Go RVing uses cookies on gorving.com in accordance with our privacy policy. By using this site, you consent to the use of cookies. We use cookies for the following purposes: To enable certain functions of the service, to provide analytics, to store your preferences, and to enable advertisements delivery, including behavioral advertising.
Ryan Robinson takes you for a ride in the passenger seat of his RV, off the grid, deep among the dramatic rock formations of the Utah Desert. Robinson and friends chill by the fire, tell stories, and of course, rig a one of a kind highline over the Looking Glass Arch in Moab, UT.
RVers who live and work in the greater Dallas / Fort Worth areas have access to plenty of family entertainment venues, includingAT&T Stadium and Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, as well as many noteworthy destinations for cultural enrichment, such as the Dallas Museum of Art, the African American Museum, and the Museum of Biblical Art. But when Metroplex residents need a change of scenery as summer transitions into fall and winter, enticing options for weekend escapes also abound.
Here’s a sampling of ideas for mid-week or weekend escapes from Dallas, with suggestions on campgrounds, RV parks, and resorts that can serve as base camps for your next RV adventure:
Greater Dallas Area Attractions
GRAPEFEST in Grapevine: This family-friendly event, scheduled for Sept. 14-17, features grape stomping competitions, a people’s choice wine tasting event, and a carnival for the kids. Nearby campgrounds include:
State Fair of Texas: This three-week event takes place Sept. 29 through Oct. 22 at Fair Park in Dallas. The fair features a parade, weekend rodeos, carnival rides, and numerous live family-friendly performances, including cultural performances, interactive exhibits, and live animal displays. Nearby campgrounds include:
(Photo courtesy of The Vineyards Campground & Cabins in Grapevine)
Northeast Texas Attractions
East Texas Oil Museum in Kilgore: This museum offers displays that document the discovery of oil in East Texas in 1930 and 1931 while noting the important role that Texas oil producers played in providing stable petroleum supplies needed to win World War II. Nearby campgrounds include:
R.W. Norton Art Gallery: Founded in 1966, this museum features works of over 100 artists, from the Renaissance to modern times. The museum’s collections include French tapestries from the 16th century as well as decorative arts in porcelain, pressed and blown glass and silver. The museum is also well known for its collection of Western art, particularly by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell.
Sci-Port Discovery Center: This 92,000 square-foot science and entertainment center includes the Louisiana’s Space and Science Center, Power of Play Children’s Museum, and Louisiana’s only IMAX Dome Theater. Louisiana’s Space and Science Center includes over 200 hands-on exhibits, interactive programs, and demonstrations and the Sawyer Space Dome Planetarium. Center accolades include Best Science Attraction for Kids in Louisiana, Attraction of the Year in Louisiana, and a listing as one of Parents magazine’s top 10 science centers in the nation.
Shreveport Aquarium: With over 300 species and 1,000 animals, guests can get up close and personal with sharks, seahorses, turtles, eels and many other sea creatures and reptiles. Guests can also hand-feed stingrays, touch the moon jellies, sea stars, anemones, and learn about how these amazing animals adapt and survive in their environment. Nearby campgrounds include:
(Photo courtesy of The Vineyards Campground & Cabins in Grapevine)
Austin Area Attractions
Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin: This is the official history museum of Texas, serving more than nine millions visitors since it opened in 2001. Through three floors of Texas history galleries, visitors can explore everything from the earliest inhabitants, European colonization and the Texas Revolution to civil rights, space exploration, and pop culture.
LBJ Presidential Library in Austin: Situated on a 30-acre site on The University of Texas campus in Austin, the Library houses 45 million pages of historical documents, 650,000 photos, and 5,000 hours of recordings from President Johnson's political career, including about 643 hours of his recorded telephone conversations. The museum collection includes objects ranging from Middle Eastern antiquities and coins to postage stamps to Oval Office furniture, including the desk used for the signing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Nearby attractions include:
Medina Lake Cajun Festival in Lakehills, Texas, September 23:This festival brings the music, food, and culture of Louisiana to the Texas Hill Country for fun the whole family can enjoy. Visitors can listen and dance to top-notch Louisiana Cajun and Zydeco music on two stages with bands from the heart of Louisiana, and sample gumbo from the Great Gumbo Cook-off. Delicious Cajun food is cooked on site. Dishes include crawfish pies, jambalaya, fried fish and shrimp, red beans and rice, crawfish etouffee, boudin jalapeno pepper poppers, bread pudding with whiskey sauce, and pecan pralines. Nearby campgrounds include:
The Alamo: The Alamo is one of many historical sites in San Antonio that are definitely worth visiting. The Alamo, of course, was the site of a 13-day battle in 1836 between Mexican forces and a small number of American rebels fighting for Texan independence from Mexico.
The Spanish Governor's Palace:Considered to be the most beautiful historical building in San Antonio, the governors’ palace was the residence of Spanish governors.
Dia de los Muertos Hemisfair in San Antonio, Texas, October 28-29: This event, considered one of best the Dia de los Muertos celebrations, features a procession of over 70 homemade altars with photos, “pan de muerto” sweet bread, candles and flowers that honor the memory of departed family members. There will also be workshops as well as food and art vendors. Nearby campgrounds include:
Cajun Catfish Festival in Conroe: This annual event, scheduled for Oct. 13-15, includes Cajun and Texas music on three stages all weekend, plus a unique variety of food including catfish, boudain, gator, jambalaya, and crawfish pie. The event also includes arts and crafts vendors and a kid-zone area with activities for children and a special performance stage for local dance teams.
Sam Houston Memorial Museum in Huntsville: This museum is dedicated to the Tennessee-born lawyer, soldier, and politician who led Texas troops in their victory over Mexican forces in the Battle of San Jacinto, securing Texas’s independence from Mexico. Nearby campgrounds include:
NASA Space Center in Houston: Attractions include the Official Visitor Center of NASA Johnson Space Center, a Smithsonian Affiliate that features more than 400 space artifacts, exhibits, and experiences, including theaters that showcase America’s human space flight program. Nearby campgrounds include:
Galveston Naval Museum: The museum features the USS Cavalla, a World War II-era attack submarine that sank over 34,000 tons of enemy shipping including the Imperial Japanese Navy’s carrier, Shokaku, during the Battle of the Philippine Seas. The museum also features the USS Stewart, one of only two remaining World War II-era destroyer escorts. The USS Stewart was built in 1942 by Brown Shipping Company in Houston and commissioned in May of 1943. Nearby campgrounds include:
Jeff Crider, President and CEO of Crider Public Relations, has been involved in covering the campground industry for over 25 years. Jeff has worked as a freelance writer for publications such as RV Business, Motor Home Magazine, Trailer Life, Highways and other Affinity Group Inc. publications since 1995. He has also successfully pitched many of the nation's top tier media outlets, including CNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Financial Times, Reuters, The Associated Press and National Public Radio. In addition to writing, Jeff is also a talented photographer and humanitarian.
