The Hill Country of west Central Texas is a charmingly inspirational landscape, offering rolling vistas, cool breezes, and German heritage as distinctive attractions. City dwellers in Austin and San Antonio often spend summer weekends at bed-and-breakfasts and ranches in the Hill Country, where the slow pace of life and the prospect of picking the perfect bushel of peaches provide a welcome getaway.

Despite the fanciful moniker, the hills aren’t really too dramatic—heights of 1,400 to 1,700 feet are the norm—but the slight increase in elevation and decrease in humidity are welcome respites for heat-drenched lowlanders to the east and south. The views don’t quite qualify as breathtaking, but the eye-popping chill of the region’s spring-fed rivers will prompt gasps.

Cabins, lodges, resorts, and dude ranches dot the landscape, many offering access to a nearby river (Frio, Sabinal, Guadalupe, Medina, and Pedernales) where visitors can swim, canoe, fish, or tube in the refreshingly cool, crystal clear water.