My wife Steph and I found X Bar Ranch last year when searching for an off-the-grid location to spend our 2 year anniversary. When we saw the pictures and read some reviews, we decided to make this our spot. We stayed in one of the cabins 1 night and tented out for the 2nd.
First off, the location is absolutely beautiful. It's in the true Hill Country of Texas, and from the cabins you get a startling view from the top of the hill it's located on into a valley/pasture, along with many other hills on the property. The land has been owned by the Meador family since the late 1800's, and you can tell they have loved their land. There are 4 hiking trails ranging from 1 1/2 miles to 12 miles long, and they're stunning! Plus, mountain biking is supposed to be pretty popular on these trails, they even have biking events.
The Live Oak Lodge (the main lodge connecting the 6 cabins) is such an asset to the stay. There are 2 dining tables w/ chairs, great couches around the living room, an industrial grade kitchen (w/ normal household appliances) and all the pans, utensils, and plateware that you'll ever need, even if the place is totally booked. The back deck/patio overlooks the hill country, has plenty of outside sitting, a full outdoor grill and stove, yard games like horseshoes, washers, bolo-golf & even lassos and wire calfs that you can try to rope! Additionally, during the right nights the sky opens up and you can see every star in the sky. On our 2nd anniversary we witnessed such a night, and you could literally see the edge of the Milky Way galaxy. Star Parties often form at X Bar Ranch and you can go to their Facebook page and see images taken by star enthusiasts with high grade telescopes.
Above and beyond all the great aspects of this location, Stan Meador, the manager of the property is incredibly kind, inviting and accommodating to his guests. Our stay last October was so great, we decided to book the place again for our 3rd anniversary last weekend. You could tell Stan was genuinely happy to have us back, remembered us from last year and made sure this weekend was even better for us than our last. It was!
We will make X Bar Ranch not only our destination of choice for our anniversaries to come, but for many more events that we can make it out there for, even our company retreats. If you don't choose to stay out here, you will have sorely missed an awesome opportunity. I hope that haunts you until you try it out!
Brad
