Hill Country

The 2,000-acre tract along the Colorado River is adjacent to the existing Colorado Bend State Park.

The Science Mill in Johnson City designed a game to help students learn why a large swath of Central Texas will be cast in twilight in the middle of the day. The museum estimates 6,000 students in the region will play Eclipse Quest before the April 8 eclipse.

No one knows exactly how bad traffic will be in Central Texas, but a total eclipse in 2017 caused historic gridlock.

School districts in the path of the totality cite concerns about an influx of visitors and traffic as reasons for the closures.

“They have a mystique about ’em, you know. They’re kind of so ugly, they’re cute,” says Brian Wright, who lives and works on the 9,500-acre Hill Country property as the ranch manager.

Hill Country Studios can begin the first phase of construction on the 800,000-square-foot project as soon as Feb 4. Activists had protested the development when it was announced in 2022.

Drought and water scarcity in Wimberley have claimed a second victim. First, it was Jacob's Well, and now Blue Hole's water levels are two feet below the normal level.

David Baker, executive director of The Watershed Association, a nonprofit conservation group, says this is the worst he's seen the well in over three decades.

The new mile-long segment in Sunset Valley connects the trail from Barton Springs Pool to Slaughter Creek near MoPac.

The largest of those celebrations is Wurstfest in New Braunfels, which kicks off on Nov. 4.