Texas

Texas is big enough that its two national parks lie hundreds of miles from Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. By our own routing, Houston to El Paso is 746 miles along I-10, and Houston to Big Bend is 631. In 2025 Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains had 774,527 visits between them. San Antonio Missions, a free historical park in the city, had twice as many: 1,552,510.

The Park Service sites with the most visitors are the ones nearest the cities. We read the figures below on 27 October 2026 on the National Park Service's pages, the Texas Comptroller's and the Texas Department of Transportation's, the airports' and attractions' own sites and NOAA's normals.

Why does San Antonio Missions outdraw both Texas national parks?

San Antonio Missions is in the city and charges nothing, while Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains are hours from any airport. Of the five Park Service units in Texas that visitors plan around, three charge an entrance fee.

Big Bend's busiest month in 2025 was March, with 106,911 visits, and its quietest August, with 19,830. The Texas White House at the LBJ Ranch has been closed for rehabilitation since 2 January 2024, though the ranch driving tour stays open. The free permit for it is issued at the LBJ State Park and Historic Site visitor centre on US 290.

Is the $250 park pass worth buying for Texas?

The $250 non-resident annual pass does not pay off on a trip that stays in Texas. Neither Big Bend nor Guadalupe Mountains is on the 2026 list of eleven parks that add $100 for every non-resident aged 16 or over.

Big Bend takes cards only and has no entrance reservation. Guadalupe Mountains' fee page says card in its text but cash or card in its table, so carry a card. Padre Island takes cash or card. The one fee-free day left in 2026, 11 November, is for US residents only. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors explains when the annual pass is worth buying.

How hard is the climb up Guadalupe Peak?

Guadalupe Peak, at 8,751 feet, is the highest point in Texas, and the Park Service rates the trail to it "very strenuous". The round trip is 8.4 miles with 3,000 feet of climb and takes six to eight hours. It is the park's most popular hike. The park also protects what it calls the world's most extensive Permian fossil reef and the four highest peaks in Texas.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park lies on US 62/180, 110 miles east of El Paso and 56 miles southwest of Carlsbad, New Mexico. There is no petrol for 35 miles in either direction, and no lodge or restaurant in the park. Dog Canyon, on the north side, is two hours' drive from Pine Springs by way of New Mexico. In spring and autumn the park can fill to capacity, and March was its busiest month in 2025, with 30,339 visits.

Do you need a ticket for the Alamo and San Antonio's missions?

The Alamo needs a reserved ticket even though entry to the church is always free. Book it online or at the Alamo Welcome Center. The church, the Long Barrack and the grounds open daily from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., except on 25 December, with last entry 15 minutes before closing. The Alamo has no car park of its own, and a new visitor centre and museum is on track to open in 2027.

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park needs no ticket at all. Its four missions, from north to south Concepción, San José, San Juan and Espada, are about 2.5 miles apart and 6.5 miles end to end. Each has free parking, and driving the whole line takes about 15 minutes. Together with the Alamo, which the Park Service does not run, they form the San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site.

VIA bus route 42 reaches only Concepción and San José. The Mission Reach hike-and-bike trail follows the river for about 10 miles from the missions north to the Alamo, with bike-share stations at each mission. The churches open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and close on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

What do Space Center Houston and Dallas's Sixth Floor Museum cost?

Space Center Houston charges an adult $29.95 to $39.95 online and $34.95 to $44.95 at the box office. Children aged 4 to 11 pay $24.95 to $34.95 online, and parking costs $10 plus a service fee. Tickets are timed, and the NASA Tram Tours to Johnson Space Center "typically sell out far in advance". The centre is about 26 miles from downtown Houston by our own routing.

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, in the former Texas School Book Depository in Dallas, charges $27 an adult, $25 for over-65s and $23 for ages 6 to 18. It opens from Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the last entry at 4:15 p.m. Timed tickets must be bought in advance.

The Texas State Capitol in Austin costs nothing. Free guided tours of about 40 minutes leave the South Foyer every 15 to 30 minutes, from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on Monday to Saturday and from noon on Sunday.

In Fort Worth's Stockyards, the Fort Worth Herd is driven down East Exchange Avenue daily at 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. The district's own site calls it the world's only twice-daily cattle drive. It is not held on Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving or Christmas Day.

Why is Padre Island National Seashore not South Padre Island?

Padre Island National Seashore protects about 66 miles of undeveloped beach on North Padre Island, near Corpus Christi. South Padre Island, the resort town, is about 100 miles further down the coast. No road links the two, because the Mansfield Channel cuts the island. The Park Service puts the drive at about three and a half hours, via Corpus Christi and US 77.

The park has no petrol, lodging or food. The Malaquite Visitor Center is 38 miles and 45 minutes from Corpus Christi airport, and 183 miles from San Antonio's airport, by the park's own figures. On 27 October 2026 the park's alerts recommended four-wheel drive on North and South Beach and forecast tides over 2 feet through October.

The Atlantic hurricane season, which takes in the Texas coast, runs from 1 June to 30 November. The National Hurricane Center puts its peak on 10 September, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October. Its 1991 to 2020 average is 14 named storms a season, of which seven become hurricanes.

How long are the drives across Texas?

Texas's distances are measured in hours, not miles, and Big Bend is a full day from Houston or Dallas. The figures below are the Park Service's where it gives one and our own routing otherwise.

There is no public transport to or within Big Bend. Amtrak and Greyhound stop at Alpine, 100 miles from the park's headquarters, and the park warns that GPS apps may suggest wrong or dangerous roads there.

Which Texas airports have flights from Europe?

Dallas Fort Worth International and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental are the two main gateways, and Austin has a handful of European flights. Dallas Fort Worth lists 77 international nonstop destinations among 193 domestic ones.

Bush Intercontinental's airlines include British Airways, Lufthansa, KLM, Air France, Turkish Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways, All Nippon Airways and EVA Air. Its international passengers clear customs in Terminal E. Austin-Bergstrom lists nonstops to Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London Heathrow, and Delta's flight to Paris starts on 27 March 2027.

San Antonio's international flights go only to Mexico and Toronto. El Paso's flights are domestic. Midland, the closest airport to Big Bend with the major airlines, flies nonstop to eight American airports, among them Dallas, Houston, Denver and Las Vegas.

Where does Texas switch to Mountain Time?

Texas runs on Central Time except for its two westernmost counties, El Paso and Hudspeth, which are on Mountain Time. Federal law draws the line down Hudspeth County's eastern edge, so El Paso is an hour behind Dallas, Houston and Big Bend. A drive from El Paso to Big Bend loses that hour.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park is the exception. The Census Bureau's geocoder places its visitor centre and Guadalupe Peak in Culberson County, east of the line, yet the Park Service says the park observes Mountain Time. It warns that phones there "will probably be wrong". Both zones put their clocks back an hour at 2 a.m. on 1 November 2026.

How many 100°F days do Texas cities get?

El Paso has the most days at or above 100°F of the four big-city airports, 26.5 a year. Dallas–Fort Worth has 20.3, San Antonio 17.7 and Houston 7.0. San Antonio has the most days at or above 90°F, 122.4 a year. The table gives NOAA's 1991 to 2020 average highs and lows.

El Paso's hottest month is June, with an average high of 97.1°F, before the rains of July and August. Houston is the wettest of the four, with 51.84 inches a year, and June is its wettest month. El Paso gets 8.78 inches in a whole year.

What do Texas tolls and taxes add to a trip?

Texas has 872 miles of open toll roads run by 12 operators, and a rental car pays them through the rental company. TxDOT says the tolls and the company's service fees are charged to the credit card used to rent the car, usually through PlatePass or Highway Toll Administration. The fees vary, so ask the rental desk before driving off. TxDOT also warns that it never texts or emails about unpaid tolls, and such a message is a scam.

Texas's state sales tax is 6.25%, and cities and counties may add up to 2%, for a combined maximum of 8.25%. Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso and Fort Worth all charge the full 8.25%. Hotel rooms carry a separate state tax of 6% plus local taxes, which reach 17% in all in Houston.

Texas has no tax refund scheme for tourists, though a shop may refund the tax on goods exported with proof such as a customs broker's certificate. Our guide to sales tax in the USA explains why prices are shown before tax.