Stephen F. Austin State Park, Texas

Though we like to imagine a wing-eating contest deciding the fate of the Lone Star state... It all started back in the day when a group of 297 families led by Stephen F. Austin (the guy who the park, the capital of Texas and a whole bunch of other things is named after!) colonized along the Brazos River. These lands were, and still are unique in their proximity to wetland aquatic and hardwood forests. Go for a short hike to the Brazos River, and try your hand at primitive angling, (catfish for dinner?), enjoy six miles of hiking and biking, or simply gaze at the diversity of surrounding wildlife. Or, go completely left field and hit up the Stephen F. Austin 18-hole Golf Course available to visitors! What’s a birthplace of a state without an all-American golf course? Make your visit in May or June and you’ll get an extra treat--an abundance of fireflies light up the horizon just as it gets dark in the evening. You thought we were going to say the annual wing-eating contest, didn’t you?