48 Hours: Marble Falls, Texas

Another week, another Texas trip! That’s how my life feels nowadays at least. Continuing my streak of Texas vacations by visiting Marble Falls, a small country town an hour northwest of Austin. It is often overlooked by its more popular hill country neighbors, Dripping Springs and Fredericksburg, but Marble Falls definitely has its own special points.

Accommodations

Although I usually prefer hotels when traveling during Covid just because hotel chains have a bigger responsibility when it comes to ensuring that rooms are clean, Marble Falls doesn’t have too many hotel options so we went for an Airbnb this time around. Our sweet Airbnb was located in basically the middle of nowhere on a tiny farm where a horse and a donkey also resided. It set the scene for the perfect girls trip and was a great homebase for us all weekend. The Airbnb was actually located right in the middle of all activities we wanted to do so we were able to make stops back at the house to freshen up, rest, and snack. While the wifi is iffy (it is the countryside after all), the fresh air and spacious grounds more than made up for it. The trip reminded of why Airbnb is such a great experience and business and how it offers so many unique opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t be available.

Activities

Balcones Canyonland National Wildlife Refuge

This place is HUGE. There are so many different sections and hiking trails to choose from and so much space and land. We hiked all the trails at Doeskin Ranch trailhead, which took around 3 hours. There is a mixture of steep elevation gain and flat peaceful walks. The land is simply beautiful, but the best part was the lack of crowds. We came on a Friday afternoon (the refuge is only open Monday to Friday) and came across about 4 other people. Definitely a great social distancing opportunity. It didn’t even seem like we were in Texas! There is no entrance fee and plenty of parking available. All the trails are clearly mapped out and marked- don’t worry you won’t get lost!

Flat Creek Estate

Flat Creek is located about 10-20 minutes away from Balcones (depending on where your trail head is) and is a beautiful vineyard and winery with a full service restaurant included. In order to do the $15 wine tasting, bookings have to be made in advance so that the winery can properly prepare a safe tasting since the tasting cups are disinfected and prepackaged. The tasting includes 4 different types of wines- 2 reds, 1 white, and 1 rose. Guests are allowed to take their wine into the beautiful green vineyard and wander around their huge property. Beware- Flat Creek Estate is located in Spicewood, but their sister restaurant, Flat Creek Enoteca, is located in Marble Falls downtown. So if you’re wanting to try the Enoteca’s delicious pizzas, make sure to leave yourself enough time to drive 30 minutes between the properties.

Sweet Berry Farms

If you’re looking for an activity that screams FALL, this is it! Sweet Berry Farms is definitely the destination for all fall related activities and is no secret to the public because it is crowded and the two giant parking lots do fill up so make sure to come early (they open at 8am on Saturdays). There are plenty of pumpkin patches and pumpkin photo opportunities as well as cute little goat pens with feedings allowed and wildflower fields that allow for picking. Other activities included making your own scarecrow, painting pumpkins, and 3 corn mazes. I loved how festive and autumn-y the environment felt and felt like I was truly enjoying fall in Texas. The best part? Entrance to the farms is free, although tickets to the different activities are priced and sold separately. Sweet Berry Farms was located 5 minutes from our Airbnb (a true bonus) and one of our favorite parts of the trip.

Perissos Vineyard

After visiting Flat Creek the day before, my standards for Marble Falls wine was pretty high. But Perissos exceeded those expectations- the wine here is delicious! We accidentally came on Member Appreciation Day so there were quite a lot of people enjoying the wine an picknicking outdoors, but I loved how the tastings tents were all spread out around their property allowing for plenty of social distancing. Tastings are $18 for 6 wines (although we did get a 7th because it was a special event) and consists of 3 whites and 4 reds. Advanced bookings aren’t needed and there is also an option to buy a glass of wine indoors to take outdoors to drink. Perissos wines somehow achieved a level of sweetness that I find rare in Texas wines due to the extremely hot weather that permeates Texas. I loved walking around their vineyard just enjoying the autumn weather and the sweet wines!

Downtown Marble Falls and Downtown Burnet

I was slightly surprised by Marble Falls because it’s a bigger town than I was expecting. I saw tons of people everywhere and there was even a giant HEB. However, their downtown Main Street still had a small town vibe to it. Filled with cute boutiques and cafes (and free parking!), Main Street is so quaint that it makes you feel like you are in Hallmark movie. Stores do close early and usually aren’t open on Sundays so check opening times before going!

Burnet is a nearby small town located about 15 minutes away from Marble Falls. We came for ice cream because that was the only thing open on a Saturday night and just walked around the (empty) downtown peering into vintage stores. Their church is what I would have thought a small town Texas church would look like- so quaint and classic.

Kayaking on Lake Marble Falls

One of the highlights of this trip was renting kayaks from Just Yakin and having the entire Lake Marble Falls to ourselves as we paddled around. I’ve never seen a lake so empty before! During our one hour kayaking we came across only 1 speed boat- after that no other boaters or kayakers were around. I loved how serene the experience was, although we did get wet. Be prepared for strong waves! Kayak rentals from Just Yakin are $22/hour or $75 for an entire day. They deliver the kayaks to a specific boat ramp so advanced reservations are a must. Hourly rentals are only allowed for Lake Marble Falls. The other lake deliveries offered on their site (including Lake Buchanan) are day rentals only due to the distance. I highly recommend renting single kayaks so that picture taking is easier!

Inks Lake State Park

We headed to Inks Lake State Park for our last day in Marble Falls. The park is located about 30 minutes north of Marble Falls and is open to day visitors on an advanced reservation basis. Meaning that bookings get reserved way in advance and it is near impossible to snag a ticket if you aren’t a planner. We were only able to obtain the $6 per person reservation for a Sunday (weekends are very competitive). The Park isn’t the biggest in Texas, but there are still a few interesting hiking trails and a hidden swimming hole (Devi'l’s Waterhole) that can only be reached by a hike. Due to the capacity limits, there isn’t too many people, which allowed us ample space for hiking and enjoying a scenic picnic. There is plenty of room for parking and the bathrooms are extremely clean as well (important when you are outdoors). Inks Lake is the perfect place to spend a day outdoors away from the crowds!

Food

Wingman Brothers Smokehouse

Wingman BBQ was highly rated on Yelp and it was featured in Texas Monthly magazines so we were excited to give it a try. But sadly, the meat didn’t live up to the hype. I had the one meat plate (brisket), which came with two sides (I chose potato salad and mac and cheese). Everything, while decently priced, was extremely salty. There are so many barbecue places in Marble Falls (it is Texas after all) that I wouldn’t return to this place for more meat.

Numinous Coffee

Numinous is the most popular coffee shop in Marble Falls and wow, the coffee sure is well brewed! I see why everyone raves about it because the employees are so sweet and the coffees and baked good are delicious. My pumpkin spice latte and gluten free chocolate peanut butter cookie were to die for- I’ve never even had great gluten free pastries before and this one blew me away. Numinous also makes their syrups in house so they aren’t too sweet or bitter tasting. The coffee shop is located in a white house located in downtown Marble Falls. Definitely worth a stop!

Blue Bonnet Cafe

If you spot lines outside a tan and white building, you’ve most likely spotted the Blue Bonnet Cafe. The Blue Bonnet is the most popular brunch spot in Marble Falls and with capacity limits in place due to Covid, indoor dining isn’t possible without a decent wait. Instead, we opted for takeout and brought our omelets and hashbrowns and bacon to Lakeside Park (5 minute drive away) for an outdoor picnic. The food at the Cafe is typical brunch fare and tasted very ordinary to me, but the small town feel is what really made the place a gem.

Happy Scoops Ice Cream

Located in downtown Burnet, Happy Scoops is the ice cream shop of the area. They make their own ice cream on site and have the most delicious flavors. My whopper malt scoop made my night! While everything in Burnet does close early, Happy Scoops actually opens until around 9pm so it is the perfect after dinner treat.

I’m discovering so much of Texas that I never would have even considered visiting prior to Covid. This is my 4th Texas weekend trip and I’m loving my home state even more with every new adventure. Let me know if you guys have any other Texas weekend trip ideas!