texas weekend

My story about the ranch where I spent my birthday. I love this place.

The Wildcatter Ranch: Hill Country without the crowds

The Texas hills range beyond the increasingly congested and action-packed triangle of Austin, San Antonio and Fredericksburg. While the popular epicenter gets all the attention, beyond that bustling region, the hills relax into broad tranquil vistas perfect for a weekend of unwinding.

The Wildcatter Ranch & Resort sits on 1,500 acres in Graham, Texas, about 100 miles northwest of Fort Worth—an area that local residents are calling the North Texas Hill County. Here the land studded with mesquite, oak and juniper begins stretching out to plains and the Brazos River is a grand golden ribbon winding through loosely laid hills.

The land on which the Wildcatter sits was first owned by Colonel E.S. Graham, founder of the namesake town, and now belongs to two of his great-grandchildren: Glenn Street and his sister Anne Street Skipper, who has a large home on the property with her husband, Broadway producer Mike Skipper--whose most recent project, In The Heights, was just nominated for 13 Tony awards.

Opened in 2005, the family-owned Wildcatter is high-end romantic getaway, with 12 suites, an infinity pool and hot tub overlooking Texas’ infinite horizon, and a lively steakhouse and bar. The Wildcatter also is a family-friendly resort, with activities such as horseback riding on miles of trails, ATV tours, canoeing on placid Connor Creek, skeet shooting, archery and a hand-operated mechanical bull named Mighty Buckey. (Because he’s hand-operated, he’s not as rambunctious as the mechanical bull famously featured in the movie Urban Cowboy.)

The swath of North Texas in which the Wildcatter sits is steeped in history. The iconic Goodnight-Loving Trail started about 20 miles from the ranch and some of Oliver Loving’s descendants still live in the area.(Representing the other side of the equation, the resort keeps a resident herd of longhorns, including Big Boy, who has the third largest spread—horn length—in Texas.) The Elm Creek Raid of 1864, in which Comanche killed 12 people, kidnapped women and children and stole 10,000 head of cattle occurred nearby. “The Searchers,” starring John Wayne, was based on this raid.

Keeping with the area’s rich history, each suite at the Wildcatter is themed to a significant person, place or event and decorated in pretty, sturdy and comfortable Western style, with locally made furniture and historic photographs. You can stay in the unromantically named Cattle Raisers Association Room, (the organization’s accomplishments include eradicating screw worm in the Southwest and promoting cattle-raising across Texas), the Brazos Indian Reservation room, the Warren Wagon Train room or the Marlow Brothers room. (“The Sons of Katie Elder,” another John Wayne films was based on the Marlow Brothers’ story. You can borrow the film, or other classic Westerns, from the ranch library to watch in your room.)

Many of the suites sleep four people and all open out to a long back porch, properly equipped with rocking chairs and the aforementioned endless horizon.



An expansion scheduled to open in October will add more hotel rooms and 10,000 square feet of conference space. The Wildcatter already offers “Signature Series Workshops” in native plants and Texas-style home décor, and it can accommodate team building activities for small groups. (Consider it during fall branding, suggests Anne Skipper. “Just getting the calves separated from their mamas can be more challenging than a ropes course,” she says.)

Nearby, downtown Graham is an untaxing couple of hours should you decide to tear yourself away from the Wildcatter’s tranquility. The town wears its history modestly. It has the nation’s largest town square, although still lacking much of the ye olde teddy bears bustle of many Texas town squares.

Alongside the new Young County courthouse, which is a good-looking circa 1932 limestone Moderne-style limestone monolith, stands an old stone arch, the remains of the 1884 courthouse. Across from that, the Old Post Office Museum and Art Center has changing exhibits. You also can tour the restored buildings of Fort Belknap, founded 1851 and abandoned in 1857.

For nightlife, however, head back to the Wildcatter, where resort guests, weekenders with homes at nearby Possum Kingdom, and locals gather at the Blowout Saloon and Wildcatter Steakhouse. The evening begins with a daily happy hour (membership to the private club is $5 a year), then move to the dining room. Chef Bob Bratcher cuts his own steaks and makes his own rubs and sauces, and start the evening’s indulgence with “Texas Toothpicks”—fried jalapeno and onion strips. A local band plays on the porch every Thursday night, happy hour to close, and on Fridays when the resort is full, and two-stepping is encouraged. (Or whatever kind of dancing you can manage—visiting dudes have been known to improvise.)

The Wildcatter Ranch is a hill country getaway close to home (if home is the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex) and its hills are lovely too. And not as crowded.

Wildcatter Ranch, 6062 Hwy. 16 South, Graham, TX 76450; 940-549-3500; 888 GO2WCRR (888 462 9277); www.wildcatterranch.com Rates are $239 per night Sunday-Thursday, $399 Friday and $369 Saturday. Activities such as horseback riding, canoeing, archery, skeet shooting and ATV tours are available at an extra charge.

The ranch also offers “Signature Series Workshops,” including a workshop on Designing the Texas Home September 10-11. For more information or reservations for the limited-space workshops, call 940-549-3500 or e-mail travel@wildcatterranch.com.

The Steakhouse is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday for dinner and Sunday for lunch from 11-2. Other times, it is open to resort guests only, breakfast, lunch and dinner.