King Ranch — Attraction in Kingsville

This review is only relevant to the King Ranch Hand Breakfast. Here is all the details I wished I could have known prior to attending the annual ranch hand breakfast in Kingsville. Although the advertising around this event says the breakfast is from 7-11am if you arrive after 8 am you will be waiting in an hour of traffic at the gate and will miss the entertainment portion of the breakfast which runs from 8:00-10:30. I would highly recommend arriving by 7 or 7:15 am and taking the bus shuttle they run out of downtown to skip the traffic. This year it was run out of the old train station. Buy tickets online in advance. Ranch hand weekend is usually in November.

The actual food of the breakfast is very basic and kind of bland Texan fare (biscuit, gravy, tortilla, eggs, sausage, refried beans) and not particularly interesting for $10 (portion size is generous). The cool and worthwhile part of the ranch hand breakfast experience is getting to eat outside and to enjoy the calf roping and live music. Oh! Yes! The whole event is outside so dress for the weather. Usually cool at the beginning and hot by the end. The bleacher seating was a bit tight for the roping as the event seems to have grown to a larger size than previous years? I was expecting a little more like a mountain man rendezvous amount of planning with maybe a petting zoo of farm animals but it's very basic, no frills. Just roping, some merch booths, and breakfast.

There are restrooms on site. The plumbing is old though and got completely overwhelmed. They had some port a potties but no hand washing station at the porta potties--ewww!!!!! Made me very concerned with the hand hygiene (breakfast volunteers are mostly wearing gloves). For beverages they served orange juice and coffee (no water stations available) so bring a water bottle and hand sanitizer/wipes if you have kids. I didn't see a diaper changing station. Bathrooms would be a really tight fit for a stroller/wheelchair.

In short: to make it worth your time to drive into Kingsville from out of town for ranch hand breakfast day you should arrive by 7ish, take the shuttle, make sure to enjoy the roping. Also, on your way out of town, go to Kleberg street to access the downtown activities and vendors for the rest of the festival. Many people recommend walking through the King Ranch store to admire the leather goods and to eat ice cream to beat the heat at Harrols the old fashioned drug store. For young kids and museum lovers stop by the Connor museum on your way out to complete the cowboy/King...

I would not recommend the Bus Tour to the King Ranch at all. If you enjoy seeing scenes of tall grass waving in the wind surrounding thickets of mesquite trees and brush, the King Ranch will show plenty of those scenes. Oh, you are, also, treated to numerous scenes of metal buildings and other out- buildings used in the operation of the King Ranch, but you can, also, drive around any industrial park and view the same kinds of buildings. The only difference is that the Ranch's metal buildings are surrounded by long grass waving in the breeze. Another very annoying feature of the King Ranch Bus Tour is that any tourists sitting on the right side of the Bus will rarely have a clear camera shot to any interesting scenes of cattle resting under trees, horses standing next to a fence, or occasional residential buildings in the "Colony" used by Ranch emoyees. The majority of good camera with clear views of the aforementioned views can only be seen by tourists on the left side of the Bus. So, tourists sitting on the right of the Bus must include the backs of heads of left-side tourists blocking their access to a memorable photo. Bummer!! In addition, whenever the Bus full of head-craning tourists is driven past something really unique, such as the beautiful, Spanish-style Mansion owned by the Family, the driver accelerates the Bus so fast, it is impossible to photograph any thing but a small part of the Mansion. Double bummer!! The Bus Tour Lady Guide on the Bus regales the Bus Tour tourists with constant anecdotes and stories about her long 32-history employed with King Ranch. I can only assume she is trying to distract the tourists on the right side of the Bus who are very bored with looking at waving grass and mesquite trees. Tourists are already suffering after this 3- hour fiasco when they are invited to get out of the Bus at the only stop to spend money at the Gift Shop. Ultimately, skip this 3-hour very disappointing odyssey. Save your cash. Just look up the King Ranch on the Internet and you'll learn more and see much better scenes in...

After my initial visit to King Ranch left me feeling disappointed, confined to a van during the History Tour with little opportunity to engage the landscape, I wasn’t sure I would return. I had gone hoping to photograph wildlife, to walk where the wild things live, and instead found myself only able to observe from a distance. But something about the land stayed with me, and I decided to give the ranch a second chance by signing up for the Full-Day Birding Tour into the Norias Division. I am glad I did.

This tour was everything I had hoped the first one would be. From the very start, it was clear I was in the presence of experts. Janice Travis, the tour supervisor, and her team were not just knowledgeable, they were passionate, attentive, and thoroughly dedicated to making the experience meaningful. With their help, our group located rare and elusive species, including a pygmy owl peeking from its nest hole, a moment that still brings a smile to my face.

The difference this time was access. We traveled deep into the heart of the ranch, disembarking frequently to quietly observe, listen, and photograph. The guides knew exactly where to take us and how to maximize the potential of each stop. For someone with a camera in hand and an eye for the wild, this was the key that unlocked the magic I had been searching for.

And then there was the food. At midday, we stopped at a cowboy camp where the King Ranch kitchen served up a traditional meal of carne asada, frijoles, and rice. It was simple, delicious, and grounded in the ranch’s heritage, exactly the kind of meal you would expect after a morning on the range.

This experience redeemed my impression of the ranch entirely. It was thoughtfully led, deeply informative, and respectful of the land and its creatures. If you have ever left a place wondering what might have been, I encourage you to return with clearer expectations and a tour more aligned with your goals. For me, the Full-Day Birding Tour was that second chance, and it...