Things to do in Texas, United States: The Best Outdoor Activities

February 13, 2022 Mikaela Didonna

Texas has great beaches for bird watching, boating, and fishing. Plus golf courses, cowboy and high art culture, and a rich history. Bask on the beach and bird watch between golf games before, during, or after spring break in Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, Crystal Beach, or South Padre Island. Explore East Texas from Dallas to Tyler, Texarkana, Jefferson, and Nacogdoches. Enjoy golf and big city life in Dallas or Houston. Visit Galveston's coastal Strand. Tour West Texas and Hill Country from San Antonio, New Braunfels, Austin, and Fredericksburg to Amarillo and El Paso.
Restaurants in Texas

1. TGR Exotics Wildlife Park

22115 Sherrod Ln, Spring, TX 77389-4542 +1 281-771-3700 [email protected] http://www.tgrexotics.com
Excellent
87%
Good
6%
Satisfactory
6%
Poor
0%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 82 reviews

TGR Exotics Wildlife Park

Grab Your Safari Gear. Your adventure begins HERE! At TGR Exotics Wildlife Park, you will get up close and personal with some of Planet Earth's most exotic, fascinating, and endangered animals. Here you will find more than 100 animals representing over 25 species. All our animals are raised hands on, if not completely hand raised, and they have amazing personalities and dispositions. Go to our website to book your tour.

Reviewed By TexSuzan

This was a fun, positive experience for our granddaughters. Traci led a very informative sloth encounter where we fed three sloths. Nick shared interesting trivia about the exotics we saw on the tour. The girls enjoyed petting the pigs, goats and llamas wandering around. It's evident that owner Gwen is passionate about providing good care of the rescued animals.

2. Play for all park

151 N A W Grimes Blvd, Round Rock, TX 78665 +1 512-218-5400 http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation/parks-trails/play-park/
Excellent
91%
Good
9%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 68 reviews

Play for all park

Reviewed By AJv1517

Fantastic park for all abilities! It is great for Littles all the way up to teens. Kids loved the race track to ride bikes around and the cute little town. The zip lines were a huge hit too!

3. Port Aransas Beach

Port Aransas, TX 78373
Excellent
56%
Good
29%
Satisfactory
11%
Poor
2%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 2,064 reviews

Port Aransas Beach

Public beach on Port Aransas that is clean, has a lifeguard and has car-free locations.

Reviewed By MichelleGarcia84

No vehicle traffic sucks when it comes to bringing stuff to set up at the beach, but nothing a wagon can’t fix, the trade off has been no vehicle traffic, and no cars all over the beach! This is so nice and I wish Port A would keep this rule even after Covid, maybe year down a condo and build a parking lot lol Anyway, clean beach, warm water, bathrooms and rinse stations, trash cans available, watch out for jelly fish and sting rays, plenty of sea shells, various crabs to look for if you enjoy that sort of thing. Sand is perfect for sand castles! Pretty sunsets too!

4. Padre Island National Seashore

20420 Park Road 22, Corpus Christi, TX 78418-6529 +1 361-949-8068 https://www.nps.gov/pais/index.htm
Excellent
69%
Good
22%
Satisfactory
7%
Poor
1%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 1,859 reviews

Padre Island National Seashore

A 15-minute drive from downtown Corpus Christi transports you to this magnificent 70-mile stretch of white sand beach, scenic dunes and warm ocean water, offering ideal conditions for swimming, fishing, beach-combing, windsurfing, camping, bird-watching and viewing wildlife.

Reviewed By M8870IWjasonr

A fantastic national asset. Best enjoyed though with a capable 4x4 vehicle. Tourist crowd the first 5 miles of beach while the real beauty exists South of the 20 mile marker. Ask some locals before taking off down the beach, it does have it's risks. For those adventurous types a trip 60 miles south to the Mansfield jetty is worth the trip.

5. San Antonio Missions National Historical Park

2202 Roosevelt Ave, San Antonio, TX 78214-2715 +1 210-932-1001 http://www.nps.gov/saan/index.htm
Excellent
74%
Good
23%
Satisfactory
2%
Poor
0%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 1,867 reviews

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park

Historical area that stretches nine miles and contains four important 18th-century missions.

Reviewed By Playsureful - San Antonio, United States

Plenty of Texas History and Spanish architecture with Native flare. Each Mission on the trail is unique with its own limestone rock, unique designed doorways, they have one has a long walled compound with courtyards and barracks, each mission is a different size. My plan was to drive to the last Mission (Mission Espada) on the route and load our bikes onto the Via Bus #41, this bus is just for the Missions. FYI ! Get on the bus stop across the road from parking lot (NOT on the mission side). Get a map to find the bike trail and or ask the ranger or bus driver. They also have bike rental racks for the trail. We rode our bikes to the only 4 on the Mission NP trail. Bus dropped us off at Mission Concepcion, Explored the compound and then rode down surface road to the trailhead, then rode along the trail (about a 6 mile ride) and over surface trail to Mission San Jose, then back down to river trail and crossed over bridge to Mission San Juan. Took Left trail behind mission to river and crossed back over to the last Mission, Mission Espada. Trails are mostly on both sides of San Antonio river, trails have park benches everywhere, plenty of picnic tables and BBQ pits with several pavilions.

6. Fort Worth Zoo

1989 Colonial Pkwy, Fort Worth, TX 76110-6640 +1 817-759-7555 http://www.fortworthzoo.org/
Excellent
71%
Good
23%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
1%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 2,407 reviews

Fort Worth Zoo

City zoo that presents animal habitats as they exist in the world.

Reviewed By tenerifegreg - Kaiserslautern, Germany

I went to the Ft Worth Zoo on a Wednesday, when the cost of admission is half-price. Tickets must be purchased in advance online, in order to take advantage of this saving. The zoo was somewhat empty, due to COVID-19 precautions, but in a way, it was far more enjoyable without as many people. My favorite was the parakeet cage, where you can pay $1.00 and get a stick of birdseed to feed the parakeets with. The elephant exhibit was closed due to remodelling, but there are plenty of other areas to see - primate exhibit, reptile exhibit, penguin, large cats, etc. There's a Texas Town exhibit with a children's petting zoo, and a Texas History 101 walk-through that teaches responsible ecological preservation, and care for the environment. I enjoyed that, perhaps most of all. Some of the gift shops and restsurants are closed, or at minimal staffing due to COVID precautions. The front gift shop had some toy monster trucks for sale, 50% off, for a very reasonable price. If you get the chance, make sure to ride the zoo train. It's a pleasant experience for the entire family.

7. Gladys Porter Zoo

500 E Ringgold St, Brownsville, TX 78520-7998 +1 956-546-7187 [email protected] http://www.gpz.org/
Excellent
62%
Good
28%
Satisfactory
7%
Poor
2%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 515 reviews

Gladys Porter Zoo

The Gladys Porter Zoo is a visitor-oriented zoological and botanical park, dedicated to the preservation of nature through education, conservation, healthy outdoor recreation and research.

Reviewed By Valkyrie1227

Incredible zoo, definitely the highlight of not just brownsville but the entire Rio Grande Valley for that matter. A definite must-visit, the herpetarium in particular has an incredible array of extremely rare reptiles and amphibians on display, with most of them being actively bred and several conservation projects ongoing.

8. Rockport Beach

210 Seabreeze, Rockport, TX 78382 +1 361-729-6661 http://www.rockportbeach-texas.com/
Excellent
59%
Good
29%
Satisfactory
9%
Poor
2%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 729 reviews

Rockport Beach

A mile-long sandy beach that offers swimming and a variety of water sports.

Reviewed By fltexan5

Clean beach. Great for families. Nice bathroom, showers, and changing area. Ample parking and easy access to the beach.

9. Malaquite Beach

20420 Park Road 22, Corpus Christi, TX 78418 +1 361-949-8068 http://www.nps.gov/pais/index.htm
Excellent
70%
Good
22%
Satisfactory
6%
Poor
1%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 481 reviews

Malaquite Beach

This beach on Padre Island is a great camping and beach-going spot.

Reviewed By katv55

Malaquite Beach is a jewel along the Texas Gulf coast as part of the Padre Island National Seashore. With the adjacent NPS Visitor Center and its showers, restrooms, interpretive programs, and gift shop, this vehicle-free stretch of beach is the perfect for a day’s outing year round. Visitors are in for a treat from May to September when the hatching and releasing of baby sea turtles occur.

10. Lady Bird Lake Hike-and-Bike Trail

Lady Bird Lake First Street Bridge at Lady Bird Lake, Austin, TX 78701 +1 512-974-6700 http://www.austintexas.org/listings/ann-and-roy-butler-hike-and-bike-trail-and-boardwalk-at-lady-bird-lake/4369/
Excellent
75%
Good
21%
Satisfactory
4%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 2,700 reviews

Lady Bird Lake Hike-and-Bike Trail

Scenic trail through lush green parks and peaceful lakes: a great place to bike, hike and run.

Reviewed By DebbieMG130 - Rochester, United States

Coming to Austin from the frozen tundra of Western New York, I absolutely loved how much outdoor activity is going on there. Bikers, hikers, dog walkers, kayaks, canoes, and everything in between. Lady Bird Lake is centrally located near the downtown area, and it has a wonderful 10-mile bike trail encircling it. I rented a bike from Barton Springs Bike Rental (really nice folks), and I spent a wonderful 72 degree afternoon riding on the bike path, and taking it all in. It's a great way to see a different view of Austin, and to work off some calories from all the incredible restaurants.

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