Sign about Texas

If you were to ask me where my dream place to live would be then I would without even hesitating tell you Tyler, Texas. I mean just drive through the town and tell me you are not in love with it! The reason I love it so much is that there is such a huge assortment of things to do, but you still get that small town feel!

Famous for their roses, you will see flowers and fruit stands scattered around town! It is green and full of trees, which is a big deal to us West Texans! There are family friendly activities, things to do for date night, plenty of shops for the shoppers, and so much more. There is just an endless number of Tyler, Texas activities and places to visit nearby! There is something here for everyone!

Fun Things To Do In Tyler, Texas

Have A Black Bear Encounter At Caldwell Zoo

If you are visiting Tyler, Texas than you need to visit Caldwell Zoo!
Caldwell zoo is one of the very family friendly Tyler Texas activities

A vacation isn’t a vacation in my eyes unless you go to a zoo. I LOVE animals and so this is my treat every vacation, to go to the local zoo. Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, Texas is no disappointment either. The design of the zoo is so beautiful with all of the gardens and plants all around.

It is a larger, more spaced out zoo, and so I really suggest if you have little ones bring your own foldable wagon. I have more than one kid and so it is nice to skip the fight over who gets to ride in the stroller and just go ahead and put them all in the stroller whenever they are tired. Also it is easier to get them in and out whenever they want, cause what toddler ever just sat in one spot for hours on in.

I have never seen so many spider monkey’s in my life as they have here! The exhibits aren’t too big that you can’t see the animals and there are so many to see. Also there are a lot of fun small activities for kiddos along the way. They have elephant talks, fun playgrounds, a parakeet feeding area, and a petting zoo. Such a fun zoo!

Admire The Statues At The Children’s Park

This beautiful park was made to honor children who have lost their lives and give comfort to their parents. It is an adorable little park filled with statues of children and things that children love. The point of this park is also to encourage natural play in children, so instead of a playground there are rocks, trees, creeks, and waterfalls to play on.

Walk Through The Tyler Rose Garden and Museum

One of the best Tyler Texas activities is to visit the Tyler Rose Garden
There are roses of every color at the Tyler Rose Garden in Tyler Texas
When visiting Tyler Texas you need to make sure you stop by the rose garden!

I love free activities on trips. Trips and vacations can get so expensive so fast and so to find an activity that is free and fun just makes me feel so good! Tyler, Texas is very famous for their roses and actually if you go during the season they are blooming you can buy them for super cheap from vendors at the side of the road. This garden is filled and I mean filled with roses. It is so beautiful to walk through! It really makes you feel like a professional photographer taking pictures too, cause it is so beautiful that you don’t even have to try to take a good picture, it just naturally looks like a postcard!

There is a museum here too, but you do need to pay for this part of the experience. It is a very small museum of pictures, videos, and dresses of previous rose parades. It is beautiful, but not really recommended for toddlers or young kids.

Take Awesome Pictures With The Photo Ops At Art Alley Tyler

One of the Tyler, Texas activities that everyone will love is to take pictures and enjoy the art of Art Alley Tyler! Each year local artist display their talents by painting on the walls of the Art Alley in Tyler, Texas. It is like an outdoor art museum!

Pick Blueberries At Tyler Berry Farm

Another one of the Tyler, Texas activities you will love is picking berries! Tyler Berry Farm is a U-Pick farm of strawberries and blueberries! Just purchase your bucket, head to the field and pick to your hearts desire. I recommend wearing rubber boots just to protect your feet from the mud under the plants!

Climb Through The Ship At Discovery Science Place

Learn about science at the Discovery Center in Tyler Texas
One of the Tyler Texas activities is to play with science at the Discovery Center

If you are looking for a fun place for kids, this museum is a great one to choose. There really is only one activity for toddlers under 2, and that is a foam building area. It is not very big, but still a fun place for young kids to interact, play, and learn. There are caves, a giant ship, building challenges, and fun little science experiments to participate in.

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Day Trips From Tyler, Texas

Hunt Hogs At Wild Boar Outfitters

My husband is not a huge traveler/tourist, whereas I am obsessed with exploring. To make our vacations fun for both of us, I make sure there is at least one husband activity. One of my husband’s all time favorite things to do is hunt and by golly, if you have ever lived in Texas you know the biggest game is hogs and Tyler, Texas is no exception.

His favorite place to hunt for hogs is in Winnsboro, Tx at the Wild Board Outfitters, which is 59 minutes above Tyler, Texas. We would book our stay here and stay in the bunkhouse or log cabin on the property. It has a full kitchen, multiple bathrooms and lots of room. Now it is no fancy hotel that’s for sure, but it is convinent so that my husband doesn’t have to travel to hunt at night. It is feeder hunting and the owner will take you out to stands.

Hunting for hogs is one of the Tyler Texas activities that your husband will love
Hunting hogs is a fun thing to do in Tyler Texas

My husband has rarely ever left empty handed, and always leaves with a smile on his face, and a mountain load of hunting stories. I am not much of a hunter myself, so while he hunts at night I sleep and then when he comes back we go out to do fun stuff for the kids and me.

Essentials for Hog Hunting in Tyler, Texas:

  • 308 or 30-06 Gun- Now obviously you will want a gun, and these are the best types for hog hunting. It is required that you have a gun big enough for all size hogs, so at least a .243.
  • Gutting/Skinner Kit– The owner, for a $25 fee, will skin and quarter the hog for you, but if you want to do it yourself, bring your kit!
  • Scent Masking Soap– The hogs will smell you, so before going out shower and scrub down with no scent soap to mask your smell.
  • Insect Protected Camo– Obviously hunting you will want camouflaged clothing to help you blend into your surroundings, but for this particular part of Texas you will want insect protected camo! Especially due to the high amounts of ticks.
  • Hunting Green Light– The best time to go hog hunting is at night and so you will want a scope that will help you see in the dark. When hog hunting you can use a green light scope. It is like a green flash light, but hogs can’t see green.
  • Scent Free Insect Repellant– There are no shortage of mosquitos and ticks in this area. Make sure you have insect repellant and when hunting it is essential to get scent free so the hogs won’t smell you.
  • Giant Artic Cooler– Coolers are not provided. Be sure you bring a giant cooler to store your hog and transfer it home.

Shop At First Monday Trade Days

I am a huge fan of modern farmhouse décor, antiquing, carnivals, and not spending a lot of money. That is why First Monday Trade Days is the absolute best thing ever to go to! They have EVERYTHING!!!

On the first Thursday-Sunday of the month in Canton, Tx; they hold a huge flea market. I mean HUGE!! You could be there for hours and still not even get through half of what there is to see. People sell art, crafts, furniture, clothes, pet gear, saddles, décor, pillows, movies, animals, plants, toys, etc.

This flea market is one of my favorite Tyler Texas activities.
First Monday Trade Days near Tyler Texas is my favorite flea market in the world!

There are carnival rides and amazing carnival fried food. ATMs are everywhere because most everything requires cash, including parking which is rough to get due to the heavy amount of people in attendance. Best part is that the majority of the stuff is decent prices and pretty affordable. If not it is a great place to window shop. There is an unbelievable amount of things to do and see here.

Slide Down The Whale Slide At Splash Kingdom Family Water Park

Canton Texas is a great day trip destination from Tyler Texas
Another one of the Tyler, Texas activities for families, is this waterpark
The whale slide was my daughter's favorite thing about Splash Kingdom In Canton Texas

Simply put this is a place that is fun for all ages. Waterparks are always a fun place to go, whether you like the extreme or the relaxing side of things. This park has it all. The giant slides, the fast slides, the splash pad, the lazy river, the surfer waves, the steep slides, and the kids area. Their kid area has a giant castle in it to. My little 2 year old was in heaven! The kids area goes up to about an adults knee. So if you have little ones that can’t swim, make sure they have some water wings or floats.

A couple times a day they fill up the dance area with tons of bubbles too for the little ones and that is a huge hit. It is not a huge waterpark and if you go around September it really isn’t that busy at all because it is the end of season, but still warm.

Glass Restrooms and Veterans Memorial

We drove up to Sulphur Springs to go see the dairy museum, which was closed due to a dairy day celebration they had going on. So we joined in the fun since we were there and it was the cutest little celebration with ice cream being a center attraction. No complaints here!

The fun part about this little po-dunk town is the main center. The courthouse is a beautiful architecture and surrounding it is a Veterans memorial. The highlight of it all though is actually using the restroom. Haha! I know that sounds really weird.

In this little central park is a restroom that looks like a mirror on the outside and a window from inside. It is super unnerving to see everyone all around you while you are using the restroom, but hey when are you ever going to experience that again.

Cooper Lake State Park

Whether you are boating, fishing, or just wanting to go for a swim, Cooper Lake State Park is the place for you. In the heat and humidity of summer, splashing around in the cool water of the lake and grilling hot dogs in the many pavilions was just what the doctor ordered.

The beaches are slightly sandy and actually not too deep and so it is really nice for little ones who want dig in the dirt and only wade slightly in the water. There are also bathrooms and changing areas which is really nice and not common for a state park. Perfect place for a perfect lake day.

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