Things to Do

A long weekend's worth of options inside the county line, organized by interest area. None of these require leaving Bastrop County, though several of them are worth pairing with a chapter from Day Trips Out if you have more than a weekend.

Outdoors

Float the Colorado

Put in at Fisherman's Park or one of the outfitter launches and float to the next take-out. Lazy current, river-bend swimming holes, almost no traffic on weekdays. See The Colorado River for the full version.

Bastrop State Park

Hiking, biking, swimming pool, cabins, deer everywhere. The CCC park headquarters and swimming pool are on the National Register. Reservations are recommended on weekends.

Buescher State Park

The smaller, quieter, more mature-canopy park. Lake fishing, paved camping loops, the best surviving stretch of pre-fire Lost Pines.

McKinney Roughs

1,100-acre LCRA preserve at the edge of the Lost Pines. Long trail network, riverside bluffs, an environmental learning center.

Lake Bastrop

Two LCRA-run shorelines, North and South. Swimming, fishing, paddleboards, primitive camping. Quiet on weekdays. The water stays warm year-round because the lake is a power-plant cooling pond, which is a feature when most of the rest of Texas is too cold to swim.

Downtown Bastrop

Main Street

Five blocks of restored 19th-century storefronts. Restaurants, antique shops, a bookstore, the visitor center, a brewery, and the Lost Pines Art Center.

Bastrop Opera House

1889 brick building still in use as a community theater. Live performances most weekends, plus film nights.

Bastrop Museum and Visitor Center

Local history, the Bastrop fire story, and a friendly staff that actually knows the answers. Start a first visit here.

Riverwalk

Paved path along the Colorado from Fisherman's Park through downtown. Best at sunrise or after dinner.

Smithville

Main Street Antiques

Smithville is built around its Main Street. Antique shops, the historic Page House, an iron-front commercial district.

Railroad Museum

Smithville was an MKT division point. The old depot is now a small but well-curated railroad museum.

Hope Floats

Smithville stood in for the fictional town in the 1998 film. The blue house and several downtown locations are still recognizable.

The Resort

Hyatt Regency Lost Pines

405-acre resort inside the forest. Stay overnight, day-pass the pool/spa, or eat at the restaurant. Worth at least one visit. The resort has a public restaurant, a steakhouse open by reservation to non-guests, a golf course (Wolfdancer), a spa, and substantial preserved-forest amenities.

The Sunday Drive

Some of the best Bastrop County experiences are unscripted afternoons on the back roads. Park Road 1C through the state parks. FM 535 from Bastrop to Rosanky through the ranchland. FM 1441 toward McDade through farmland. Highway 21 from Bastrop through the Lost Pines toward Cedar Creek. Any of these will give you 2-4 hours of low-traffic Texas back-road driving with substantial scenery and no particular agenda.

Music

Downtown Bastrop bars and the Opera House book Texas singer-songwriters most weekends. The brewery has a regular live-music program. Smithville's downtown has a smaller but real music scene; Elgin's is growing. The county is close enough to Austin that touring acts will sometimes do an intimate Bastrop show on a route to or from a bigger Austin venue.

The Calendar

The county runs on its events. Yesterfest in April. Lost Pines Christmas in December. Smithville Jamboree in April. Elgin Western Days in July. McDade Watermelon Festival in July. First Friday Art Walk downtown Bastrop, monthly. Outdoor movies in Fisherman's Park in summer. See The Calendar.