The tour was very nice and our tour guide Tanner was very epic and cool and made the experience so…read moremuch cooler-er. I enjoyed the puns especially the rock puns and will miss them and rocky and the chicken nugget we saw on the path. Highly recommend !!!!! :-) p.s. sneak peak of rocky

This isn't the best caverns I've visited within a Texas State Park, but it is pretty darn cool. The…read morebest caverns tour is at Kickapoo Caverns. I did a wild cave tour without the extra charges that Longhorn collects. At Longhorn, our guide, Johnson did an amazing job with our small group of six people for the 10:45 AM tour. My brother and I initially registered for the 11:00 AM tour and am glad that we were suggested another time. We passed by the 11:00 AM tour and they had 40+ people in their group. Johnson showed us cool geological formations. We saw dolomite, calcium bicarbonate, chert, limestone, geodes, stalagmites, stalactites, and quartz crystals. Johnson is somewhat funny; he had a bit of quirky and dry humor. I enjoyed the history of the caverns, but some of it I thought was interesting. It was really delightful to learn that in the 1800's, before the CCC got involved, the locals would dance and play music turning the cave into an auditorium of entertainment. Johnson said that if certain geological formations glows, it is growing. Very catchy phase for memory. I got to see a few bats hanging out. They were tricolor bats which are smallest bats. The cave is cool, but thankfully not slippery. I was wearing no grip support shoes, but I didn't fall or have the urge to fall. There are mats on the floor of the cave to prevent falls. Johnson gave us more time to look around and admire the geology. My brother and I weren't required to bring our own flashlights. Johnson had a flashlight, but forgot to grab the blacklights. What I find is strange is that this is a state park that you cannot renew your state park pass at. This park headquarters is very different than the rest considering that there's a third party company handing the cave tours, they sell ice-cees, popcorn, and the gift shop is very big and vast. The others don't have this. It is questionable to me. I was told that I needed to go to Inks Lake to renew my pass. The cave tours are very pricey. Kickapoo Caverns tour was very affordable at $10. You can use the park pass. You can't get your state park passport stamped at Longhorn Caverns either. It seems like Longhorn Caverns is more for profit and the history about the cavern could be overly exaggerated to attract customers. My opinion. It was hard to believe half of the things what Johnson was telling us. There's one portion of geological formation in the cave that is "dead" because in year 1919, the locals went exploring by touching the formation it "killed" it. I preferred Kickapoo Caverns and the Caverns of Sonora a lot more. Even Inner Space Caverns and Natural Bridge were very exciting to see. Longhorn is cool, but didn't give me that WOW-factor, but I still had a ton of fun on a Sunday morning.

To quote the Texas Highways dot com website: "A stop at this…read morehistorical marker that's as close as the public can get to the exact geographic center will make anyone appreciate the majesty of the Lone Star State. It's important to note that the marker was not placed at the exact center of the state. That's 5 miles northwest on private property, the marker points out. So, if you visit the marker, you'll also want to drive about a quarter of a mile south and pull into the Heart of Texas Park, complete with a few picnic tables and a small observation tower you can climb to see the true center amid the rolling hills, oak and mesquite trees, round hay bales, and cattle." Make sure you also visit the picnic area known as the Heart of Texas Park. There is an observation tower so you can see 360 degrees above the tree tops. The stairs have 18 steps. The picnic tables are in shelters. Enjoy!

Kind of out of the blue one day, my partner in crime said he wanted to go to the Geographic Center…read moreof Texas. I'll admit I was half listening and responded, "Oh yeah?" Of course this was a segway into telling me how he read about it on a couple of different websites, how it wasn't too far away from us, and how we could probably incorporate it into one of our weekend drives. We decided to go for it one particular weekend and missed the GCoT. The GCoT is about 135 miles N/NW of San Antonio and we found out later we were off by about 10-12 miles to the east on 190 vs staying on 377 but we didn't know that since cellular service doesn't exist in this area (at least it didn't for our service). And Waze was almost useless in this area especially since the address on there lists Rochelle which is on 190. My partner in crime even loaded his offline Google maps on his phone but we still couldn't get straight as to where we were at in reference to the marker. We finally 86'd our mission and decided to try again another time. After getting our butts kicked the first time, we went overboard and super prepared for the next trip. Btw, can you super prepare? Maybe I meant over prepare. At any rate, we finally found it the second time! It almost felt as though we were back in our geocaching days. At a certain point after we left the city limits of Brady, we saw cell service drop off but we kept pushing and after a moment we finally saw the marker! We did pass by it at first and noticed the Heart of Texas Park not too far from the marker. We decided we'd stop there once we got our pics of the marker. And yes, my partner in crime was satisfied. I, on the other hand, was half smiling through sweat as the temperature gauge read it was 114 degrees. After we left, my proud partner in crime said, "We did it. I'm glad we stuck with it this time." "Yep. Me too." "Now I want to go to the Geographic Center of the US." I think I slowly died inside after that.

Scenic view , of historical Regency Bridge . Beautiful views of the Colorado River from the bridge.read more

This was an awesome side trip. Growing up you had to cross a swinging bridge across a river to get…read moreto the house on our farm. Those were fun times. Same thing here but you get to drive it! Pro tip: Bridge weight is 5,000 pounds. Check your vehicle or don't cross. Pull outs on each side let you park or turn around. 5k pounds is a little less than a Chevy Tahoe.

Tricky to find and we even had to ask our waitress at the diner. Once we found it it made a cute…read morepicture.

This little spot is very cool. It's literally just what the listing says it is, a 30-foot plus tall…read moremetal sculpture in the shape of a spur! It's a fun Texas-size offering that'll take you 60 seconds to park, hop out of your car, and take a couple photos with it. One might call it touristy. But the absence of any fees to park or view it, plus the absence of places hawking postcards or memorabilia makes me think that it's just a celebration of all things Americana (or would that be Texicana?) Seriously, if you're on the way to the wineries near Lampasas, check it out!

This Homestead Park sits directly next-door to the Leander Public library. It has its own parking…read morelot consisting of about a dozen spaces. This property of antiquity seems very much out of place with the modern residential homes and apartments that surround it. The property consists of a windmill, old tin structures, rusty old farm equipment, and cedar fencing, along with an old home. The house on the property is sparsley furnished with period furnishings and is open to the public, but it was locked on my visit. It has a fireplace on either side of the house. This property serves as a learning tool to what it was like to Homestead in the 1800s. Being next-door to the public library is a plus. There are no livestock and no farming happening here.

3.5 I saw an ad on…read moreNextdoor about a Victorian Christmas event here and figured why not come down and check it out. It's a small property and won't take very long to look at but honestly, I like historical sites and thought it was nice seeing the place decorated up for Christmas. Parking is a bit scarce so you can also park next to the library next door.

On top of the hill you get a beautiful view of Mason and the hill country…read more There are wonderful artifacts displayed behind glass. It's very serene. Lots of history in Mason. Make this a stop if you're in Mason.

We had hoped to come and visit this historical fort but it was closed for renovations. Sadly there…read morewas no note of this online. Either way, it seems like it will be re-opened in April for those looking to check this out. The view is amazing and you can see the town down below so for that three stars. When it reopens I will have to come check it out again.

A very cool but also very overlooked historical marker, on Hwy 183 between an Appliance Repair shop…read moreand a Chiropractor's Practice. Back in 1982, archeologists uncovered the skeleton of a pre-historic human female by nearby Brushy Creek. Because of the proximity of the grave site to the town of Leander, the skeleton became known as the Leanderthal Lady. Carbon testing indicates the woman lived ~13,000 years ago, which is amazing - that's six times further back then when Christ was born in the Holy Land! One can't help but wonder what Yelp review she'd have given to the place back then. Something like: "Three stars. Leander nice place to live, plenty of buffalo to hunt. Wish they had a Whataburger outlet." Seriously, check this marker out, it's pretty cool.

This is a working courthouse in Llano, Texas that is a beautiful landmark in Llano, Texas…read moreoriginally built in 1891. We decided to stop in and see this building not realizing it was a functioning courthouse. On entry, we were greeted by Ted. He was the courtroom security officer on duty. Ted was very nice and provided the history of the courthouse and other landmarks in Llano. Explained the reason why certain rooms had vault doors. It was a fascinating conversation. Ted also recommended eating at Inman's. Courthouse cleanliness: above average Bathroom cleanliness: above average

My boyfriend and I made a weekend trip to come here. We spent one day at the park, you really need…read moretwo or more days! We went to three different trails, and both were beautiful. Gorman falls I feel like is the most popular. There were so many people there! We saw the water fall and got to walk along the river bend. Then we went to the spring trail, that place was magical! It looked like a hobbit home!!! E we made it to the spring, but sadly you are not allowed to get in it. Finally we made it to the spice trail, but we were barely able to make it out in time, it was not a good decision, we did have to hike-run about 2 miles in the dark, I was freaking out. So message to all it's make sure you are not hiking too late because it waspitch black. Luckily we had outdoor flashlights and made it, but it felt like it was never ending. The trail is awesome, we crossed over the river several times, it's like a maze to get through, and the top was beautiful, but yeah we didn't get to enjoy the last two miles. Overall this was an awesome park to visit! I'm excited to keep exploring Texas parks

I visited Colorado Bend SP earlier today, and I'll admit that I wasn't expecting it to be so far…read moreout of the way. That's not necessarily a negative, but just something to note. Getting there was very straightforward, but cell reception is very limited there. I was prepared with offline maps so that didn't bother me. The road takes you right to the entrance of the park. There's an unattended booth up front, but I self-registered myself at the check-in station over to the side. There was a pen provided that I used to fill out one of the forms, and dropped it in the locked box with my information. I came here to hike to Gorman Falls today. Part of the road that leads to the trailhead was flooded, but I was able to drive through it with a standard SUV. The road was rocky in some areas and gravel the rest. A high-clearance vehicle isn't needed. There was plenty of parking at the trailhead, along with a restroom with a composting toilet. The trail was well-marked and shaded the first 1/3 of the trail. The rest of the way is exposed to the sun until you get to the fork in the trail that leads to Gorman Falls. There is a bike rack here as the last section is hiking only. The rock face is quite steep towards the bottom, but there were ropes that guided me down. I had my dog with me and I had to carry it at one point just to get down. Because of the rains this past week, water was flowing at the falls. You can't hike to the falls, but there is an observation deck with some benches to relax in the shade here. Returning back up the rock wall was easier than the way down. I also stopped by the park headquarters, about 5 miles down from the entrance of the park. They had a nice selection of gifts and souvenirs for purchase, and plenty of brochures for nearby state parks. The only option for camping here is primitive; there is no plumbing available, other than a spigot for potable water. Overall, this park was well-maintained and I would return for a second visit. Being just 1.5 hours away from NW Austin, Colorado Bend SP makes for a good day trip option with little traffic to and back.

A two-lane four-span through-truss bridge that was built in 1936 and carries State Road 71 across…read morethe Llano River and links up the two halves of the City of Llano. Updated and improved in 2006 when a new east side walkway was added. I was most pleased with it and found it easy to transit even in a driving rainstorm. [Review 10153 overall, 1739 of 2018.]