Mia Johnson, who has participated in the Prairie View trail ride for over fifty years, describes it as 'almost spiritual,' emphasizing the importance of working toward this goal throughout the year.
The state park is more remote and rugged. We offer a more dispersed and self-guided experience. It's also a more relaxed choice for paddling trips, it's popular among birdwatchers, and it's also one of the best places in Texas to stargaze-after all, West Texas has the darkest skies in the state.
I wanted to translate that idea into public space, to imagine the trail as a site of encounter between visitors and works by artists whose visual language already centres otherworldly beings, creatures or ecologies. In that meeting, the strange or unfamiliar hopefully becomes a source of curiosity and interconnectedness.
In reality, the Lone Star State is vast-and incredibly diverse-spanning more than 250,000 square miles of major cities, small towns, beach getaways, country roads, and border communities. For travelers arriving in Texas, one thing quickly becomes clear: the Lone Star State isn't just one destination-it's many.
Visitors can skip the entrance fees at California parks on Monday, part of a state effort to reduce barriers to accessing the outdoors. More than 200 California state parks are offering the free vehicle entry including motorcycles on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday to California residents and visitors. Entrance fees are typically around $10. The complete list of parks offering free entry on Monday can be found here.
Though they're individually tiny, parking spots quietly play a dominant role in shaping urban landscapes. Most US cities dedicate at least 25% of their developable land to them. Some, even more. That land usage doesn't only determine the way a city looks. It also means covering large swathes of urban areas in heat-absorbing asphalt, which contributes to making summers hotter and heightens the risk of flooding since it prevents drainage during storms and heavy rainfall.
Stretching roughly 23 miles, Lake LBJ is a constant-level lake fed by the Colorado River, offering a markedly different experience from its flashier neighbor to the east. While Austin's Lake Travis has earned a reputation as a party hub, Lake LBJ feels like its calmer, more refined counterpart-unhurried, scenic, and refreshingly serene. From the water, the views unfold effortlessly: sunlight glinting off the water's surface, shoreline homes tucked among the hills, and quiet coves that invite you to slow down. A boat tour makes it easy to take it all in-no effort required beyond sitting back, relaxing, and enjoying the view.