LATEST

Related Posts

Float the Medina River

Float The River in Texas This SummerTexas
Catherine Wendlandt
Author: Catherine Wendlandt
2 min.read

STRETCHING FOR 120 MILES, the Medina River flows from the springs in Bandera County’s Edwards Plateau, eventually merging with the San Antonio River. While other popular tubing locations can have a party vibe, the Medina is more of a laid-back respite. “It’s a lot less crowded,” says Colby Miller, owner of the Medina River Company in Bandera. “The water is crystal-clear everywhere you are on the river.”

The setting feels straight out of a fairy tale, complete with canopies of cypress and maple trees that filter out the sun as you drift along for a relaxing float down the river. Miller’s company, which also offers kayaking and overnight camping trips, will shuttle you to different drop-in points of the river depending on how long you want to be on the water, in excursions lasting up to six hours. Alcohol is allowed; no Styrofoam or glass containers.

Tube/shuttle rentals 

The Medina River Company in Bandera charges $20 per tube rental and shuttle ride; $10 if you bring your own tube.

Eat/drink 

Medina is known as the Apple Capital of Texas, so chow down on an applewood-smoked bacon cheeseburger at The Apple Store Bakery & Café, located on an actual apple orchard. Also try Gringo’s Burritos in Bandera. The 11th Street Cowboy Bar in Bandera is your quintessential honky tonk. There’s plenty of beer, Wednesday steak nights, and live music perfect for two- stepping. Oh, and pay no mind to all the bras hanging from the ceiling.

Stay 

The Flying L Ranch Resort in Bandera (from $129/night) is worth a trip on its own. The resort features everything from smaller suites, to bunkhouses, to lodges that sleep up to 22 guests. If the current health advisories allow it, spend your day on the golf course, playing putt-putt and horseback riding, taking wagon rides, fishing, floating the lazy river, and, come evening, roasting s’mores at the campfire.

Also try

While visiting the Cowboy Capital of the World, you know what you must do: see the Frontier Times Museum. The museum, established in 1933, offers more than 40,000 Old West artifacts, plus an array of curiosities, including an Italian birthing chair from the Middle Ages. Museum hours may change due to pandemic concerns so check before you go. $6 adults; $2 children ages 6 – 17.

Published in the The Resilience Issue issue of Houstonia Mag.




Previous article
Float the San Marcos River
Float the San Marcos River
Next article
9 Essential Items for Your Next Tubing Trip
9 Essential Items for Your Next Tubing Trip
Catherine Wendlandt
Catherine Wendlandt
A native Austinite, Catherine Wendlandt spent almost six years in the Midwest for college and graduate school at the University of Missouri (MIZ). While there, she talked about Texas and missed queso so much she had to come back.  In school, she worked as a city government reporter and page designer for the Columbia Missourian, a communications intern at a local jazz company, a food editor and later the managing editor at Vox Magazine, and a research assistant for the Association of Health Care Journalists. She's worked in Missouri, Dallas, and Barcelona, Spain, and interned for Houstonia in 2018, when she fell in love with everything about the city, except maybe the traffic and mosquitos.  When she's not at work, you can find Catherine curled up reading a good book, out exploring local parks, taking lots of sunset pictures, and trying to pet every dog she sees (in spite of the allergies).