Prairies and Lakes

Prairies and Lakes covers the broad north-central and east-central country of Texas, the rolling-prairie-and-lake belt that holds most of the state’s population outside the Gulf Coast metros. The terrain runs flat to gently rolling — the Cross Timbers and Blackland Prairie cutting across the region, the Brazos and Trinity rivers draining south, and dozens of large reservoirs scattered through the agricultural country between cities. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex anchors the northern half. The region covers more than 50 counties. Anchor cities include Dallas (Dallas County), Fort Worth (Tarrant), Plano (Collin), Denton, Arlington, Waco (McLennan), Bryan and College Station (Brazos), Bastrop, and Sherman. Major attractions include the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, the Kimbell Art Museum and Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas A&M University in College Station, the George W. Bush Presidential Center, Magnolia Market at Waco, the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium in Arlington, and Six Flags Over Texas. Possum Kingdom Lake and Lake Texoma anchor the major reservoirs. Most trips here center on the Metroplex. Dallas runs the urban-cultural itinerary — the Arts District, Deep Ellum, the JFK assassination sites; Fort Worth handles the cowboy-and-museum thread — the Stockyards, the Kimbell, the Modern; Arlington pulls sports-and-theme-park traffic; Waco runs Magnolia and the Dr Pepper Museum; College Station carries Texas A&M football.