxation. From the sprawling 12,000-plus acres of the Government Canyon State Natural Area to the modest but still impressive 16 acres of Old Tunnel State Park, there’s plenty of space and natural diversity to explore, not to mention parks of wildly varying sizes!
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The Hygieostatic Bat Roost
Texas has played a role in bat conservation and study for years, and for good reason. Among over 30 other species, the Mexican free-tailed bat migrates northward to the Hill Country for its “summer home.” As a result, man-made structures such as the South Congress Bridge in Austin, and Old Tunnel State Park (a retired railroad tunnel) near Fredericksburg, have attracted both bats and the folks who love them.
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Fredericksburg’s Vereins Kirche
If you’ve been in the heart of Fredericksburg, you’re probably aware of the Vereins Kirche by sight, if not by name. This unique octagonal structure stands as the official town symbol, and is known as an icon throughout the Hill Country. But what are the origins of such an unusual building? What was its original purpose, and what does it represent today?
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Coming King Sculpture Prayer Gardens
At almost 80 feet tall, the Kerrville Cross is visible from many points in this Hill Country town. The enormous blood-red steel structure has arms with a span of 40 feet, and its hollow design is more than large enough to walk through. It’s almost impossible to find a local who isn’t aware of its existence, but did you know it’s also home to many other religiously-themed art exhibits?
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INGRAM, TEXAS: THE HILL COUNTRY’S ROCK TOWN
Nestled alongside the Guadalupe River halfway between Kerrville and Hunt lies the town of Ingram. This community of about 1,800 people is almost a combo of several towns in its vicinity, in that it’s taken advantage of local resources and has capitalized on them to make it a prime example of a Hill Country town. You’ll find farming and ranching in Ingram, wineries that take advantage of the unique local terroir, attractions linked to recreation on the river, and even a model of Stonehenge!
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HUNT, TEXAS: CAMPERS’ RENDEZVOUS
Just east of Hunt in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, you’ll find a marker erected in 2005 that discusses the history of the town and its vicinity. Hunt itself is located 13 miles west of Kerrville, at the junction of the north and south forks of the Guadalupe River. As the historical marker states, the town of Hunt is the ultimate result of three different communities that were founded in more or less the same place!
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