Everything really is bigger in the Lone Star State – and that includes family-friendly fun. We’ve compiled a Texas-sized summer survival checklist that includes all the must-dos for your growing brood – all within a day’s drive of Dallas Fort Worth. So get out your No. 2s, fill your tank with gas and start checking off these essential North Texas attractions.
Texas culture: You’re not a true Texan ’til you’ve been here and done this
- GeO-Deck at Reunion Tower, Dallas
- Fort Worth Stockyards, Fort Worth
- National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, Fort Worth
- National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum and Hall of Fame, Fort Worth
- Old Red Museum, Dallas
- Resistol Arena, Mesquite
- Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, Dallas
- Southfork Ranch, Parker
- Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, Fort Worth
- West End Historical District, Dallas
- Western Currency Facility, Fort Worth
Science spots: Places to bring out their inner Einstein
- Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Fort Worth
- Perot Museum of Nature and Science at Victory Park, Dallas
- Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, Grand Prairie
- Sci-Tech Discovery Center, Frisco
Cool transportation: Get your ticket to ride (so Mom can sit down for a change)
- DART, Dallas area
- Forest Park Miniature Railroad, Fort Worth
- Grapevine Vintage Railroad, Grapevine
- Interurban Railway Museum, Plano
- McKinney Avenue Trolley, Dallas
- Museum of the American Railroad, Dallas
- Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth
- Trinity Railway Express, Dallas-Fort Worth
Aviation museums: Where dreams take flight … literally
- Cavanaugh Flight Museum, Addison
- C.R. Smith Museum, Fort Worth
- Founders Plaza Plane Observation Park, DFW International Airport
- Frontiers of Flight Museum, Dallas
- Vintage Flying Museum, Fort Worth
Animal encounters: Some moms do eat their young – but not here
- Dallas Zoo, Dallas
- Fort Worth Zoo, Fort Worth
- Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, Glen Rose
- Frank Buck Zoo, Gainesville
- In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Education Center, Wylie
- International Exotic Animal Sanctuary, Rhome
- Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch, Pilot Point
Aquariums & fishing: In the event of Sponge Bob overload
- Bass Pro Shops, Grapevine
- Cabela’s, Fort Worth
- Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park, Dallas
- Dallas World Aquarium, Dallas
- SEA LIFE Aquarium, Grapevine
- Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center, Athens
Astronomy centers: Indulge in a cavity-free milky way
- Noble Planetarium, Fort Worth
- Oscar E. Monnig Meteorite Gallery, Fort Worth
- St. Mark’s School of Texas Observatory, Dallas
- UNT Sky Theater, Denton
- UTA Planetarium, Arlington
Information Courtesy of WORDS GRETCHEN SPARLING PUBLISHED JULY 2018 UPDATED AUGUST 3, 2018