We come here once a year on our drive to Fredericksburg (15-20 minute drive outside of Fredericksburg). If we have time, we do the full house tour and love it each time. Even if we don't have a lot of time to spare, we still do the driving tour and stop to see the animals. It is still a working ranch and is packed full of several animals from their own cattle, to goats, deer, buffalo and some exotic animals.It continues to keep parents, grandparents and kids entertained + it is FREE. So, we keep going!
The highlight of the tour of this ranch was the guided tour around the house. The guide was knowledgable, witty and answered all questions. The house itself was a fascinating insight into American history. The ranch has lots of places to stop off and visit, animals and the runway complete with the presidents jet. This is well worth a visit. Allow at least two hours.
While the entire ranch was pretty, the best part about the LBJ park was the Texas White House. It was remarkably well preserved and really gave you a feel for who LBJ was, for both good and bad. You could see how much he loved his family and the land he was from, but also you could see by the multiple TVs and telephones in every room that he was a hard-charger even in his own home.
If I were to have a ranch, it would look much like the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park. About 2.5 sq.miles, private airport, Lockheed Jetstar, and a 28 room ranch house. You must stop at the visitor's center for a free permit to drive through the ranch. You can pay $6 for a DVD and CD that you can play during the drive to tell you about what you are seeing (recommended). Once you get to the ranch house, you can take a tour for $3/each. The tours run every 20 mins or so and are lead by a park ranger. Expect to be 1-1/2 hours there with light traffic.
This was so worth the stop! We completely enjoyed walking through the ranch and talking with the staff. They actually work the ranch & were very knowledgeable. It was like stepping back in time!
The LBJ house is both large and comfortable. One can easily imagine LBJ reaching for one of the many phones placed for his convenience throughout the house. The house has an intimate quality about it as if you are a guest of the Johnsons. Well worth a visit.
We stopped here with our three kids. The driving ranch tour was nice, didn't tour the White House. Kids loved walking around the working farm! Cows, chickens, sheep, and bison to see. Staff was very nice and knowledgable. They were actively cooking various foods fresh from the farm. We had a good time and it was free:)
This is a wonderful place to visit if you are at all in the area. The ranch is 5500 acres and the house is 8000 sq ft. The Park Rangers do a superb job of explaining all the attractions here from how the ranch was acquired, expanded, its uses, and restoration. The setting is beautiful and very peaceful. I understand why he liked coming here. There is the Air Force "1/2" and the runway built to accommodate the visitors to the ranch.
This free, self-guided tour was a nice hour spent. Start at the visitor center; there was a nice map, which included descriptions of all the stops. Walk the < 1 mile loop of the Johnson Settlement, see LbJ's boyhood home (tours are available but it didn't synch up right for me).
This is a big park just off 290. It takes less than 2 hours, but it gives you a little different view of LBJ than you see in the news reels. It is great to see his presidential plane and his house--both of which are a little underwhelming. The house is small and very dated--it is a time capsule from the 60's! It really does show how far we have come since then!The museum next to the house has some very interesting displays and show a differ side of LBJ--he was a character!