Local Wimberley Activities

Gruene Hall in Gruene, TX. Oldest dance hall in Texas with live country music mostly on weekends and some weeknights about 20 minutes from Shade Ranch. Even if you don't like country music, you'll want to experience it. Gruene Hall is a great place to visit on a Sunday afternoon as well as they usually have a casual music scene going on and you can have a beer and hang out.  You can have lunch next door at the Grist Mill which overlooks the Guadalupe River. The town of Gruene is real quaint and has some shops you can visit as well.

Driftwood Estate Winery is located in a great setting overlooking their vines and the hills to the west.  The wine is pretty good as well.  Get a bottle and sit outside and enjoy the view.

Real Ale Brewing Company (http://realalebrewing.com/) – Located in Blanco, TX, travel 25 minutes west to Blanco to visit the micro-brewery on Friday afternoons. The tasting room is open from 2:00 – 5:00 PM and tours are generally at 3:00 and 4:00.  Free samples and a tour of the small brewery give you great insight into the process and quality of their various brew types.  Kids are welcome to tag along.

Natural Bridge Caverns (210.651.6144; www.naturalbridgecaverns.com) – Texas’ largest and most impressive underground cave about 35-40 miles from Wimberley.

Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch (830.438.7400; www.wildliferanchtexas.com) –  Also, 35-40 miles from Wimberley, adjacent to the caverns is the wildlife park where kids can get close to exotic animals.  You drive through the park yourself and are able to feed the animals and go through as many times as you like. The ranch is actually in a very pretty Hill Country setting and well worth the visit for animal lovers. They also have a new restaurant and other structures that house exotic birds, monkeys, etc.

Enchanted Springs Ranch (800.640.5917; www.enchantedspringsranch.com) – Located three miles west of Boerne on Highway 46. Open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM.  Originally developed in 2003 as an adaptable movie-shooting location targeted toward Western-themed cinematic productions. The owner constructed an accurate representation of an authentic “cow” town with multiple clapboard storefronts, dusty streets with planked sidewalks, saloons, adobe church, etc.  The ranch has been successful for movie and commercial shoots with 30% of revenues earned from such activities.  However, they have opened up the ranch to the general public and create an Old West atmosphere with a group of actors that stage various reenactments such as gun fights, hold-ups and demonstrations such as trick roping, six-gun-spinning and quick draws, chuck wagon cooking, arrowhead knapping and various other skills.  They also have a variety of native and exotic animals that can be seen on the rest of the 86 acre property.  They have chuck wagon dinner shows and also host private events.

Pioneer Town - Reproduction of 1800's Texas town just across the river crossing and then up the hill.  Good for kids.

Wimberley Glass Works.  You can sometimes catch them in the observation room where you can watch the glass making process.  Beautiful, but expensive, artwork!

Market Days and Shopping - For shopaholics, Market Days is held the first Saturday of each month from March to December in town.  The Wimberley Square shops are open year round and offer a great selection of artwork, crafts, jewelry, furniture, toys, etc.  Or visit the monsterous San Marcos outlet stores just 20 minutes away.

Mt. Baldy - Climb the small "mountain" in town right off

Bella Vista Ranch is an olive farm with daily tours.  Very detailed history and overview of olives and the overall process.

Austin - Head to Austin for the day or evening (45 minutes to an hour away) and visit the State Capitol Building and great Texas Museums.  Great music abounds at the Continental Club on S. Congress.  Guero's is across the street and is a godo place for Tex-Mex food;  The Broken Spoke on Lamar Blvd. offers classic Texas country music...half the fun is people watching;  Stubb's on Red River is a good BBQ join and live music venue.  Or do the old standy and go down to the 6th Street and 4th Street areas to find many restaurants, clubs and bars.