A Day Trip to Enchanted Rock & Fredricksburg
This year during the winter school break we had days in Austin that were in the 20s and days that were in the 80s. On a day that was in the 60s we decided to spend the day at Enchanted Rock and exploring Fredricksburg. It’s about an hour and a half from south west Austin to Enchanted Rock, then another 30 minutes to Fredricksburg.
We started off at Enchanted Rock where we took an easy hike that was less than mile long. We had 2 kids under 12 and my 66 year old mother with us so we needed to be sure to take an easy trail. This one went to the summit of Enchanted Rock so we were able to have 360 degree views of Austin’s Hill Country. The end of the hike can be a bit steep, but if you criss cross it’s not bad. The pink granite does not provide many trees, but the views are so stunning.
After our hike we made our way to the small German influenced town of Fredricksburg. Fredricksburg is well know in the area for their peaches, but this time of year it was fun to walk around and shop. The town square is decorated with lights for the holidays and they have an ice rink set up. It costs $10 to skate (skate rentals included) all day, you can take breaks and come back as you wish. We shopped a bit then went for lunch at Jennie’s Smoked Burgers & Tornado Fries. If you are in town, you must try this place! It is right off Main St so it doesn’t have much curb appeal, but the brisket burgers are delicious. The tornado fries are spiral cut potatoes that are skewered and fried so they are kinda like potato chips.
Once finished exploring the shops and town we headed home to Austin. On the way home we passed through Johnson City, which is known for their lights display that Pedernales puts on. Thousands of lights are wrapped on the trees in the square which makes it seem almost like daylight when you are standing in the middle of it.
All in all it was a full day and we arrived home with sleeping kiddos in the back seat.
