Bandera County

The county in brief

A traveler's read on Bandera County

Bandera carries an official Texas State Legislature designation as 'Cowboy Capital of the World' (Resolution HCR 64, 1995) — the only town in Texas with that specific legislative-record honorific, awarded on the basis of producing more world-champion rodeo competitors per capita than any comparable US town and sustaining the longest continuous historic-saloon scene in the Hill Country (the 11th Street Cowboy Bar and the OST Restaurant both operate in late-19th-century original buildings). The dude-ranch economy is the year-round tourism backbone — 16 active guest ranches operating with horseback-riding, cattle-work, and Western-heritage programming, the largest such concentration in the state per the Texas Dude Ranchers Association membership roster. Bandera County covers 792 sq mi of Edwards Plateau limestone-canyon topography between San Antonio and Kerrville, with the Medina River drainage cutting east-west and creating the springs-and-cypress riparian zones that make the county a Hill Country destination distinct from the more-arid western counties.

Hill Country State Natural Area at 5,400 acres is the largest equestrian-focused state park in Texas — 40 miles of multi-use trails open to horseback riders, hikers, and mountain bikers, with primitive equestrian camping that supports horse-trailer rigs up to 60 ft on first-come basis. Lost Maples State Natural Area in adjacent Real County (accessible from Bandera via TX-16 south then TX-187 north, roughly 60 miles) holds the only large stand of bigtooth maples in central Texas — the trees are isolated refugia from a wetter Pleistocene climate, preserved in the limestone-canyon microclimate of the Sabinal River, and produce reliable October-into-November red-orange fall color in a state where fall color is otherwise marginal. Reservations at Lost Maples open 5 months out and the campground sells out weekends throughout the color window. Bandera (population 967, the county seat) carries grocery, fuel, propane, and a Tuesday-Friday-Saturday rodeo schedule June through August at Mansfield Park Arena.