Drive just more than an hour from Central Austin and you can find yourself in Texas Hill Country where you can immerse yourself in days and nights of wine tasting, peach picking and disconnecting. Whether to rest your head after a day drinking wine or as a destination unto itself, Walden Retreats, which opened Memorial Day weekend, is situated on 96 acres along the Pedernales River and a perfect place to book a night or few and reemerge feeling refreshed.
Walden is comprised of 15 individual high-end lodgings. There are eight 550 square foot suites that sleep 2-4 and seven 440 square foot studios that sleep 2 people. They all allow you to be surrounded by nature with wrap around decks, floor to ceiling ‘windows’ and the comforts of a luxury stay. Each ‘tent’ has its own firepit, clawfoot bathtub, Goods Products toiletries, a kitchen stocked with cast iron pots and pans so you can cook up a hot meal, blankets to bring outside on chillier nights, an outdoor shower and more. And while there isn’t a restaurant on site, there’s a General Store with beer, wine, coffee, chips, salsa and mac & cheese, all locally sourced and made.
During your stay the focus is on disconnecting, so there aren’t any TVs, or wifi connections. Instead you’re encouraged to take the short, albeit a bit steep, hike down to the river where you can fish (catch and release), swim or go out on a canoe, utilize the playing cards in the room they provide or curl and read a book. Whatever you choose, be present, and this getaway will be a gift.
Find more information at: https://waldenretreats.com
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." -Henry David Thoreau - Walden