Museum · 34 min east
Perot Museum of Nature and Science
Downtown Dallas science museum with 11 exhibit halls, including the Moody Family Children's Museum for young kids.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Admission
Day Trippin' › Texas › From Fort Worth
Day trips from Fort Worth
From Fort Worth, the Stockyards and the Kimbell Art Museum are minutes away, Six Flags Over Texas about 20, Granbury and Lake Mineral Wells under 45 minutes, Fossil Rim Wildlife Center about an hour, and Dinosaur Valley State Park a little over an hour. The best day trips from Fort Worth, by drive time.
53 places within a 3-hour drive, by real roads.
10 day trips from Fort Worth
- Perot Museum of Nature and Science 34 min east
- Cedar Hill State Park 38 min southeast
- Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden 43 min east
- Fossil Rim Wildlife Center 1 hr 3 min southwest
- Dinosaur Valley State Park 1 hr 7 min southwest
- Fort Richardson State Park 1 hr 8 min northwest
- Magnolia Market at the Silos 1 hr 18 min south
- Abilene Zoo 2 hr 8 min west
- Frontier Texas 2 hr 9 min west
- Barton Springs Pool 2 hr 47 min south
Within an hour from Fort Worth 13 spots
State park · 38 min southeast
Cedar Hill State Park
Big park on Joe Pool Lake with a gravel swimming beach, the DORBA mountain bike trail and the historic Penn Farm.
- Half day · Easy to moderate
- Year-round
- Texas State Parks day-use fee (per person; kids 12 and under free)
Family fun · 43 min east
Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden
Large botanical garden in East Dallas with seasonal festivals, concerts and holiday displays.
- 2-4 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Admission (parking extra)
Town · 43 min southwest
Granbury
Lake town with a historic square and Lake Granbury, voted USA Today's Best Historic Small Town several times, with festivals all year.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Bike trail · 35 min east
Katy Trail
A 3.5-mile paved trail through Dallas with a soft-surface path alongside for walkers and runners.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Zoo · 36 min east
Dallas Zoo
Big city zoo in Dallas with its own DART Red Line station across from the front gate.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- Admission (parking extra)
State park · 52 min south
Cleburne State Park
Wooded park around spring-fed Cedar Lake with swimming, paddling and a technical 6-mile mountain bike loop among nearly 13 miles of trails.
- Half day · Easy to moderate
- Year-round
- Texas State Parks day-use fee (per person; kids 12 and under free)
State park · 54 min northeast
Ray Roberts Lake State Park
Lake park with two units, Isle du Bois and Johnson Branch, offering swimming beaches, fishing, camping and paved and dirt multiuse trails.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- Texas State Parks day-use fee (per person; kids 12 and under free)
1 to 2 hours from Fort Worth 13 spots
State park · 1 hr 7 min southwest
Dinosaur Valley State Park
Walk in real dinosaur tracks in the Paluxy River bed near Glen Rose, with about 20 miles of trails for hiking and mountain biking.
- Half day · Easy to moderate
- Year-round
- Texas State Parks day-use fee (per person; kids 12 and under free)
Family fun · 1 hr 18 min south
Magnolia Market at the Silos
Busy shopping and food complex in Waco with shops, places to eat and a big turf lawn.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
Zoo · 1 hr 3 min southwest
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center
Conservation center near Glen Rose where you drive a scenic route among roaming endangered and exotic animals and can feed them from your car.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- Admission (per person; kids 2 and under free)
Historic site · 1 hr 8 min northwest
Fort Richardson State Park
Original 1860s buildings of a big frontier Army post at Jacksboro, plus the 9-mile (one way) Lost Creek Reservoir State Trailway for hiking, biking and riding and a sand beach on Lake Jacksboro.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- Texas State Parks day-use fee (per person; kids 12 and under free)
National park · 1 hr 20 min south
Waco Mammoth National Monument
See mammoth fossils left where they were found, on a guided tour of the dig shelter in Waco.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Tour fee (per person; national park passes not accepted)
State park · 1 hr 37 min northeast
Eisenhower State Park
Bluff-top park on Lake Texoma with a sandy swimming cove, two fishing piers, more than four miles of walking and biking trails and fossils from an ancient ocean.
- Half day · Easy to moderate
- Year-round
- Texas State Parks day-use fee (per person; kids 12 and under free)
State park · 1 hr 57 min east
Tyler State Park
Pine-forest park with a 64-acre spring-fed lake for swimming and paddling and more than 13 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails.
- Half day · Easy to moderate
- Year-round
- Texas State Parks day-use fee (per person; kids 12 and under free)
Museum · 1 hr 17 min south
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum
Waco museum on the history of the Texas Rangers law-enforcement agency.
- 2 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Admission (kids under 6 free)
2 to 3 hours from Fort Worth 24 spots
Swimming · 2 hr 47 min south
Barton Springs Pool
A three-acre spring-fed pool in Austin's Zilker Park that stays around 68-70 degrees all year. It is home to the endangered Barton Springs salamander.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Admission (free until March 2027)
Zoo · 2 hr 8 min west
Abilene Zoo
A family zoo with giraffe feeding, a train and a carousel.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- Admission
Museum · 2 hr 9 min west
Frontier Texas
A modern western heritage museum in downtown Abilene that uses modern technology to tell stories of Comanches, cowboys, buffalo hunters and forts.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Admission
Town · 2 hr 12 min west
Abilene
The Storybook Capital of America, where dozens of bronze characters from classic children's books fill downtown streets and gardens.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- Free
State park · 2 hr 36 min east
Daingerfield State Park
Pine and hardwood park around Little Pine Lake with swimming, paddling, the 2.4-mile Rustling Leaves Trail and fine fall color.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round
- Texas State Parks day-use fee (per person; kids 12 and under free)
Family fun · 2 hr 52 min south
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
284 acres of native Texas gardens and trails in south Austin, run by the University of Texas.
- 2-3 hrs · Easy
- Year-round; wildflowers best in spring
- Admission (higher Friday to Sunday)
Bike trail · 2 hr 52 min south
Onion Creek Hike and Bike Trail
A 2.8-mile hard-surfaced trail inside McKinney Falls State Park that suits road bikes, strollers and easy walks.
- 1-2 hrs · Easy
- Year-round
- Texas State Parks day-use fee (per person; kids 12 and under free)
State park · 2 hr 33 min west
Abilene State Park
A shady creekside park built by the CCC, with a historic swimming pool in summer and a small no-wake lake for paddling.
- Half day · Easy
- Year-round; pool in summer
- Texas State Parks day-use fee (per person; kids 12 and under free)
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Drive times are by road on a typical day from ZIP 76102 (OpenStreetMap data with the OSRM route planner). Facts checked against official sites; passes and hours change, so check before you go.