Tractor Pulls, Wild Game and Native Plants: The Country Side of October in Kendall County
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
City Park Road in Boerne is a short drive with two addresses worth knowing this month. At 102 is the AgriCultural Museum & Arts Center, home to tractors, wagons and buggies donated by Kendall County farmers. A little farther along, at 140, is the Cibolo Nature Center, where trails run through marsh, woodland and prairie along Cibolo Creek.
That one road says a lot about October 2026 in the county. The weekends that stand out sit on land with a farm or ranch past. Most are run by nonprofits, volunteers or youth livestock programs, and the money they raise usually goes back into that land and that history. Here they are in calendar order. Taken together, they trace how this part of the Hill Country was settled and worked: the water first, then the plants, then the animals, then the machines.
Boerne City Lake Park is at 1 City Lake Road. The City of Boerne's recreation listing calls the Family Camp Out and Fishing Tournament free and says it is the only weekend each year when overnight camping is allowed at the lake.
If you saved October 3 from an earlier listing, update your calendar. The City moved the 2026 camp out to Saturday, October 10, because of weather. Earlier listings said advance online registration was required. The City's calendar also didn't clearly show the local start time after the date change, so check with Boerne Parks and Recreation before you load the truck.
That same morning, Intro to Birding runs from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Cibolo Nature Center Auditorium. The Boerne Star's October 1 calendar lists it at $15 per person and describes lessons on observation and birding tools. You can do the workshop in the morning and still set up a tent at the lake that afternoon.
The Cibolo itself is worth knowing beyond any single event. The Nature Center has more than six miles of trails through five ecosystems, including a marsh boardwalk, woodlands, native prairie and stretches along Cibolo Creek. The organization's two campuses cover more than 160 acres combined.
On Friday, October 16, The Cibolo's own 2026 schedule lists an Adult Night Hike at 6:45 p.m. for $15 per adult. Adult hikes use less familiar trails and may include walking without flashlights to look for nocturnal wildlife. The Boerne Star calendar gives 8 to 9:30 p.m. instead, so confirm the time with The Cibolo. The organizer suggests bringing a flashlight and water. Trails can be rocky or uneven, and creek crossings may get your shoes wet.
On Saturday, the Boerne chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas holds its Fall Native Plant Sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Herff Farm Teaching Barn, 33 Herff Road. The web address of the chapter's announcement says October 19, but the page itself says October 17. Go on the 17th.
The chapter's usual selection includes:
The chapter describes these as plants suited to the local ecoregion that provide food and habitat for butterflies, birds and other wildlife, and notes that many grow well in containers. Volunteers will be on hand to help you match plants to your yard. No admission fee is listed.
The setting adds to the trip. According to The Cibolo, the Herff homestead dates to 1854, when Ferdinand Herff founded an early European settlement here. The restored property has a historic barn, an amphitheater and a Learning Village, along with gardens, a wildlife corridor and native prairie. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Buying bigtooth maple from volunteers in a barn on a 19th-century farmstead is about as local as a Saturday morning gets.
That afternoon, head toward Comfort. The Kendall County Wild Game Dinner runs from 4 to 10 p.m. at the Kendall County Youth Ag & Equestrian Center, 648 FM 289. It is the annual fundraiser of the Kendall County Junior Livestock Association, and the money supports youth scholarships, educational programs and leadership camps. The menu examples the association names include bacon-wrapped quail, fried alligator and axis, and wild boar chili verde.
| Ticket detail | What the organizers list |
|---|---|
| Advance general admission | $25 |
| Cash at the gate | $30 |
| Children 8 and under | Eat free |
| Included | All-you-can-eat food and parking |
| Entry | Wristband required |
Sort out your wristband before Saturday. The dinner's website says to pick it up after October 1 at the Kendall County Extension Office, 201 East San Antonio Avenue in Boerne. A social media post embedded on the same site gives 118 Saunders St. instead and says pickup must be done by 5 p.m. on October 16. Contact the organizers to confirm which address is right.
Don't confuse this dinner with a different one. The St. John Lutheran Church Wild Game Charity Dinner held its first dinner on June 2, 2001, and the Boerne Star reported that its 25th dinner this year was its last. The October dinner in Comfort is the junior livestock association's own event.
The weekends above cover water, plants and animals. The last Saturday of the month covers the equipment. The 2026 Harvest Time Antique Tractor Pull takes over the AgriCultural Museum & Arts Center at 102 City Park Road from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Antique tractors compete to drag a heavy weight the farthest. Admission is free, donations are welcome, and a food trailer will be on site.
The event is hosted by Agricultural Heritage Center Inc., which operates the museum. According to its history page, the organization started in 1986 to preserve farming history, and its collection of tractors, implements, tools, wagons and buggies came from Kendall County farmers. So a tractor pull here isn't a borrowed theme. The machines on display came out of barns in this county.
If you own an old tractor and would rather compete than watch, the museum's rules list a $30 fee per hook for pull participants.
The German side of the county's history shows up on the same Saturdays. The Visit Boerne Oktoberfest roundup lists these:
Joshua Creek Ranch, at 132 Cravey Road, also has Open Line Driven Shoots on October 17 and 31 for its European-style driven pheasant and mallard hunting. If you're bringing the dog anyway, Barktoberfest fills Boerne's Main Plaza on October 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with pet activities, vendors, food and local beer.
October 17 is the busiest day of the month. You could buy plants at Herff Farm in the morning, stop by Barktoberfest at midday, and drive to Comfort for the wild game dinner by evening. Leave room in the truck bed for the plants, and pick up your dinner wristband the day before. The 24th is calmer: a free day of tractor pulling on City Park Road, a short walk from the creek trails you may have hiked on the 16th.
If a morning at Herff Farm or an afternoon by the tractor pull track has you thinking about owning a piece of Kendall County land yourself, Kalor West would be glad to talk about acreage, pasture and what you want your own land to be. Let's Connect.
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