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Winter Weekends Near Dallas

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While our northern neighbors are shoveling snow, Dallasites can take advantage of moderate winter weather. In fact, many of these destinations are best visited in winter or early spring before our hot summer heat makes outdoor activities unbearable. Whether it’s a family safari, gathering fossils or diamond hunting, here are five family-friendly winter weekend destinations within driving distance of Dallas.

Mineral Wells, Texas.

Mineral Wells Fossil Park will capture young paleontologists’ imaginations. Located just 80 miles southwest of Dallas, the park contains thousands of small, prehistoric sea life fossils. The park was once a borrow pit used by the city for dirt fill. Years of rain and erosion exposed the 300 million old fossils with many readily visible throughout the pit.

Gathering fossils is easy – no digging necessary. Bring a small baggie for collecting treasures. You won’t find a dinosaur here, but you can keep what you unearth! The park is free, and is open Friday through Monday.

Glen Rose, Texas

Fossil Rim Wildlife Center is as close as you’ll get to an African safari without boarding a plane. Spanning 1800 acres near Glen Rose, Texas, the sprawling complex is home to North Texas Ramblingsover 50 species of exotic African and Eurasian animals. The most common way to observe the animals is from your car. Buy a bag of animal feed and you’ll make a herd of new friends as you drive the nine mile park route.

Nearby Dinosaur World will thrill pint-sized dino lovers with over 100 dinosaur replicas.

Waco, Texas

Waco Mammoth Site is an often overlooked destination. In 1978, two teenage boys spotted a bone embedded in a dry Waco creek bed. The boys’ find became the largest nursery herd of Columbian mammoth (19 mammoths and a camel) discovered. The Waco Mammoth Site opened to the public in 2009. Docent-led tours take you through a climate-controlled building surrounding the dig site where you can see mammoth bones as they were found.

While in Waco, stop by the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame. Most of the museum focuses on real Texas Rangers, but one section is dedicated to our fictional heroes like those in Lone Ranger and Walker Texas Ranger television series.

Murfreesboro, Arkansas

Crater of the Diamond State Park may make you rich. Or so you hope. About 250 miles east of Dallas, the park is the only diamond mine open to the public. To the uninitiated, the mine looks like nothing more than a plowed farmer’s field. But appearances can be deceiving. Hidden in the dirt furrows are diamonds, agate, jasper and quartz.

Park visitors find over 500 diamonds each year, though most diamonds are less than the size of a pea. Adventurous families can camp at the park or the Queen of Diamonds Inn in Murfreesboro offers affordable and comfortable lodging.

Grapevine, Texas

Great Wolf Lodge Grapevine fits the bill for those wanting a weekend escape without the car drive. Your stay at the lodge includes access to their massive indoor water park – a guaranteed winner with the youngsters. Great Wolf Lodge offers special discounts for multiple night stays (up to 20 percent off) and even deeper room discounts for families staying during the weeknights.

While it’s possible to spend an entire weekend just at the lodge, be sure to take advantage of all the nearby Grapevine offers. Reopening February 22, 2013, the Grapevine Vintage Railroad transports passengers from Grapevine depot to the Stockyards in Fort Worth via old time rail cars pulled by either Puffy (a 1896 steam engine) or Vinny (a 1953 diesel engine).

Mineral Wells Fossil Park

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Mineral Wells Fossil Park will capture young paleontologists’ imaginations. Fossil hunters can search for treasures, and the best part, you can keep whatever you find. Located just 80 miles west of Dallas, Mineral Wells Fossil Park opened to the public in 2010.

Park history. The Dallas Paleontological Society, City of Mineral Wells and Mineral Wells Chamber of Commerce partnered to create the park at the site of the city’s old borrow pit. Years ago, the town used earth dug from the area, the borrow pit, for dirt fill at the city dump. The pit was then closed in the 1990s and forgotten. Twenty years of rain and wind eroded the borrow pit’s sides exposing mineralized fossils in among shale and dirt.

No dinosaurs here. The best fossil hunting follows strong rains. The rain washes away dirt exposing the fossils on the ridges and in the troughs of furrows throughout the North Texas Ramblings Mineral Wells Fossil Parkborrow pit. Readily visible, the fossils are intermixed with small rocks. You aren’t likely to find a dinosaur here. The fossils are small, mostly crinoids (sea lily) fragments. While small, the crinoids and shells are everywhere you search. In just a few hours, our family had two sandwich bags filled with small fossils ranging in size from a pea to half dollar.

The fossils are about 300 million years old. During the Pennsylvania Period, ancient sea lilies, urchins, clams, oysters, sea snails and sharks lived where prickly pear cactus thrive today. One such sea basin submerged the area around Mineral Wells. When the creatures died, their bodies fell to the sea floor. Minerals replaced the animals’ cellular material leaving behind a rock record for us to find millions of years later.

Fast forward from the ancient sea to the City of Mineral Wells old borrow pit. Sea creature fossils are so plentiful at Mineral Wells Fossil Park, that visitors for decades will be able to explore the past and collect ancient fragments of species long extinct. A large exhibit sign at the park entrance illustrates with photographs and descriptions the types of fossils commonly found at the site.

Fossil hunting guidelines. Mineral Wells Fossil Park has a few rules in place to ensure the park’s continued success. While you may keep whatever fossils you find, they must be for your personal use. No commercial fossil hunting is allowed. Park rules forbid power tools and limit guests to hand-held tools like a garden trowel. After a good rain, the hand shovels aren’t even necessary.

When you go. There is no shade at the park – hat, sunscreen and lots of water are a must on hot days.  Wear old clothes for digging in the dirt and boots are a good idea if it’s recently rained. Additionally, bring plenty of small baggies for storing your fossils. As in other parts of Texas, be alert for stinging insects and snakes. Called a primitive park, Mineral Wells Fossil Park has no running water or flush toilets, though there is a portable toilet in the parking lot. For those wanting a more scenic location for a picnic, visit Lake Mineral Wells State Park (Park Road 71, Mineral Wells), located just east of Mineral Wells.

Mineral Wells Fossil Park (2375 Indian Creek Road, Mineral Wells) is open Friday – Monday from 8 a.m. to dusk. Park entrance is free.