9 Best Day Trips From Austin

Austin is great, but some of the best days start with a full tank and an open highway.

Within about two hours you can climb a granite dome, two-step in the oldest dance hall in Texas, or eat brisket in the town the Legislature crowned the Barbecue Capital of Texas.

Here are the day trips worth taking, with history from the Handbook of Texas and visitor info from official sites.

Drive times are route estimates from downtown Austin without traffic, so pad them on weekends.

1. Fredericksburg

German settlers founded Fredericksburg in 1846, when the first wagon train of 120 settlers arrived from New Braunfels after a 16-day journey.

The Handbook of Texas says it was named after Prince Frederick of Prussia, and the town was laid out like a German village.

Today the historic Main Street is the reason to go.

2. Enchanted Rock State Natural Area

Texas Parks and Wildlife calls climbing Enchanted Rock almost a rite of passage for Texans.

It is a 425-foot pink granite dome with 22 miles of trails, including the Summit Trail, and it is an International Dark Sky Park.

3. Johnson City

The town is named for James Polk Johnson, a relative of President Lyndon B. Johnson, according to the Handbook of Texas.

LBJ lived in his boyhood home here from age five until he finished high school in 1924, and the National Park Service runs free tours of it daily.

4. Wimberley

Wimberley sits where the Blanco River and Cypress Creek run through western Hays County.

It started as a trading post, and in 1856 a San Jacinto veteran named William Carvin Winters built a gristmill on Cypress Creek, per the Handbook of Texas.

Pair a walk around town with a swim at Blue Hole Regional Park in season.

5. Gruene

In 1878 Henry D. Gruene built a mercantile store by a crossing on the Guadalupe River, and a town grew around it. It is now part of New Braunfels.

Gruene Hall, built the same year, calls itself the oldest continually operating dance hall in Texas, and it has live music every day.

6. Lockhart

On May 26, 1999, the Texas House adopted a resolution recognizing Lockhart as the Barbecue Capital of Texas.

Black's Barbecue says five generations of the Black family have been cooking barbecue here since the family's beginnings in Lockhart.

7. Georgetown

Georgetown calls its downtown the Most Beautiful Town Square in Texas.

The city says it was the first in Texas to win the Great American Main Street Award, and more than 180 historic buildings and homes sit in its three National Register districts.

8. Salado

Salado is a historic village on Salado Creek, and the Handbook of Texas says the town was founded because of Salado College in 1859.

The clear springs of the creek drew people for thousands of years, and the old Stagecoach Inn, renamed in the 1940s, became a landmark.

9. Bastrop State Park

Bastrop State Park sits in the Lost Pines, a towering stretch of forest that Texas Parks and Wildlife says is unique to the region.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built its dining hall, cabins and other facilities in the 1930s, and the trails show the forest recovering after wildfire.

Small towns keep their own hours, especially early in the week.

Check what is open on the day you go.

What is your favorite day trip from Austin? Drop it in the comments.