Don’t Miss the State’s Highest Highway Bridge
The Pecos River bridge offers spectacular views, especially from the overlook.
Forrest Wilder is a senior editor at Texas Monthly. He covers politics, the outdoors, the environment, and what all. In a previous life, he served as editor of the Texas Observer. A native Texan who grew up in South Texas and the Hill Country, Forrest earned a bachelor’s from the University of Texas at Austin. He enjoys rock climbing, fishing, gardening, and spending time with his family. Send tips and fan mail to fwilder@texasmonthly.com.
The Pecos River bridge offers spectacular views, especially from the overlook.
Glenn Beck went looking for proof that the Liberty County community is a cartel-controlled nightmare. He was surprised by what he found.
The Houston exurb offers cheap land to hardworking families. But some in the GOP see the benefit in demonizing the migrants who’ve moved there.
The attorney general’s acquittal affects an upcoming legislative session on school vouchers—and the civil war within the Texas GOP.
After eight days of arguments and testimony, senators deliberate on whether to convict the embattled Texas attorney general.
Rick Perry rides a gunboat. Ted Cruz goes militiaman. Ron DeSantis and George P. Bush try their best.
By Forrest Wilder and Dan Solomon
The attorney general’s affair finally took center stage. Plus, testimony on a meeting at Galaxy Cafe, a red car, and a Bible verse.
For the second year in a row, the iconic spring-fed swimming hole has stopped flowing, the consequence of drought and overpumping.
The Guardian thinks so and, weirdly, so do many Aggies.
I like to think I am Texas Tough when it comes to the heat. But lately, my fortitude has been tested.
The Legislature took a big step Monday, but further efforts could come with great costs: a sky-high sales tax, decimated public schools, and defunding the police.
On property taxes, school funding, and more, “Democrats are not even in the conversation,” Dallas representative John Bryant says.
Lawmakers just authorized lots of money to acquire new parkland. We asked advocates and conservationists to dream big.
Our scorecard of the Eighty-eighth Texas Legislature’s noisy scoundrels and quiet heroes.
The conservative, gun-toting superintendent of Fort Davis Independent School District is fed up: “I’m not patient enough to spend time with assholes in Austin, and I’m not rich enough to buy any votes.”
Rarely are special-interest bills in the Texas Lege quite so special as in Brooks Landgraf’s bill targeting the tiny town of Volente.
Amid a debate over competing property tax–relief plans, the lieutenant governor isn’t holding back. But is “California Dade” a good insult?
By Forrest Wilder and Dan Solomon
In the ongoing push to preempt progressive policies at the local level, the GOP-controlled Legislature could undo protections against predatory payday lending.
The governor has promoted “school choice” at seven religious academies around the state. Why there?
I stopped by for a hike on the park’s final day. Its 1,420 acres are set to become luxury homes.
Scientists are using GPS collars to gather surprising data—including on one bear that walked 35 miles to dumpster dive.
In an address that resembled a campaign ad, the governor issued seven priorities for the Legislature, including a push for “school choice.”
Internal documents offer new insights into an unprecedented ploy in Wimberley to divert public-education dollars to private schools.
Three good spots around the state to fly-fish for Cyprinus carpio.
The first rule of catching a carp: don’t expect to catch a carp.
The ways of the Texas Legislature are confoundingly weird. Here’s a guide to the madness.
By Christopher Hooks and Forrest Wilder
What happens when hundreds of thousands of people go to the same place looking for a little quiet time? One of our two national parks is finding out.
Proposed regulations have prompted an intense backlash from hunters, trappers, and landowners.
Representative Jared Patterson is following a long legislative tradition of trying to troll Austin.
It's a big win for a city that often feels neglected by Austin and Washington, D.C.
Author S. C. Gwynne calls his 2009 profile of the pirate-obsessed former Texas Tech coach part of the “golden era” of his journalism career.
Only a handful of the state’s 219 legislative and congressional races were competitive. That was by design.
DPS director Steve McCraw could legally release mountains of evidence tomorrow. Instead, he is hiding behind a veil of secrecy.
Political operatives descended on the Hill Country town of Wimberley with a scheme to send taxpayer dollars to private schools. Now they’re shopping the same blueprint elsewhere.
The lieutenant governor’s rural bus tour looks more like an extended vacation than a reelection bid.
It’s become a Texas tradition to hold brief gubernatorial debates during high school football prime time.
In 1982, Dick J. Reavis chronicled the first government-led lethal injection in world history—and the last moments of Charlie Brooks's life.
Plans were underway to revive tourism at Fort Clark Springs in southwest Texas. But then, in a scenario increasingly common across the state, the water stopped flowing.
Across the state, Texans are experiencing record-high temperatures, but we might be recalling this summer fondly someday.
Homeowners in hot housing markets got a nasty surprise when their appraisals arrived this spring. Here’s what happened when some of them tried to get reductions.
How to get the adventure and scenery without having to spend days in your kayak or canoe.
My family’s shack on an island in the world’s largest hypersaline lagoon has brought us closer to the fishing—and to one another.
Texas authorities bungled the facts about the law enforcement response at Robb Elementary School. Then they went silent.
Texas has wild weather. We need a lexicon to match.
Defenders of limitless guns are out of ideas but full of excuses.
In the Republican runoff for attorney general, incumbent Ken Paxton—not to mention Donald Trump—got his wish.
Please clap.
No, sorry, we can't blame the Californians. Here's more than you ever wanted to know about your home’s skyrocketing appraisal.
Two-fifths of Texas Republicans say they would never vote for a Bush.
Over several years, Richard West spent two months in seven Texas locales. His reporting eventually won the National Magazine Award.