Texas region guide
Things to do in South Texas
Plan a trip around 22 published destinations in South Texas. Compare parks, waterways, historic places, trails, caverns, wildlife areas, and visitor attractions, then connect the places that fit your route.
Explore South Texas
Use this guide as a starting point for discovering public lands, natural features, heritage sites, and visitor attractions across South Texas. Each destination page brings together location details, activities, amenities, current source information, and nearby stops so you can build a realistic itinerary instead of a disconnected list.
Before leaving, confirm operating hours, reservations, fees, weather, water conditions, closures, and access rules with the destination’s official source. Distances and services can vary considerably across Texas, so allow extra time between remote stops.
Popular activities in South Texas
Destinations in South Texas
Open a guide for visitor information, things to do, maps, planning notes, and related places.
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park
Mission · Hidalgo County · South Texas
A premier Lower Rio Grande Valley birding destination and World Birding Center site.
Casa Navarro State Historic Site
San Antonio · Bexar County County · South Texas
Discover the restored home of Tejano statesman José Antonio Navarro and his role in Texas independence, government, and civil rights.
Chalk Bluff River Resort
Uvalde · Uvalde County County · South Texas
A family-operated private park and resort along the spring-fed Nueces River, centered on a prominent limestone bluff and two miles of river recreation frontage.
Choke Canyon State Park
Three Rivers · Live Oak County · South Texas
A South Texas reservoir park with boating, fishing, birding, wildlife viewing, camping, and shoreline recreation across two units.
Falcon State Park
Falcon Heights · Starr County · South Texas
A South Texas reservoir destination on Falcon International Reservoir with boating, fishing, birding, camping, and desert wildlife viewing.
Goliad State Park & Historic Site
Goliad · Goliad County · South Texas
Mission history, riverside camping, paddling, and South Texas heritage.
Government Canyon State Natural Area
San Antonio · Bexar County · South Texas
Hill Country wilderness, dinosaur tracks, and extensive trails near San Antonio.
Iwo Jima Museum and Monument
Harlingen · Cameron County County · South Texas
See the original working model for the Marine Corps War Memorial and exhibits honoring the Battle of Iwo Jima and Marine veterans.
Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge
Los Fresnos · Cameron County County · South Texas
Explore one of South Texas's premier wildlife refuges, protecting coastal prairie, thornscrub, wetlands, tidal flats, and critical habitat for ocelots, aplomado falcons, waterfowl, and hundreds of bird species.
Lake Casa Blanca International State Park
Laredo · Webb County · South Texas
A South Texas lake park in Laredo with boating, fishing, swimming, mountain biking, hiking, sports facilities, and camping.
Lake Corpus Christi State Park
Mathis · San Patricio County · South Texas
A South Texas reservoir park with swimming, boating, fishing, birding, camping, and a landmark CCC recreation hall.
Landmark Inn State Historic Site
Castroville · Medina County County · South Texas
Stay overnight or tour a historic inn and mill complex interpreting commerce, immigration, and community life along the Medina River.
Las Moras Springs at Fort Clark
Brackettville · Kinney County County · South Texas
A large artesian spring group at historic Fort Clark that forms the headwaters of Las Moras Creek and supplies a landmark spring-fed swimming pool.
Lipantitlán State Historic Site
Mathis · Nueces County County · South Texas
Visit the landscape of a former Mexican fort and Texas Revolution battle site near the Nueces River.
Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge
Alamo · Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, and Willacy Counties County · South Texas
Discover a connected network of South Texas tracts protecting Rio Grande floodplain forest, Tamaulipan thornscrub, wetlands, resacas, and wildlife corridors used by rare birds, butterflies, ocelots, and other borderlands species.
Palmito Ranch Battlefield State Historic Site
Brownsville · Cameron County County · South Texas
Explore the landscape of the final land battle of the Civil War, fought near the Rio Grande after the Confederacy's collapse.
Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park
Brownsville · Cameron County County · South Texas
A preserved battlefield interpreting the opening clash of the U.S.-Mexican War through exhibits, trails, living history, and sweeping coastal prairie.
Port Isabel Lighthouse State Historic Site
Port Isabel · Cameron County County · South Texas
Climb Texas' only lighthouse open to the public, visit the reconstructed keeper's cottage, and take in broad views across the Laguna Madre toward South Padre Island.
Resaca de la Palma State Park
Brownsville · Cameron County · South Texas
A World Birding Center site protecting resaca wetlands and subtropical woodland, with exceptional birding, wildlife viewing, walking, biking, and tram access.
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
San Antonio · Bexar County County · South Texas
Four Spanish colonial missions connected by the Mission Reach trail preserve living churches, Indigenous history, architecture, farms, and acequias.
Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge
Alamo · Hidalgo County County · South Texas
Visit a celebrated Lower Rio Grande Valley birding destination where subtropical thorn forest, resacas, wetlands, and Rio Grande floodplain habitat support green jays, chachalacas, raptors, butterflies, and diverse borderlands wildlife.
The Alamo
San Antonio · Bexar County · South Texas
A central Texas Revolution landmark and museum in downtown San Antonio.