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Recreation & Entertainment

Blessed with great weather year-round, you can find something fun to do in and around Harlingen almost every day.

Tony Butler Golf Course

You can participate in sports 12-months out of every year. There are seven championship quality golf courses in the greater Harlingen metro area including one public course, the Tony Butler Golf Course - 27 holes with driving range, chipping greens, Pro-shop and short-order kitchen. The course meanders through the natural South Texas terrain and is extremely easy to walk if you so choose.  The 18-hole course is a championship layout measuring 6,400 yards (par 71) featuring Champions Ultra-Dwarf Bermuda greens.

Sky view of properties on Tony Butler golf course

The 9-hole course is a shorter course measuring 2,600 yards (par 35) with newly renovated Emerald Zoysia greens.

Along with Tony Butler Golf Course, you’ll find:

  • Cottonwood XXI Country Club

  • Harlingen Country Club

  • Rancho Viejo Country Club

  • South Padre Island Golf Club

  • Stuart Place Country

  • Treasure Hills Golf Club

Parks and Recreation

Harlingen offers you the opportunity to get outside and enjoy natural surroundings. There are 22 parks with 556 acres and facilities including, miles of walking and nature trails, gardens, special amenities for people with disabilities, a dog park, exercise facilities, a pool, the 18-court, lighted H.E.B. Tennis Center, baseball, softball, soccer, and football fields, restroom facilities, park shelters and playgrounds, even a park that features the huge display: The History of Mexico and Mankind.

Walkway around Port of Harlingen

Museums

There are several in the Rio Grande Valley but in Harlingen, the Harlingen Arts and Heritage Museum is one of a kind. The museum has three historical buildings on its ground: the original home of the Lon C. Hill, Harlingen's town founder; the Paso Real Stagecoach Inn, and Harlingen's first hospital. Also on the grounds is the Historical Museum, formerly the Air Police Squadron and Brig of the Harlingen Air Force Base. This building houses the permanent collection of Harlingen and Texas historical objects and photos. The main museum building features rotating arts and cultural exhibits.

Entertainment

You can enjoy concerts and more at the Harlingen Municipal Auditorium all at family-friendly prices. A beautiful new Convention center capable of hosting events large and small along with three multiplex movie cinemas in the city with a total of 36 screens.

Harlingen convention center

Events

Harlingen is the Mecca for birding with over 400 species of birds having been found in the vicinity of Harlingen, and an additional 130 species elsewhere in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The Hugh Ramsey Nature Park, is home to many species and only 3 miles from downtown Harlingen. Just 2 miles south of the downtown Along the Arroyo Colorado river is the Harlingen Thicket, another World Birding Center.

A few of our annual events:

Boating, Fishing & Hunting

If you’re an angler, you couldn’t ask for a better place to cast your line than south Texas.

Harlingen has a huge, yearly fishing event just for kids. If you're an experienced fishing person or just up for the adventure then The Texas coast is home to all of the popular game fish species sought after throughout the Gulf of Mexico. Whether it is Redfish, Snook, Tarpon or Marlin you are after, South Texas has them all. This tropical fishing experience is unlike anything else in the U.S. offering the same angling experience that fisherman travel the world to find. Fish the ankle-deep flats on Friday and explore the sapphire waters offshore on Sunday. The Texas International Fishing Tournament is held in August. In the last seven decades, the tournament has become the largest on the Texas Gulf Coast and is ranked in the top ten billfish tournaments in the world.

Harlingen is surrounded by the beautiful South Texas brushlands and riparian forests that are host to a variety of game for the outdoorsman and hunter to enjoy.

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