Things to Do in Ennis, Texas

Ennis is the Official Bluebonnet City of Texas, and its spring wildflower trails are the signature draw. Each April, the Ennis Garden Club maps more than 40 miles of driving routes through the countryside where the bluebonnets bloom thickest, with the official map available at the Ennis Welcome Center.

The bloom pulls in photographers and families from across North Texas for a few weeks, and the town builds a festival around it. If you time a visit for April, the wildflowers are the reason to come.

Ennis was settled largely by Czech immigrants, and it has celebrated that heritage at the National Polka Festival for more than fifty years. The three-day event brings a parade, a dance contest, a Polkafest run, a horseshoe tournament, Czech food, and nearly twenty polka bands playing across town.

It's one of the largest Czech heritage festivals in Texas, and it's the weekend Ennis is most itself — sausage and kolaches, accordions, and dancing that goes late.

The Texas Motorplex is one of the premier drag-racing facilities in the country, drawing crowds well over half a million a year. It runs races and events almost every weekend from February through November, with the big dates being the Super Chevy Show in May and the NHRA fall nationals in October.

For motorsports fans, it's a major destination in its own right, and it puts Ennis on the map for a whole different crowd than the bluebonnet visitors.

For a slower day, Bardwell Lake southwest of town has a swim beach, camping, fishing, and a marina across its 3,500 acres. And for a classic night out, the Galaxy Drive-In runs double features seven nights a week — an old-fashioned drive-in movie experience that's become a regional favorite.

Pair either with a stop at the Kolache Depot for a Czech pastry, and you've got an easy, unhurried Ennis day that has nothing to do with wildflowers or drag racing.