Glen Rose, Texas is featured in the Travel & Leisure Magazine
as one of the "Top-ten great weekend getaways in America." It’s hard to imagine that
just a very short drive from the hectic life of Ft. Worth & Dallas was this great destination that prides itself in safe for its family-oriented entertainment and adventures. With it’s country like laid-back atmosphere, Glen Rose offers a wide range of activities where: weekenders can experience everything from kayaking, taking a drive through the safari, hunting for dinosaur fossils, mountain- biking, hiking, swimming, horseback riding, camping, and golfing, and antique shopping.
Also offered are blue grass and other musical festivals. There is also a major outdoor dramatic production of the life of Jesus, as well as musical featuring life size dinosaurs.
Vistas of cedar-crested limestone slopes and rocky ranch-land valleys embrace the panoramic hills surrounding Glen Rose. Texas' famously rugged "hill country" is in full dramatic character along its borders. The topography of the city itself is hilly-many homes clamber along (steep) staircases instead of streets.
The county is home to the last "wild" river of Texas, the Paluxy, Brazos, and Squaw Creek River. These crystal clear rivers offer beauty and recreational enjoyment - a treat that is enjoyed by more than 1,000,000 visitors each year. The area has one of the most pronounced changes of seasons in the state (some even say this is the closest thing to the New England area you'll find in Texas). Spring brings colorful wildflowers and fast-running streams. Summer is enjoyed under the shade of various trees and wooded areas. The Fall Foliage is among the states finest. Winter can bring light to moderate snow from time-to-time highlights the season. In fact, dozens of well-recognized artisans call Somervell County home.
Walking up and down the city's neighboring hills should leave you in great shape for sporting the hiking trails that surround the region. The rivers can't be beat for kayaking. And there's still plenty of fish. If the area excels in one particular sport, it's biking.
As for wildlife, all you have to do is start walking, and you'll spot something amazing. You'll encounter fox and blue jays, deer and other animals in some of the most unexpected places. In the spring, count on colorful displays of wildflowers to chase away those winter doldrums.
A visit to Glen Rose should start at the historic courthouse, where a granite marker sketches a thumbnail history of Somerville County and introduces Glen Rose's founding father, Charles Barnard.
The square is home to several antique shops where you can shop for everything from unique jewelry, clothing, home décor to quilts and Christmas items (available all year).
The square also offers several restaurants and coffee shops as well as pie stores and candy shops
Across the street are the SJH Co.; an art studio and a gallery. The studio is based in a 1920s-era building constructed of petrified-wood common throughout Glen Rose. A few blocks down is Barnard's Mill, a complex of stone buildings that includes the three-story structure built by Charles Barnard in 1860. In another time, the mill's third floor hosted dances, court proceedings, and posse gatherings. The mill, whose foundation goes down 25 feet to bedrock, has three-feet-thick walls and hand-hewed beams bolstering 12-foot ceilings.
During September and October, twilight ushers in entertainment and inspiration via The Promise, a moving musical dramatization of the life of Jesus staged at the legendary outdoor Texas Amphitheater. At Oakdale Park, a camping and RV facility named the Bluegrass Capital of Texas. Professional bluegrass musicians perform here throughout the year, but impromptu jam sessions can pop up just about anywhere. In May, Oakdale hosts the Texas State Dulcimer Festival, one of the park's fastest-growing events.
Starting in the spring of 2010 The Texas Amphitheater will also be home to a fantastic musical “Land of the Dinosaurs” featuring life size animated dinosaurs. They will be performing every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May through August.
At Dinosaur Valley State Park, life size models of a 70-foot-long Apatosaurus and a 45-foot-long T-Rex greet you at the park's gate. Beginning in the early 1900s, discovery of prehistoric tracks of sauropod, carnosaur, and ornithopod dinosaurs in the limestone bed of the Paluxy River turned the camera on Glen Rose, which eventually led to Glen Rose becoming known as the Dinosaur Capital of Texas.
Just outside Dinosaur Valley State Park is Dinosaur World. This attraction features over 100 life size dinosaurs, a museum, picnic area, gift shop and a fossil dif for the children to search through sand for authentic fossils to take home.
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, one of the top 10 Safari Parks in the United States- rated by USA Today: offers living, at-risk animal species from Africa roaming freely on the open ranges. You can drive through the park's 10-mile road or take a guided tour that allows you to enter areas generally restricted to the general public.
Glen Rose has so far successfully maintained the balance between the growth and the small town charm. Glen Rose encourages people to embrace the quiet, the lovely, and the natural. This goes for outdoor recreation as much as for the cedar-cutters and down-home folks who fill the city's downtown square. If there's anywhere to try something you've been dreaming about, it's here in the City in the Country and her neighboring sister cities. And then go and have an excellent cappuccino afterwards.
