Location: Bandera
Top Things to do in Bandera
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What to do and see in Bandera, United States: The Best Places and Tips
Bandera is the county seat of Bandera County, Texas, United States, in the Texas Hill Country, which is part of the Edwards Plateau. The population was 857 at the 2010 census. It is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Restaurants in Bandera
1. Hill Country State Natural Area
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 110 reviews
Undeveloped state park that offers 36 miles of trails for horseback riding, hiking, backpacking, and primitive camping.
Reviewed By uphill69 - Pensacola, Florida
Texas Hill Country beauty. Purchased an annual pass and intend to hike all over this place as well as other TX state parks within an hour's drive. First short trail hike showed: very good signage; great correlation with trail map.
2. Medina River
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 104 reviews
The portion of this river inside Hill Country State Natural Area is great for a swim.
Reviewed By Noel M
fun for young and old on the gorgeous medina river...contests (the regatta is a MUST SEE), booths, food, cook-offs, camping not to mention swimming, tubing, kayaking. like being a kid again. decided to move here so will be at the riverfest every year from now on.
3. Frontier Times Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 84 reviews
Includes many early pioneer items, some very unusual.
Reviewed By Kenneth R - Garland, Texas
Somewhat small, but crammed full of interesting artifacts from frontier times through WWII and current rodeo champions and their equipment. Very nice lady welcomed me and told me about some of the most interesting items (various WWII items, coins, 2-headed calf, dressed flea's, etc.). She answered all of my questions and seemed genuinely glad I was there. Definitely worth a stop!
4. Silver Spur Ranch
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 31 reviews
Reviewed By soldbyshahla - Atlanta, Georgia
We visited as day visitors and were sad to go. One hour of horseback riding through beautiful scenery (horses were well trained, and cared for), hayride to see longhone cattle, brisket dinner, fire, smores. Who could ask for anything more! Bandera is about 1.5 hours from San Antonio. The town is called cowboy capital. It has cute shops in town that I wish I'd had time to visit.
5. Bandera Natural History Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 22 reviews
Replicas of Dinosaurs, Ice Age animals, and educational play stations are located on the eight acre grounds. Inside there are over 100 full-body animal mounts positioned in hand-painted dioramas portraying their natural habitats. An international collection of art pieces are displayed in the museum.
Reviewed By Doctor_Possum - Texas
I have been wanting to visit for some time so today, being my birthday, a friend and I went to take a look. The indoor exhibits are small compared to larger museums but very interesting nonetheless. There are several excellent dioramas, each with exacting detail. We were told that the consultant for the project even went to such great lengths as to insist on the correct cloud formations and sky colors of each region. The taxidermy is excellent, too. There's a 17 foot tall giraffe that is very impressive. There are some Latin American ceremonial masks as well as an exhibit from Africa. The staff is very friendly and helpful.
Outdoors there is a life-size dinosaur exhibit along two walking paths. The detail of the models is excellent and they're not placed far from the paths as in some exhibits; you can walk right up to them. Glad I wasn't around when these bad boys and girls were prevalent.
But I gotta tell you, for us the best part was the outdoor faux fossil exhibit. There were four large fossils, each with removable bones. Adjacent to each was a long trench filled with sand, toy plastic shovels sticking out. The bones could be buried in the sand by another and it's you job to find them and put them in place on the skeleton. Too much fun!!! I'm 71 and my friend is 59 and we both turned into kids, playing in the sand.
So the next time you're in Bandera, do yourself and visit the museum; I think you'll be very pleased. And don't forget those sandboxes!!!
6. Bandera City Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 17 reviews
Reviewed By Gagan G - San Antonio, Texas
We had visited River Medina and City Park on the occasion of Riverfest in Bandera. Park looked average to me if I compare that to ones in New Braunfels and San Marcos and around, but the place is good for all beginning level water enthusiasts to do anything like swimming, jumping into the river, or kayaking, tubing. Water levels are not that deep and friendly for family and kids purpose. There are lots of ducks as well, so you have fun by feeding them as well.
7. Dixie Dude Ranch
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 45 reviews
Reviewed By Michael B - Bury, United Kingdom
We stayed here as part of our honeymoon road trip. the staff are really friendly and try to make your stay as good as possible. there is a communal dining room and meals are taken as a group 3 times a day. The quality home made of the food was great and there is a lot of it.
There are daily activities and events that keep you entertained outside of the horse riding. whilst we were there we had a singer/guitarist come over to entertain us. there was a visit from a cowboy with a Texas Longhorn bull (which was enormous!). on site there are lots of animals as you'd expect and the place has an outdoor pool & hot tub which is fantastic after a long horse ride.
the cabins are very basic and rustic so don't expect the Bellagio but they are fine for what we needed.
Would love to go again one day.
8. Bandera County Convention and Visitors Bureau
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 14 reviews
Reviewed By Nichols1993
The lady was very nice gave great instructions on what to visit and how to get there. She knows the history of the area very well. You can go out back and take photos with a old west town scenery. On Saturdays they have a cowboy gun fight at noon.
9. Western Trail Antiques
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 11 reviews
Reviewed By LAH28 - San Antonio, Texas
This place is very large and has a huge selection of antiques and collectibles. If you have time you can easily spend hours perusing through the stuff. Browse at your leisure and find that hidden treasure. There are dozens of vendor shops in the big old building. A real step-back-in-time.
10. Western Trail Heritage Park
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 3 reviews
Reviewed By capitollover - Austin, Texas
This small park, located right across the street from the county courthouse, has some very interesting facts about Texas Cattle Trails. If you love history and all things cowboy, you will love it. If not, it is a nice place for a shady stop and a public restroom.
There are some benches under the live oak trees.
The park is small, so you have to be on the lookout for it. Don't miss it.
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