Underground, then the quarry that built the capitol, then the back roads.
9:30 AM – 12:00 PM· 2h 30m
Longhorn Cavern State ParkNational Parks & ForestsAnchor
Carved by a river rather than dripped into being, so it has smooth flowing walls instead of the usual spikes — and a strange history to match. The Confederacy made gunpowder in it, outlaws are supposed to have hidden in it, and in the 1920s somebody put a dance floor and a speakeasy down there. The CCC cleared it out by hand in the 1930s.
Bring: a layer — it is 68°F down there year-round
6211 Park Rd 4 S, Burnet, TX12:30 PM – 2:30 PM· 2h
Marble Falls & Granite MountainLandmarks & MonumentsWorth it
A dome of solid pink granite on the edge of town, still quarried. The Texas Capitol you walked through on day 327 is built out of it — the state traded a Panhandle ranch's worth of land for the stone and laid a railroad out here to move it. Then pie at the Bluebonnet Cafe, which has been on US-281 since 1929.
RR 1431, Marble Falls, TX3:00 PM – 5:30 PM· 2h 30m
The Willow City LoopOutdoor & Water ActivitiesAnchor
Thirteen miles of one-lane ranch road southwest toward Fredericksburg, and in April it is the most photographed stretch of wildflowers in America — bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush wall to wall down the draws. Every inch of it is private ranch land, so stay on the road and don't climb the fences; people do, and it is why the loop nearly gets closed every few years.
Bring: a camera · patience — it is slow going in bloom season
Willow City Loop, Fredericksburg, TX5:45 PM – 6:15 PM(On the road)· 30m
Willow City, TX → Fredericksburg, TXCommuting & Travel
Out the bottom of the loop and down RR 1323 into Fredericksburg for the night.