Central Texas

Encyclopedia : C : CE : CEN : Central Texas

Hamilton Pool Preserve - one of the many lush areas in Central Texas

The counties in red may be considered the "core" of Central Texas. Those in pink may be considered "transitional" between Central Texas and other parts of the state.

Central Texas (a part of which is Texas Hill Country), is a region in the U.S. state of Texas. It is roughly bordered by San Marcos over to Fredericksburg up to Waco, and back down to Cameron, and includes the Austin–Round Rock, Killeen–Temple, and Waco metropolitan areas. The Austin–Round Rock and Killeen–Temple areas are among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the state. Central Texas is home to the gigantic Fort Hood military base.

Central Texas, along with many other parts of Texas, refutes the stereotype (fueled by Western movies) of Texas consisting of nothing more than prairie. The rolling hills of Central Texas contain extensive forests of huge Bur oak trees along with plenty of Ashe Juniper (known locally as "cedar") and Mesquite. Texas live oak is also prevalent. The clear, cool spring-fed rivers and creeks are lined with towering Baldcypress trees and are a welcome relief in the hot Texas summer, as are the many lakes.

In the summer, one of the favorite activities is floating down a creek or river in an inner tube. Spring is a time for residents to drive the winding backroads and take in the rainbow of colors produced by the blooming wildflowers, including Bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush. In the fall and winter, hunters visit in hopes of taking home a white-tailed deer.

Some of the favorite local cuisines are barbecue and a variation on traditional Mexican food affectionately referred to as Tex-Mex.

The counties that make up the core of the Central Texas region are:

	State of Texas Texas Topics \| History \| Republic of Texas \| Geography \| Government \| Politics \| Economy \| Texans
Capital	Austin
Regions	Arklatex \| Big Bend \| Brazos Valley \| Central Texas \| Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex \| Deep East Texas \| East Texas \| Edwards Plateau \| Galveston Bay \| Golden Triangle \| Greater Houston \| North Texas \| Northeast Texas \| Permian Basin \| Piney Woods \| Rio Grande Valley \| Texas Hill Country \| Texas Panhandle \| Llano Estacado \| Southeast Texas \| South Texas \| West Texas
Metropolitan areas	Abilene \| Amarillo \| Austin–Round Rock \| Beaumont–Port Arthur \| Brownsville–Harlingen \| Bryan–College Station \| Corpus Christi \| Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington \| El Paso \| Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown \| Killeen–Temple \| Laredo \| Longview–Marshall \| Lubbock \| McAllen–Edinburg–Mission \| Midland–Odessa \| San Angelo \| San Antonio \| Sherman–Denison \| Texarkana \| Tyler \| Victoria \| Waco \| Wichita Falls See also: List of Texas counties

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