Things to Do in Bullard, Texas

Bullard's signature destination is Kiepersol, a winery and distillery estate whose vineyards sit atop the Bullard Salt Dome. Pierre de Wet, a South African-born farmer, planted the first vines in 1998, and the vineyard has since grown to 63 acres of 10 grape varieties. A distillery followed in 2014, making vodka, rum and bourbon; it now also makes gin and agave spirits.

The estate is a full day out: tastings of wine and spirits, vineyard and distillery tours, a steakhouse restaurant, a bed-and-breakfast inn, and an RV park. It's one of the premier wine-country experiences in East Texas, right at Bullard's doorstep.

On the campus of The Brook Hill School, the American Freedom Museum packs 15,000 square feet of galleries with a collection of more than 600 artifacts and documents tracing the story of the United States — a genuinely impressive history museum for a town this size, and a popular stop for school groups and visitors alike.

For something wilder, the Cherokee Trace Drive-Thru Safari lies about 40 minutes southeast, past Jacksonville: a 300-acre preserve where you drive your own car among exotic and endangered animals.

Bullard sits a short drive east of Lake Palestine, one of the largest reservoirs in the region, where residents and visitors go for fishing, boating, water sports, and lakeside relaxation. The lake's coves and shoreline are a major draw and the centerpiece of outdoor life around town.

And because Tyler is only about 20 minutes north, Bullard visitors have easy access to the rose gardens, museums, shopping, and dining of the bigger city, plus the broader recreation of East Texas. Between the wine estate, the museum, the safari and the lake, Bullard offers far more to do than its size would suggest.