The Outdoors in Ennis, Texas

Bardwell Lake, just southwest of town, is Ennis's main outdoor asset — a 3,500-acre U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir with a swim beach, campsites, picnic areas, fishing piers, a marina, and boat ramps. It covers most of what you'd want from a lake day, from a morning of fishing to a weekend of camping on the water.

For a town Ennis's size, having a lake this big at the edge of town is a real advantage, and it stays busy through the warm months with boaters, anglers, and campers.

Ennis holds the official state designation as the Bluebonnet City of Texas, and each April the Ennis Garden Club maps out more than 40 miles of driving trails through the countryside where the bluebonnets bloom thickest. You pick up the official trail map at the Ennis Welcome Center and set out through the prairie for the state flower at its best.

The bloom is a genuine event — photographers and families come from across the region for a few weeks each spring. It's the kind of seasonal draw most towns don't have, and it's tied directly to the open prairie country around Ennis.

Around the lake and the wildflower routes, Ennis fills out with city parks and ballfields for everyday recreation. The countryside itself is the other half of the appeal — the rolling Blackland Prairie that turns blue and red with bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush in spring and stays open farm country the rest of the year.

Between Bardwell Lake, the bluebonnet trails, and the parks in town, Ennis gives you water, wildflowers, and open space without going far.