Things To Do At The Fort Worth Stockyards, TX
Last month, Adam and I went on a two week road trip adventure across Texas. There was a western fashion trade show on in Dallas that I was keen to attend but the flights were expensive so we decided to mix business with pleasure and turn it into a holiday! We picked up our hired Jeep Wrangler, blasted some country tunes and made our way across Texas, visiting Houston (NASA), San Antonio, Fredericksburg, Dripping Springs, Austin, Fort Worth and Dallas. In this blog post I’ll be covering things to do at the Fort Worth Stockyards.
A Twice-Daily Cattle Drive
Every day in the morning and afternoon, the Fort Worth Stockyards hosts the world’s only twice daily cattle drive. You can’t miss it – it goes right through the main street! A herd of the most spectacular Texas longhorn cows are led through the street by cowboys dressed in authentic 19th century cowboy clothing. The longhorn’s horns can grow up to 10 feet (tip to tip)!
Shopping
It’s hard to tell if I was more excited about the rodeo at Fort Worth or the shopping! The streets at the Stockyards are lined with all the best western brands, including Ariat, Double D Ranch, Maverick Western Wear, Lucchese, Cavender’s, Panhandle and a shop that I’d been eager to visit for years – Fleastyle.
Adam treated himself to a new Ariat jacket, whilst I purchased a number of items from Fleastyle – including one of their signature styled hats. Fleastyle have their hat styling nailed to perfection; I’ve been following their Instagram account and drooling over their designs for years! I also found the perfect flannel shirt in the Proper Supply Co. store.
Billy Bob’s Texas
There’s one word for this – epic! With a capacity for 6000 people, Billy Bob’s Texas is the largest honky tonk in the world – it even has its own bull riding ring inside! With over 30 bars, multiple pool tables, a Texas-sized dance floor and line dancing lessons (I joined in and learnt two dances!), a restaurant serving up classic BBQ dishes, weekend Pro Bull Riding and country music’s biggest stars gracing the stage, this place is an absolute must-see when visiting Texas.
Rodeo
Of course, we couldn’t visit Texas without attending a rodeo! Fort Worth is home to the Cowtown Coliseum built in 1908 which hosts weekly professional rodeo events. We decided to book a Friday night rodeo for Adam’s birthday and this ended up being my favourite evening of the holiday! It had everything – bronco’s, nail-biting bull riding, roping, barrel racing, entertainment and even the kids got involved with some races! We had prime position in ‘Cowboy Corner’ with a table for food and our corner had its own bar. The atmosphere was amazing.
The Fort Worth Stock Yards is absolutely worth a visit for one or two days. I definitely recommend planning to be there over a weekend to get the most out of the experience with the weekend rodeo events. I also recommend booking your tickets in advance as the arena was packed full when we attended!
I hope you enjoyed this post and that it inspires you to book a trip to Texas 🙂
Looking for further travel inspiration? Take a peek at our trips to Charleston, Atlanta, the Smoky Mountains and Nashville.