Grizzly Pines

LGBTQ-owned vacation options in Texas (and Eureka Springs)

If you are looking for someplace relatively close to home — as in, say, somewhere in Texas — to go on vacation, and you really want to spend your money at an LGBTQ-owned venue, here are a few options to choose from, offering everything from lap of luxury resort-style accommodations to primitive camping (in alphabetical order):

ABUNDANCE RETREAT
AbundanceRetreat.com
Houston power couple Tina Sabuco and Shellye Arnold celebrated their 8th anniversary with a relaxing getaway at a beautiful spot in Wimberly, Texas. They loved it so much, they purchased the property and named it Abundance Retreat.

Abundance Retreat, located on Cypress Creek just a short distance from historic Wimberly Square, is a family- and pet-friendly property with two guest houses. Sundance Lodge is a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath log home that accommodates up to eight people. Moondance Cabin is a 3-room log cabin that accommodates up to four people. The grounds of the retreat include a creek-front swing and seating, kayaks, a variety of water floats, outdoor games and firewood.

ARROW ACRES TINY HOUSE RETREAT
ArrowAcres.com
Two years ago, in the spring of 2019 Virginia and Lily Moore were visiting Lily’s family in her East Texas hometown of Warren, Texas — located between Woodville and Houston — when Lily’s mom mentioned that the property across the road from them was for sale. They went over and checked it out, and before leaving to go back home to Houston, they had decided to put it in an offer. The property got its name from a Kacey Musgrave song — “Follow Your Arrow” — and the three tiny houses available for rent are named after country music legends Emmylou Harris, June Carter Cash and Dolly Parton. The 8-acre Arrow Acres property offers fishing, walking trails and an outdoor entertaining space and is only a short drive from Big Thicket National Preserve.

CIRCLE J GUEST RANCH
CircleJGuestRanch.com
Circle J Guest Ranch is an inclusive rural event venue located about 70 miles southeast of Dallas that welcomes open-minded adults of all races, spiritual disciplines and sexual orientations. It features more than 100 acres of wilderness areas, natural springs and a two-acre spring-fed pond for fishing, swimming, paddle-boating and canoeing, as well as a pool at the main house. There is horseback riding, a shower house and hiking trails, with primitive camping sites as tent sites with electricity, an RV park and the Garden View Suite.
Circle J has a variety of events scheduled throughout the year and is available for private events as well.

GRIZZLY PINES
GrizzlyPines.com
James Schwab, Conner Thompson and Rigoberto Rosales opened Grizzly Pines in 2015 as a clothing optional, male only campground “proudly serving the gay community.” Their goal is to “make this campground a great place for gay men to come relax and have a good time in a great Piney Woods atmosphere. The campground boasts a schedule full of different events, and food from Randy’s Big Gay Taco Truck, with all kinds of old-fashioned, homestyle cooking from dinner on Fridays through breakfast on Sundays. Grizzly Pines offers amenities for every kind of camper from RV sites to cabins, a barracks bunkhouse and tent spaces, along with bathrooms, showers, grills and even a massage therapist on site on weekends.

RAINBOW RANCH
RainbowRanch.net
Rainbow Ranch, owned by Brad Camp and located near Groesbeck, is the largest LGBTQ campground in Texas, offering “a place where LGBT men and women can relax, enjoy the outdoors and feel free to be themselves.” The campground is open year-round, with alternating event weekends.
Rainbow Ranch offers “luxury” tent sites, “primitive” tent sites, a variety of RV sites, large cabins, small cabins, an apartment and a house. Visitors have access to nearly 700 acres where they can enjoy bike riding, walking, hiking and fishing, either in a pond or off the pier at Lake Limestone.

SOLAR-WILSON VILLAGE
Solar-WilsonVillage.com
Moji and Margaret Solar-Wilson, Nigerian immigrants who met and married in New York, had a vision: They wanted to create an oasis offering “traditional, warm and authentic African hospitality in the heart of Texas.” The result is Solar-Wilson Village, situated on a 40-acre ranch in Ledbetter, just five miles away from Round Top Texas with its famous antique shows and musical festivals.
Solar-Wilson Village offers two stand-alone cabins and two pet-friendly cabin studios that visitors can rent, along with access to an event center, an outdoor fire pit, an outdoor barbecue grill and a three-acre lake. Both cabins have living room areas equipped with smart TVs, bedroom areas (the Ijero Cabin has one queen-sized bed and one single bed, while the Opoji has a queen-sized bed), bathroom and shower, a fully-equipped kitchen and outdoor seating areas.
The two cabin studios have bedroom areas, doggie bedroom areas, workspaces, outdoor seating, showers and microwaves.

SUNRISE POINT
SunrisePointCedarCreekLake.com
Dr. Ann and Sue Wigodsky first began hosting private events on their property on Cedar Creek Lake in 2014. Now the three-acre peninsula with its panoramic views is available as a public event venue for weddings, summer gatherings, family reunions, parties, company meetings, and almost any other event you can think of. The property also offers a string of cottages situated on the lakefront, each of which accommodates two guests and includes a fully functioning kitchen, marble-tiled shower and a lake-facing patio with a fire feature.
If you are looking for an idyllic setting for your wedding or other celebration, or if you just want to get away from the city for the weekend, Sunrise Point has options to suit.

WANDEROO LODGE
WanderooLodge.com
Yes, we know that Eureka Springs is not in Texas. But we still claim Wanderoo Lodge and Gravel Bar owners Ethan and David Avanzino as DFW boys, even though they’ve taken the chance the COVID-19 pandemic gave them to move to the mountains of Arkansas to chase their dreams. Located in the heart of LGBTQ-welcoming Eureka Springs and originally opened as a campground in the 1920s, Wanderoo Lodge offers a variety of rooms and cabins to rent, as well as easy access to a variety of adventure activities including Float Eureka, Ozark Mountain Ziplines, Trigger Gao Outfitters, Adventure Mountain Outfitters, Eureka Springs ghost tours and more.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE!
Watch for details of an all new clothing-optional campground coming to Central Texas near Granbury soon, courtesy of a well-known Dallas LGBTQ filmmaker!