Despite major urban centers in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio, the vast state of Texas is nonetheless full of great trails for outdoor recreation and adventure. Belying its popular impression as flat, West Texas is blessed with multiple high mountains, including 8,749-foot Guadalupe Peak, the state’s highest point at the heart of the remote Guadalupe Mountains National Park outside El Paso. The same mountain range extends southward all the way to the Rio Grande River and the Chisos Mountains at Big Bend National Park and neighboring Big Bend Ranch State Park, a haven for hiking and mountain biking in the desert. Texas is also a road biking paradise, with endless miles of rolling hills and empty roads, as Lance Armstrong can attest.
In East Texas, Padre Island and South Padre Island in the Padre Island National Seashore outside Corpus Christi are part of the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, drawing birdwatchers year-round. Padre Island National Seashore is only a small part of Texas’ Gulf Coast on the Gulf of Mexico, an easy day trip from Houston, or even San Antonio and Austin. But residents of those cities might ask why they should head for the trails of the Gulf Coast when the nearby Texas Hill Country is perfect for everything for a scenic drive. Residents of Dallas-Fort Worth have plenty of good options as well, as they can head to the trails at Lake Texoma on the Red River to the north, or southeast to the trails of Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, and Angelina National Forests, Sam Rayburn Reservoir, and Big Thicket National Preserve outside Beaumont for a host of outdoor recreation opportunities.
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