Texas's famed hill country is a bucolic, rumpled terrain marked by wooded canyons cut by spring-fed rivers. It's also laced with endless miles of appealing two-lane blacktop—and, best of all, it's quirky. One minute you'll see a vista of bluebonnets and the next a sign advertising "Emu Oil, Next Exit" or "Cowboys for Christ Silent Auction."

Overview
The Hill Country begins just north of Austin, continues south to San Antonio, and sweeps west some 200 miles before the land begins to flatten out. Follow a route linking state and U.S. secondary highways, which lead to a series of colorful towns fit for dawdling.

Start in San Antonio
These attractions form a loop starting in San Antonio and taking in Bandera, Kerrville, Fredericksburg, Enchanted Rock, Johnson City, and New Braunfels, before returning to San Antonio.

Bandera
From San Antonio, follow Highway 16 northwest to Bandera, which considers itself the hell-raising "Cowboy Capital of the World." Here you can order a chicken-fried steak bigger than your "haid" and dance to live country music. But nowadays you're apt to see travelers' SUVs parked in front of Arkey Blue's Silver Dollar saloon alongside the usual beat-up pickup trucks. The Frontier Times Museum in Bandera (510 13th St.; +1 830 796 3864; www.frontiermuseum.org) has a bewildering collection of prehistoric arrowheads, mounted animals, bells, and a shrunken human head no bigger than an orange. Duck into the gift shop, which stocks those must-have rubber tomahawks. Also in Bandera is the Old Spanish Trail Restaurant (305 Main St.; +1 830 796 3836), famous for its home-cooked pot roast, catfish platter, and chicken-fried steak.