Texas Hill Country questions (Dallas, San Antonio: home, buy, bankrupt)

[Caseycourtney80]

Hello, My name is Casey and my wife and I are wanting to get the heck out of where we live now. We live in a rural town in, I hate to say it, CA. We are in the Sierra Nevada mountain range near Yosemite. We are NOT LIBERALS, we are not the people who continue to vote in the same people who are bankrupting and destroying this once great state. We like where we live but HATE CA's politics and regulations with a passion. We cannot take it anymore. My wife was born in Texas and still has family in Dallas and Abilene. As stated before we love where we live in the mountains and that is my only concern with Texas. I want to be in the mountains. We hunt, fish, ride atv's and we love to camp. We don't want to be in the flat lands. With that said I am looking at hopefully getting some info from the locals of the hill country of what areas I may like. We are going to visit family in January and I want to spend a day or two driving around the hill country. Where do you think I should check out? I can't find that many pictures online to get a good idea.

Likes-
Mountains, trees, NOT brush, places to hunt and fish and ride atv's.

We live on 4 acres now and do not want to be in a town. We want to stay rural, on the outskirts of town.

The other area I have looked at a little is the Piney Woods. Do you think from what I have described I would like that better then hill country? I know there isn't really any hills there but at least it is forested like I like.

Thanks for your help!

Casey

[jimboburnsy]

If you like woods you like the East Texas conifer forest. East Texas is home to some really beautiful countryside but it isn't everyone's cup of tea. Can be an acquired taste.

If you like mountains then you probably like some place other than Texas.

If you can settle for hills with oaks and short trees like shrub cedar / juniper, then it sounds to me as though you are describing a place like Kerrville, Boerne (pronounced Bernie), Wimberly, Blanco or one of any number of little communities North of San Antonio and West of Austin. Go to San Antonio and drive out I-10 W, 281 N or 35 N for an idea.

[TDAlmighty]

Hunt, Fish, Ride ATVs... All of those activities require more than 4 acres in my opinion. One item that might surprise you is that almost all of Texas is fenced private land (>98% private vs Cali where only ~58% is private). Especially in the hill country where land is expensive (for Texas) you will have to pay for the ability to enjoy your activities or jump through extraordinary hoops to use the small amount of public land available.

[AK123]

I think you will much prefer the politics of rural/semi-rural Texas, and should have absolutely no problem feeling at home.

As far as what area specifically for your recreational desires, that depends. There are no real mountains in Texas except for way out west, where you won't find many trees. East Texas/Piney Woods are very nice, but not all of it is even hilly, and the culture can be more similar to Louisiana. The Hill Country areas, like Gillespie County and surrounding areas, might be more to your liking.

[TexasHorseLady]

If you love mountains, you might want to consider places like Fort Davis, Alpine, Marfa.

If you're up for something not quite as high, then the Hill Country (Wimberley, Dripping Springs, Blanco, Kerrville, etc.) might do you.

For woods, East Texas (and parts of North Texas) are the strongest possibility. I grew up in the Piney Woods (Palestine/Tyler/Henderson area - preacher's kid) and yes, it's an acquired taste, but it is flat out beautiful. (Still own 40 acres of the family farm, was going to sell it a few years back, made the mistake of going back one last time to visit before doing so, in the Spring. Still own it - just couldn't do it.)

And, yes, if you like to hunt, fish, and ride ATV's, you'll have to do what the natives do - either buy you a piece of land where you can do that or become friends with folks who own some and are willing to share. We do take our property rights seriously here, with good reason. There are quite a few state parks, though, where you can do some or all of the above - Texas held onto its lands when we joined the Union, so most of our parks are state parks, not federal ones.

[Caseycourtney80]

Thanks for the replies guys. That is the one benefit for Ca I guess. We have tons and tons of national forest and I live here right in it. The hunting sucks though and they have been trying to take away our riding trails for a couple years now. Eventually they will succeed and no one will be able to ride in the National Forest at all.

I will do some more research on the places you guys have mentioned.
Thanks
Casey

[doss1]

Texas....Texas gives the common man a chance to own the land. California is where only millionaires and billionaires buy land.

[TexasHorseLady]

Right. I have the 40 acres left of the original family farm (my grandfather's parents bought it when he was 3 months old), and we're on 55 acres ourselves. And we're far from wealthy.

[Willsson]

CaseyCourtney80, for some info on the Hill Country and other places around Texas, check out the Texas Travel Guide. You might gather more info on places you want to explore.

And I would add to previous posts, beware of what we call the Hill Country. I lived in Seattle for a year, some time ago, and referred to what I would regard a hill to a resident there. His reply was 'that wasn't a hill'. So, what we regard as hills, you may regard as very long speed bumps.

Finally, you say your wife has family in Abilene. I escaped Abilene some time ago and had attended the large red brick high school. Before it was fenced in.

[Caseycourtney80]

Yeah I am afraid that the hills may not really be hills to me. I may just have to get over the whole mountain thing but flat land just seems so boring to me haha.

A couple of you have said that the piney woods area is an "acquired taste." What do you mean by that?