The Walnut Canyon Cabins is located about 20 minutes south of the central city in Fredericksburg, Texas, and is a few miles to the east of Old Tunnel State Park. Seven cabins are available for guests to choose from for their stay, each offering its own set of amenities. The cabins sit on a little more than 15 acres of land where there are very few neighbors and buildings in the vicinity. One unique fact about the Walnut Canyon Cabins is that it is found in what is classified and certified as a "Dark Sky" zone, meaning that regulations have been put into place to allow for clearer views of the night sky, unobstructed by light pollution.
The owners have described each of the cabins at Walnut Canyon Cabins, whose names are Rhonda and Carl, as being "like tiny homes." Each cabin provides a view of the landscape and varies in size compared to the others. A couple of the cabins are capable of sleeping up to five or six guests, while most of them tend to sleep two or three. The cabins are individual living spaces, separated from each other by roughly 150 feet, and come equipped with an electric stove, oven, refrigerator, air conditioning, and a private bathroom. Depending on which cabin is being stayed at, guests may also have access to amenities such as a barbeque, an electric fireplace, a porch to the side or on top of the cabin, or a jacuzzi. The Milky Way Cabin and The Siesta Cabin both have upper-decks that can allow for a good view of the sky during the day or night.
Breakfast is provided in a different fashion at Walnut Canyon Cabins compared to most bed and breakfasts. Rather than make one breakfast in the morning for all of the guests, the ingredients are given to guests so that they can choose what they would like to have and make it. Typically they will provide fresh eggs from the chickens on the property, as well as bacon, fresh fruit, biscuit dough, honey butter, jam, and more so that guests have a more comprehensive range of options. For guests who require accommodations for dietary restrictions, ingredients can be provided that align with gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, and other diets, as long as they are given enough time to acquire them.
Outside of the property limits, guests can find a number of things to do. The owners like pointing people to some of their favorite places in the area to spend time. One of these areas is called Old Tunnel State Park. The state park is located about three miles away, and at the old train tunnel, around 2 million bats can be seen flying out at sunset, searching for food. In Carl's words, "It looks like a black tornado." For anyone looking to do more active activities, visitors can spend time at Enchanted Rock State Park, which has an abundant amount of hiking trails. Carl also mentions that there are between 80 and 100 breweries, distilleries, and wineries within 40 miles of Walnut Canyon Cabins. Three days a month, usually on the third weekend of the month, Fredericksburg will hold Trade Days, a fair that has live music and entertainment, and a number of shops that sell a wide assortment of items and accessories.
Rhonda and Carl always try to recommend a number of restaurants to everyone that stays at Walnut Canyon Cabins. One place that they highly recommend is called The Alamo Springs Cafe. The cafe is only about three miles away from the cabins and has been described by Texas Monthly as being one of the top three places for visitors to buy a burger. Another restaurant that they like to mention is called Otto's, which specializes in serving up-scale German dishes. Altstadt Brewery is another German-style restaurant that sells food and beer. Another interesting restaurant that guests can look into is called Comfort Pizza. At Comfort Pizza, they specialize in serving pizza, although what makes it unique is that patrons who want to order a pizza have to call and reserve in advance. It takes the owner of Comfort Pizza about 36 hours to make the dough, so visitors need to call well in advance and expect that they are likely ordering their pizza for dinner on the following day.
The owners of the property explain that the goal of the property is to create an experience where their visitors are able to relax without having to worry about their lives at home. They seek to create a quiet and enjoyable place where guests can get off of the grid and escape. One thing the Walnut Canyon Cabins does to help guests leave their busy lives behind for a while is that there is no Wi-Fi and hardly any cellular connection as well. This allows guests to unplug and let them better explore the natural surroundings more.
There are not many policies regarding the property that guests need to remember. However, there are a couple that the owners ask guests to abide by while they are staying at Walnut Canyon Cabins. First, they ask that anyone and everyone who visits the cabins be respectful of nature. That includes not littering on the property and keeping noise to a minimum in the nightly hours. It is also mentioned that guests should watch out for the armadillos. Several of the cabins are pet-friendly, so guests can bring their dog along for the trip as long as they choose a specifically designated cabin.
The connection to nature is significant to the owners of Walnut Canyon Cabins. There are a number of animals that can be found in the vicinity, with some that live on the property, like chickens. Guests are able to interact and play with the chickens, and Rhonda and Carl enjoy letting guests feed them and gather eggs for breakfast. One of the most common woodland creatures to see around the cabins are deer. Visitors can feed the deer as well. Provided by the owners, guests can throw "deer corn" into the yard and watch the deer gather to feast on the treats.
There have been a number of reviews left regarding guests' experiences at Walnut Canyon Cabins. A number of them mention the wildlife that can be seen exploring the vicinity, and many of them say the disconnection from the rest of the city of Fredericksburg. Someone who stayed at one of the cabins recently wrote in their review, "Location was great - outside the hustle and bustle of Fredericksburg, but an easy drive town if you want. Lots of wildlife and farm life - deer and a fox in our backyard/cattle and chickens in our front yard. A 2 million bat cave (tunnel) within minutes. An outstanding view of the hill country - looking down the valleys and mountains with few houses and no towns. Close to hiking and site seeing."
The current owners, Rhonda and Carl, purchased the property about four years ago, in 2017. They are the second owners of Walnut Canyon Cabins, with the first owners having owned it for roughly six years. Walnut Canyon Cabins has been around for about a decade, and Rhonda and Carl plan on keeping it going. The original owners had the first cabin built as a family home, and another cabin was created for the kids that would come to visit. They made more cabins as they began inviting more people to come and stay until the kids stopped coming to the property. The neighbors, however, saw the extra space and asked if they could temporarily rent them for their own use. That's when they began transitioning from using the cabins for family use to using them as a bed and breakfast. Over time, they added a few more cabins to the property until they got to what it is today.
Rhonda and Carl first got into the business when they decided they wanted a change of pace. Carl is an accomplished executive chef that has been in the food industry for over 40 years. He had his own food truck and catering company. After a time, they decided to do something that was a little bit more than just food service, and they looked all over the country for a bed and breakfast that was for sale and suited their desires. So far, it has lived up to what they had hoped. Carl enjoys the difference of work from when he worked as an executive chef. He mentions that some of his favorite parts about running the Walnut Canyon Cabins are meeting new people and hearing their stories.
Since they made the purchase in 2017, Rhonda and Carl have undergone a substantial amount of upgrading and renovations to ensure the upkeep of the cabins. Several changes and fixes they have made in the recent past include adding the hot tub, adding the electric fireplaces, upgrading several of the beds to king-sized beds, putting new furniture in some of the rooms, replacing a few sofa sleepers, refrigerators, air conditioning units, and other electrical things that needed to be updated.
The Walnut Canyon Cabins have been recognized by a number of prestigious groups. TripAdvisor ranked the establishment as number three out of twenty-nine hotels in the area in 2017. Then, in 2019 they achieved the number one rank out of thirty-two hotels within the Fredericksburg area and have maintained that lead ever since. They were given a "Certificate of Excellence" in 2019 as well, and in 2020 the cabins earned a "Traveler's Choice Award." Rhonda and Carl received another one in 2021.
503 Deer Road
Fredericksburg, Texas 78624
United States
Campground
Rhonda & Carl Rubadue
