Texas relaxes into 3rd place in new ranking of best states for camping

spring camping

Photo courtesy of Lawn Love.

With the winter season behind us, it’s time to start looking forward to spring and all the joy it brings, especially camping under the wide open Texas sky. Lucky for Texans, the Lone Star State was recently ranked third place in Lawn Love’s 2023 report for Best States for Camping.

Lawn Love compared every U.S. state based on 25 unique metrics, including campsite access, acreage, safety, affordability, and more.

Texas’ third place ranking was determined based on its high scores in several major categories. The Lone Star State has the second highest number of campgrounds, campsites with water, and camping supply stores.

In two other top five category rankings for the total acreage of campgrounds and average income-adjusted RV rental cost, Texas ranked No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. The state ranked just outside the top five at No. 6 for total acreage of state and national parks.

Beating Texas for the best and second best states for camping were California and Washington, for having the most attractions and highest acreage of national and state parks. This is California’s second year in a row as the top state in Lawn Love’s report. Rounding out the top five after Texas is Florida (No. 4) and New York (No. 5).

Guy deBrun, a camping enthusiast and lecturer at James Madison University, shared his top three tips for staying safe while camping overnight in the wild:

Allow yourself enough time for traveling: “Create a time control plan that considers the distance you need to travel, and add one mile for every thousand feet of elevation you need to gain. Divide that by your average rate of travel (usually two miles per hour on a trail with a pack).”
Dress in appropriate clothing: “Cotton clothing should be avoided in all but very hot and dry climates. It robs the body of heat because it does not wick moisture and dries slowly.”
Use good judgment: “Know your limits, plan your route, and communicate your plans with someone at home.”

deBrun also recommends every camper have a way to purify their drinking water, such as a chemical treatment or filter, when they embark on their trip.

Looking for great places to go, specifically? A separate survey by Campspot named these four Texas campsites among the best in America.

More information about Lawn Love’s report and its methodology can be found at lawnlove.com.

Photo courtesy of Old Settler's Music Festival

4-day Americana festival rolls out the camping mats this spring in Central Texas

Settle in

Music festivals are one of the best reasons to road-trip to the Austin area. The 2023 OId Settler’s Music Festival, taking place April 20-23, will bring in some of the best names in folk, Americana, and Southern traditions.

As announced in late January, this means 28 groups and solo artists across four days of camping and enjoying the outdoors in Dale, about 45 minutes southeast of Austin (near Lockhart).

Old Settler’s Homestead, a 145-acre ranchland, has been hosting this barn dance, so to speak, for 36 years. Over time, it’s succeeded in drawing some major talents, but stayed grounded. These approachable sounds are great for visitors new to the fray:

Yola sounds like the American South but hails from the United Kingdom. The powerful singer is known for her emotional rawness over smooth instrumental arrangements, both leaning into genre conventions (country, soul, disco, and beyond) and floating stoically above them.
The Wood Brothers bring the poetry to the festival, and that’s saying something in such a lyric-heavy genre. The trio has stuck together for nearly two decades and been in the industry even longer, and the wisdom comes through the introspective acoustic-electric jams.
Shovels & Rope play with chemistry, abundant between Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst, whose weathered, twangy voices bring a frankness to dramatic songwriting. This duo could play their own festival as moods and styles change from track to track.
Shinyribs is a warning from Austin to anyone who thinks folk music is always reserved. Frontman Kevin Russell, initially from Beaumont, is known for his performance antics — a force to be reckoned with, or otherwise, willingly swept up in.
Buffalo Nichols is turning the green venue blue with twangy slide guitar and a rich, nearly gravelly voice. The singer commanded a small, but dense crowd at his first year at Austin City Limits Festival in 2022, with a mellow tone amid the madness.
Matt the Electrician represents more country than many on the lineup, and has been active in the Austin music scene since 1998. His songwriting comes from cerebral origins, but sounds welcoming and promises easy listening as the festival rolls on.
Ley Line, also from Austin, is a standout for its comparatively exotic style. The four women sing in English, Portuguese, Swahili, and more, reminding fans in attendance — mostly seeking Americana — that the sphere of folk music extends far beyond our own borders.

In addition to the main attraction — the music — there will be food and artisan vendors, music workshops, and a youth talent competition. The camping, powered with renewable energy, sprawls around the active performance area, and the festival prides itself on the atmosphere away from the stages.

Old Settler’s is a 501(c)(3) organization staffed by volunteers, so in addition to providing a good time, it aims to foster a lasting appreciation for Americana and the human connections available through it.

"This is one of the greatest festivals I've ever been a part of,” said Kevin Russell of Shinyribs in a press release. “In fact, I think of this as my home festival."

Tickets (starting at $60, kids under 12 free) to Old Settler’s Music Festival 2023, from April 20-23, are currently on sale at prekindle.com.

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Spring break staycation ideas zip into this week's 5 most-read Dallas stories

This week's hot headlines

Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines. Looking for the best things to do this weekend? Find that list here.

1. 10 new ideas for a FOMO-free spring break staycation in Dallas-Fort Worth. It’s spring break time across North Texas. For families who did NOT jet off to ski the slopes or head to the beach, there’s still plenty of fun to be had in Dallas-Fort Worth. We once called this "staying home." Now it's a "staycation!" Here are 10 new ideas for fun things to do, even into the weekend.

2. Dallas police arrest man caught on camera dumping German shepherd. On March 11, the Dallas Police Department Animal Cruelty Unit arrested Ramiro Zuniga, 41, and charged him with Cruelty to Non-Livestock Animals – Abandon, an A Misdemeanor charge. An investigation determined that on March 8, Zuniga intentionally abandoned a dog in the 9000 block of Teagarden Road.

3. Big day for music fans with news of a dozen concerts coming to Dallas. For summer concert lovers in Dallas, Monday, March 13 brought a bounty of good news with a big round of tours coming through Texas in 2023. In a single day, details were revealed for tours featuring Drake, TLC, Christopher Cross, Steve Miller Band with Cheap Trick, and Coheed & Cambria.

4. Truck Yard reopens on Dallas' Greenville Ave with famed frogs on the roof. An outdoor hangout on Dallas' Greenville Avenue has reopened with a new nostalgic feature: Truck Yard, which helped usher in the backyard trend that is now de rigeur in the food & beverage world, reopened at 5624 Sears St., AKA across from Trader Joe's, with $2 million in renovations that include an installation of the famed Tango Frogs sculptures.

5. Shop in East Dallas dedicated entirely to pickles closes its doors. A one-of-a-kind shop in East Dallas dedicated to pickles has closed: Pickletopia, a shop at 4812 Bryan St. that sold pickles of all kinds, closed its doors at the end of 2022, and according to its owner, is unlikely to return.

Where to drink in Dallas right now: 5 bars with cool cocktail specials

Where to Drink

It's always good to support your local watering hole but sometimes the heart wants something else, and even better when it's something cheap. For our March edition of where to drink, we spotlight five drinking opportunities around Dallas that include a seasonally-focused happy hour, a one-day drink special, a new happy hour for the summer, and a new happy hour at an Arts District hotel bar.

Here's Where to Drink in March:

Jinya Ramen Bar
The Dallas location of this sophisticated national Japanese chain joins in on their national "Hanami Hour," which honors the Japanese custom of celebrating cherry blossom season. Starting March 22, they'll be offering a special combo of Nigori Sake and a Spicy Tuna and Salmon Cone for $18. Not exactly sure what that has to do with cherry blossoms? Maybe lost in translation. But a sake special is always a yes. March 22-April 5

New Artisan Distillery
On March 30, the makers of Roxor Gin & Botanical Bourbon are launching a budget-friendly new program for the spring/summer, with a weekday happy hour featuring $5 gin and bourbon cocktails, because gin and bourbon is what they make. Stick around for trivia, karaoke, and a Friday Piano Series on their in-house Steinway Piano. Fancy! The March 30 opener debuts with Trivia Night from Sporcle, whom they say is the leading trivia company in the U.S., and who are we to disagree. Monday-Friday 4-7 pm

Nobu Dallas
Japanese restaurant-bar at the Hotel Crescent Court is part of an international sushi chain from celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa that opened in Dallas in 2005 with a celebrity-packed event that included co-owner/investor Robert DeNiro jetting into Dallas to attend. It was exciting! Their happy hour, launched in 2019, has a special name — Tanoshi Hour — and is a killer deal. It features three specialty cocktails, $10 each, that include a lychee & elderflower martini. Plus sake and wine by the glass for $8, Japanese beer for $6, and a menu of snacks including sushi, tacos, and chicken wings, also $10 each. Available in the bar area only, Monday-Friday 5-7 pm

Pyramid Lobby Bar
The bar at the Fairmont Dallas hotel in the Dallas Arts District has a new Texas Happy Hour, with delicious bites and great deals on brews and other beverages, plus live acoustic country music by Tyler Hammond on Thursdays 5-8 p.m. The drink lineup includes $6 Texas draft beers, $10 glasses of wine (house Cabernet, Chardonnay, and Prosecco), and $12 margaritas and Texas mules. Appetizers are $8 and include sweet potato fries, shishito peppers, lamb sliders, and chicken fried deviled eggs. Monday-Friday 2-6 pm, Thursday 11 am-12 am

Sky Blu Rooftop Bar
Design District venue is hosting a cheap-drinking day on March 24 from 4 pm-2 am with a quartet of classic cocktails — the Aperol Spritz, Manhattan, Negroni, and gin martini — for $10. It's just for that day and it's a Tuesday, and you also need to pay $10 for valet. As discount drink experiences go, this one is not the best. But hey, rooftop views, and a discount is a discount. March 24, 4 pm-2 am

Hill Country nature preserve steps up conservancy efforts with new wildlife plans

CONNECT WITH MOTHER NATURE

A Hill Country park is getting some new features and wildlife this year. The Horseshoe Bay Nature Park, located 60 miles northwest of Austin (about three-and-a-half hours from Dallas), will be expanding its conservancy this year through the use of new signage, bee populations, and owls.

The 11-acre park was doomed to become a high-density development by investors until the local community gathered to create HSB Park Inc., a nonprofit organization that would save the land instead. The park opened to the public last year and has since evolved from its fragile state to a place where residents can get closer to nature.

In its first year of operation, the park planted $1,500 worth of Texas wildflower seeds, such as Indian blanket, sleepy daisy, standing cypress, and more. The park also received a $17,571 grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) and Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) to install 15 interpretive signs with QR codes around the park.

Since its opening, naturalists were able to identify over 235 species of plants and wildlife in the area, which would have never been possible without the local community’s dedication to conservation. Bird watchers identified several native Texas birds such as herons, orchard orioles, bluebirds, and northern cardinals.

Horseshoe Bay Nature Park’s plans for 2023 are to install new signage educating visitors about the park’s wildlife geology, water conservation, and plants along a half-mile walking trail.

They also plan to introduce honey bees throughout the region and work towards attracting screech owls to two constructed owl boxes.

More information about the park can be found on their website.

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