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San Marcos Through the Seasons: The Best Time to Visit
Not pointing fingers, but other cities may boast of their fantastic holiday season or brag about their river that’s great for activities during the summer—cough, we have two rivers cough—but in San Marcos, we think of ourselves as an evergreen city.
That means you can clear the room, close your eyes, throw a dart at the calendar, and always land on a fantastic time to visit. Unless you’re like us and hit the wall every time, if you land on the wall, let’s just call that the mysterious 13th month of Bofamber. If Bofamber were real, it would also be a great time to visit San Marcos!
Just so you know, we’re not making this stuff up; we went ahead and put together some of our favorite things to do in San Marcos throughout the seasons. Take a look and decide which time of year you want to come hang out!
Spring in San Marcos: Glass-Bottom Boats and Mermaids
Who doesn’t love spring? The birds are blooming, the flowers are chirping, and every cool breeze feels like a reassuring nudge toward new beginnings.
Get a taste of all three at the Meadows Center Glass-Bottom Boat Tours. As you might’ve guessed from the name, this is no ordinary boat tour. You’ll be taken through Spring Lake on a glass-bottom boat, meaning you’ll not only be able to enjoy the sights all around you, but beneath you too! This aquatic window is no gimmick either, as the tour focuses on the lake’s marine life and the ancient artifacts found in its depths. Don’t press your nose up against the glass too hard—or at all, please—lest you become an artifact yourself!
That said, if you’re interested in becoming marine life, that can be arranged. There may, in fact, be no better city suited to bestowing that honor, since San Marcos happens to be the Mermaid Capital of Texas. To celebrate this cherished title, the city holds the annual Mermaid Capital of Texas Fest in May.
Morning brings a downtown parade of dancers, music, and some truly eclectic floats, then the party moves to Plaza Park for an art festival with more than 120 artisan vendors, food trucks, and tons of family activities. Oh, and don’t forget to wear your best mermaid costume! And potentially bring a friend to push around your giant fishbowl, depending on how committed you are.
Summer in San Marcos: Cave Tours and Concerts
Our love of summer is ingrained in us from childhood. It was the season synonymous with that sweetest of sensations: freedom. Unfortunately, we have to grow up and get jobs that don’t recognize the sacred holiday of summer vacation. On the bright side, now you have money to do with as you please, so, in some sense, you’re receiving a steady drip of freedom rather than that annual truckload dumped on your head.
Make the most of your newfound adult powers by spending the day at Wonder World Cave & Adventure Park. Perfect for a summer adventure, this one-of-a-kind experience has been going strong for more than 100 years! Think of all the people that might’ve visited: Einstein, Houdini, Marilyn Monroe, the guy who wins all those hot dog eating contests. There’s no evidence for any of those people visiting, but it’s possible!
Most theme parks have basically the same stuff: roller coasters, funnel cakes, and a handful of games. Wonder World Cave & Adventure Park has tours of a natural cave, a train ride through a petting zoo, and a mind-bending, anti-gravity funhouse, just to name a few of its attractions. It’s a theme park like no other, ideal for kids—and adults—who think they’ve seen everything.
When the weather gets warm, there’s more than one way to chill out, but few cooler than San Marcos’ Summer in the Park concert series. Bring a lawn chair—or maybe just a blanket for the picnic experience—and an ice chest, then let the sounds take you away. No matter which direction your turntable spins, you’re sure to find some music you love amongst the lineup of musicians, which includes honky tonk, blues rock, and maybe even something a little quirkier. If you’re wondering if your dog—a big blues hound—can come, that’s A-okay! Just so long as it’s on a leash—we all know how wild dogs can get when they’ve had one too many treats at a concert.
Fall in San Marcos: Craft Beer and a Powwow
Come fall, it’s getting to be that cozy time of year. Outside of the warm embrace of a vegan grizzly bear, nothing’s cozier than a craft beer amongst friends!
Although there are many places to get a beer in San Marcos, three breweries bubble to the surface: Middleton Brewing, Roughhouse Brewing, and Sean Patrick’s Irish Pub & Texas Grub. Middleton and Roughhouse are just outside the city, so they’re a great reason to get out to the famous Texas Hill Country. As for Sean Patrick’s, it’s in the heart of downtown, making it best for a quick drop-in at any time of day—except maybe the top o’ the morning.
The big event of the season is the Sacred Springs Powwow. What it lacks in mermaids, it makes up for in the incredible culture, art, and traditions of the Coahuiltecans, the Native Americans who lived in the San Marcos area for thousands of years. Set against the backdrop of Spring Lake—the sacred springs in question—this colorful two-day powwow includes dance contests, a grand market of Indigenous crafts and foods, and a Native Cultures tent dedicated to storytelling and music. As you might’ve guessed, this event offers a rare opportunity to witness authentic Native American traditions up close, as well as partake in some yourself—we’re looking at you, frybread!
Winter in San Marcos: Paddling, Lonesome Dove, and Good Coffee
Ah, winter: the most front-loaded of the seasons. It starts off strong with Christmas, then fizzles out with months of bitter cold and little to show for it. Thankfully, San Marcos picks up the slack with plenty of winter attractions to prevent that Christmas comedown.
Remember way back when we mentioned that the San Marcos River stays at a cool 72 degrees? Well, that just so happens to be true even in the winter! Puts on lab coat. It’s not magic, but rather a result of the river being almost entirely spring-fed, meaning its water comes from an underground aquifer. By the time the aquifer’s water reaches the surface, it doesn’t have time to gain or lose heat. Takes off lab coat. That means you can go swimming or kayaking in the winter! We recommend doing so at Rio Vista Park, since it meets the river at a particularly beautiful spot and has all the amenities you want in a park.
If you’re not in the river, a great way to stay warm is by visiting The Wittliff Collections, a museum at Texas State University dedicated to the creative legacy of Southwest Texas. With literary papers and items from legendary Texan artists like Cormac McCarthy, Sam Shepard, and Mike Judge, this museum isn’t just a must-see for Texans, but for anyone looking for a little creative inspiration. There’s even an entire Lonesome Dove exhibit with the actual costumes, props, and screenplay drafts from the show. The only way the exhibit could be any better is if Tommy Lee Jones were part of it, but he wouldn’t agree to standing in the glass box every day. Actors can be so fussy!
Even though coffee is an everyday thing for many of us, it never tastes better than on a cold winter day. Sure, some of the chains are fine in a pinch—we’re partial to the one with the mermaid, naturally—but nothing beats the artisan brews of our local coffee shops.
Take Tantra, for instance, a laidback little spot with a dog-friendly patio, local art, live music, and creative brews like the Cacaowie Wowie (espresso with spiced chocolate). We also have to mention Wake the Dead Coffee House, which takes “laidback” to an extreme with its distinctly graveyard aesthetic. Imagine if Beetlejuice opened a coffee shop and served bold, organic coffee, as well as 55 imported and domestic beers—that’s the sort of refreshing gothic whimsy you can’t get at Dunkin’ Donuts! Speaking of refreshing gothic whimsy, we can’t forget about Triple Six Social, a coffee shop that replaces the smell of sulfur with the sweet aroma of seasonal lattes, chai tea, and Italian sodas. Or maybe your personality is a little less Edgar Allan Poe and a little more Edgar Allan Pink. In that case, we highly recommend The Sweet Spot, an adorable dessert shop with a heartwarming—and everywhere else-warming—hot cocoa flight that’ll fly you all the way to cloud nine.
📸 @mrsjetsetrockett
San Marcos: Reasons for the Seasons
If we were to list everything San Marcos has in store for each season, we’d be here all year long. Everyone else would be outside enjoying the Mermaid Capital of Texas Fest or hanging out at Roughhouse Brewing, and we’d be in here typing away. No matter when you decide to visit, San Marcos is ready and waiting. Just bring the family and a suitcase—we’ll provide the good time.
Thinking about visiting? You’re going to need a place to stay, and the tourism office is all out of extra toothbrushes. Take a look at these cozy hotels, instead!
