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.

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.”

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!