Backroads Hill Country

07/27/2026

Lost Maples puts on the best fall color in Texas, but it runs on the weather, not the calendar. The maples turn after the first hard cold front — some years that's late October, most years it's mid-November, sometimes right up against Thanksgiving. Peak weekends fill up fast and the park caps daily entry, so a weekday visit is the quiet way to do it.

We have houses in the Medina area, about 30 minutes from the park through some of the best canyon driving in the Hill Country. If you're planning a few days around the color this fall, give us a call — link to available places in the comments.

07/24/2026

We finished the Things to Do page for Boerne. Eighteen places, and thirteen of them are free.

Boerne City Lake Park keeps the motors off the water, so it's paddling and fishing and not much noise. Boerne City Park is the big one, cypress on the banks of Cibolo Creek, open until midnight. River Road Park runs along the same creek with paved trails and fishing piers.

There are two show caves within a few miles of town, Cascade Caverns and Cave Without a Name, both about an hour underground and both 66 degrees no matter what August is doing up top. The Cibolo Center for Conservation is a hundred acres of creek, marsh, woodland and restored prairie on the edge of town. Kreutzberg Canyon is 117 protected acres on the Guadalupe. Herff Farm has been at the confluence of the Cibolo and the Menger since 1854. The Old Jail held Kendall County prisoners for close to a century and is a museum now.

It covers Comfort too, which most guides leave out.

June's the guide on the site. Hours, directions, what to expect when you pull up — ask her about any of it.

07/23/2026

The kayaks are already there. So is the creek, spring-fed and running.

The Summit House sits on 55 acres between Boerne, Bandera, and Pipe Creek. Four bedrooms, three full baths, sleeps eight. Pool and hot tub out back, two fire pits, a covered patio big enough to lose an afternoon on. Billiard room and living room share a fireplace back to back.

If your group is bigger than eight, there are three more houses on the property. Creek View, Bluff House, and the Love Shack. Put them together and you've got room for 26.

Quiet up there. That's most of the point.

07/20/2026

There's always something happening in the Hill Country — the hard part is keeping track of it all when you're planning a trip. So we built one place that does.

Our events page pulls together hundreds of events across the Hill Country, sortable by town, so you can see what's on wherever you're headed. The Gillespie County Fair and Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg, the Bandera County Fair, the Fall on the Frio BBQ Cook-Off down in Concan, the Kerrville Triathlon and Arts & Crafts Fair, Songs on the Frio in Leakey — it's all in one spot, updated as things get added.

Find a weekend that looks good, pick a town, and we can handle the rest — we manage over 100 cabins and vacation rentals across the Hill Country, so there's usually a good place to stay close to wherever you want to be.

Bookmark the events page, and let us know when we can help you plan the trip.

07/15/2026

There's a cave about ten miles outside Boerne that's been called Cave Without a Name since 1940. It got the name from a contest. A young boy went down, came back up, and said it was too pretty to have a name. He won.

It's still down there. 126 steps, about 80 feet under, 66 degrees year-round no matter what it's doing on the surface. The acoustics in one of the rooms are good enough that they put on concerts in it.

That's the kind of thing our Boerne guide knows. June's the one to ask — the cave, the parks, the plaza, where to eat, where to stay when a day isn't enough. She knows that area and she'll give it to you straight.

Link's in the comments.

07/14/2026

Most people don't need a bigger vacation.

They need a quieter morning.

A place where the loudest thing you'll hear is the river moving by, the coffee tastes a little better on the porch, and nobody's asking where you need to be next.

This is the Guadalupe behind Guadalupe Getaway in Kerrville.

Bring a kayak. Bring a fishing pole. Bring a good book. Or bring nothing at all.

Sometimes the best plans are the ones you never make.

07/13/2026

The Lodge at Forse Mountain Ranch sits on 170 high-fenced acres a short drive from Kerrville — five bedrooms, each with its own bath, room for fourteen under one roof. Recently remodeled but still country: a wood-burning fireplace off the game room, a chef's kitchen, porches front and back, a fire pit for the end of the night. Deer come through in the mornings, there are trails to walk and kayaks for the water when the levels are up, and most guests end up mentioning the quiet before anything else.

07/10/2026

Every year, we welcome hundreds of motorcycle riders to the Texas Hill Country, and one ride comes up more than any other—the Twisted Sisters.

Because of that, we recently launched TwistedSisters.ai, a guide to help riders explore the route, discover places to stop, and learn more about one of the most iconic rides in Texas.

While we were putting it together, it reminded us of our friend Lonnie, owner of Biker Rallies of Texas. If you've spent much time in the Texas motorcycle community, there's a good chance you've come across his work. Lonnie has been supporting riders and promoting the Hill Country for years, and he created one of the best ride planners around—including this Rumble Loop through Bandera, Kerrville, Hunt, Ingram, and Medina.

If you're planning a Hill Country ride, we'd encourage you to check them out.

Ride safe, take your time, and enjoy the journey

07/09/2026

Headed to the Texas Hill Country this weekend?

Before you load the car, check the river levels. Our Rivers page includes live water gauges for many of the area's most popular rivers, so you can see current conditions before you go.

If you're still looking for a river getaway, Backroads also has a few riverfront homes available this weekend on the Frio, Medina, and Guadalupe. Send us a message or give us a call—we'd be happy to help you find one.

Spring-fed, limestone-lined, and worth getting right.

07/08/2026

New listing in Leakey. Three bedrooms on the West Frio. Private river access on the property. Sleeps 7.

The Frio River Retreat sits in the canyon outside Leakey — 45 minutes from Garner State Park, right off the Twisted Sisters. A short walk from the house puts you on your own stretch of the West Frio. Fish from the bank, float the current, or just sit on the porch and listen to it move.