Things to Do in Wichita Falls

With all there is to see and do in Wichita Falls, it may be tempting to make a visit here an annual tradition. The arts scene is spectacular, and there are numerous parks, nature centers, and picturesque vistas for outdoorsy types. If you’re looking for a place to take the kids that will be exciting enough to make them put down their cellphones, you’ve found it. The following are just a few of the best things to do in Wichita Falls.

Get Artsy

You could build an entire trip around nothing else but taking in the amazing Wichita Falls arts scene. The storied Backdoor Theatre and the Wichita Theatre Performing Arts Center keep the city supplied with a range of musicals, plays, and children’s shows year-round. Meanwhile, the Wichita Falls Ballet Theatre also produces several shows each year that star its expertly trained young dancers, including the annual favorite, The Nutcracker. For some music, it’s hard to beat the classics performed by the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra, which conducts five shows each year featuring well-known guest musicians and conductors.

What Wichita Falls has in the performing arts, it more than matches with its art galleries and museums. Admire more than 3,000 works of art originating from North Texas and Southern Oklahoma

For art viewing, the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU is a lovely setting to admire more than 3,000 paintings, sculptures, and photographs originating from North Texas and Southern Oklahoma. In addition, the Kemp Center for the Arts displays works of local and regional visual artists in five galleries. It’s also the place to catch special arts events like the Western art-themed Cowboy True and the Arts Alive! Home and Garden Festival.

Follow the Wee-Chi-Tah Wine Trail

Whether you’re a true wine lover or you relish afternoons savoring great drinks and even better company, you must explore the Wee-Chi-Tah Wine Trail. Composed of three first-rate wineries, the trail serves up an easygoing tasting adventure best enjoyed with your friends or your sweetheart. Start at 6th Street Winery, located in the 1914 Jones Building in the heart of downtown Wichita Falls.

Taste a broad range of more than 20 wines made with premium grapes from vineyards across Texas, and pair your wine of choice with a cheese board. Also set in the downtown area, Hook & Ladder Winery & Coffee Roasters is a firefighter-owned winery with a full complement of reds and whites, fire-roasted coffees, and a menu full of enticing flatbreads. Finally, find a spot on the balcony overlooking rows of vines at Horseshoe Bend Cellars Vineyard & Winery. Purveyors of a cabernet sauvignon and a cherry wine to an orange mead and a viognier, Horseshoe Bend produces some of the most unique wines in Wichita Falls. 

As if all the delicious wine wasn’t enough of a reason to visit these wineries, there’s an added bonus. Get your wine trail passport stamped three times at each winery and submit it to the Wichita Falls Convention & Visitors Bureau for the chance to win a gift basket from all three wineries. 

Ride the Wee-Chi-Tah Off-Road Trail

When you’re looking to hit the rail, pedal on over to Wichita Falls’ own Wee-Chi-Tah Off-Road Trail.

Voted the best urban off-road trail in Texas, the trail twists, turns, and dips along 13 miles of scenic terrain that can be enjoyed throughout the year. Better yet, the trail is easy to reach, as it’s just a stone’s throw away from downtown Wichita Falls.

Feeling competitive? Sign up for the Hotter’N Hell Weekend (late August), a multi-day bicycle racing event that includes rides and 13-mile runs along the trail.

Enjoy the Parks

With nearly 40 city parks, you’ll have ample opportunity for hiking and biking, picnicking, and generally enjoying the outdoors in Wichita Falls. One of the most popular is the 178-acre Lucy Park, which contains the River Bend Nature Center, where you’ll be lost in a world of nature discovery, exploring trails and wetlands and spotting wildlife. The park is also the place to leave the car for a one-mile jog to The Falls, the picturesque, 54-foot Wichita Falls waterfall on the south bank of the Wichita River.

Visit a Great Museum

The Museum of Art is just one of many great museums and historic sites that call Wichita Falls home. Discover the people and industries, from Native Americans to oil and gas pioneers, that helped build North Texas at the Museum of North Texas History.

What was once the home of town father Frank Kell is now the Kell House Museum, featuring original family furnishings, decorations, and historic costumes that belonged to his family at the turn of the 20th century. Wichita Falls is even home to the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum, and true fans of the sport won’t want to miss the induction ceremonies and vintage memorabilia held here.

These are just a few places where history is celebrated; for more information on other historic sites in the city of Wichita Falls, visit wichitafalls.org.