The Texas Plains Trail Region both relies on and supports our partner organizations in promoting heritage tourism, historic preservation, and economic development within our 52 counties of the Plains and Panhandle.
Working with our Heritage Tourism Partners
The Texas Plains Trail Region, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a participant in the award-winning Texas Heritage Trails program of the Texas Historical Commission, both relies on and supports our partner organizations in promoting heritage tourism, historic preservation, and economic development within our 52 counties of the Plains and Panhandle. While a portion of our yearly funding currently comes from a transportation enhancement grant administered by the THC, we look to each of our region's counties to provide supplemental funding proportional to its population.
• "Ride the Texas Plains Trail, Roadtrip": Texas Plains Trail Annual Report 2018-19
• “Ride the Texas Plains Trail”: Texas Plains Trail Region Annual Report, 2017–18
• "This Land Is Our Land": Texas Plains Trail Region Annual Report, 2016-17
• "On the Texas Plains Trail," the Texas Plains Trail Region anthem by Barbara Brannon
• “The Creation Myth of the Texas Heritage Trails: How Texas’s Award-Winning Heritage Tourism Program Got Its Start,” presented 6/12/2016 at THC’s Real Places Heritage Tourism Conference, Austin
• “Fifty Years of Texas Heritage Trails: A Golden Anniversary Retrospective,” 2018
We welcome individual and corporate donations, which are tax-deductible according to the limits set by the IRS. Give now via PayPal!
Partner Benefits
In turn, our partner counties benefit from the expertise and considerable resources we provide in education, training, advocacy, promotion, communications, and networking. Each heritage tourism entity in the county—museum, park, county historical commission, historic site, cultural enterprise, etc.—is automatically considered our partner and receives these full benefits, including our heritage marketing package valued at more than $50,000 annually. (On occasion, cooperative marketing projects are also made available to our partners at a separate charge.)
• TPTR Marketing Program, 2020–21 (pdf)
• Texas Plains Trail/TravelHost Visitor Guide
In addition, we maintain memberships and reciprocal partnerships with national, statewide, and regional organizations whose missions dovetail with our own. We are grateful for these resources and make broad use of them for our heritage partners' benefit. Also, we collaborate with and support the work of the many chambers of commerce, economic development corporations, and convention and visitor bureaus in the 52 counties of our region.
• Amarillo Convention and Visitor Council
• Big Spring Convention and Visitor Bureau
• Caprock Partners Foundation
• GoTexan, Texas Department of Agriculture
• High Ground of Texas
• Lubbock Heritage Society
• Office of the Governor, Economic Development & Tourism
• Ogallala Commons
• Panhandle Tourism Marketing Council
• Preservation Texas
• Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University
• Texas Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (TACVB)
• Texas Association of Museums
• Texas Downtown Association
• Texas Highways, Texas Department of Transportation
• Texas Historical Commission (our "parent" organization)
• Texas Living History Association
• Texas Main Street
• Texas Midwest Community Network
• Texas Panhandle Heritage Foundation
• Texas Parks & Wlidlife
• Texas State Historical Association
• Texas Travel Industry Association
• Texas Travel Information Centers
• TravelHost of West Texas
• Visit Lubbock
• West Texas Historical Association
• West Texas Trip: driving loop itineraries for tourist groups and motor coaches, starting from Fort Worth, Midland/Odessa, San Angelo, Lubbock, or Amarillo. Tour the Texas of your imagination!
Friends and Community
Finally, our enterprise is dependent upon the energy and imagination of dedicated individuals who care about preserving the real experience of Texas—its places, its natural resources, its institutions, and its stories. We appreciate the service of our staff, interns, board of directors, associates, and friends in Texas and throughout the world. Please join in our conversation, and follow us and our partners, in traditional and social media and in person:
• Subscribe to our monthly "Tales from the Trail" e-newsletter (click and scroll down) for news, events, and tips from around the region
• Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter social media
• View our photo slide shows on Flickr, and download photos for use in promoting your community's promotions
• Download stock images from around the region, and logos and headshots for media use
• Attend our bi-monthly board meetings and site visits around the region, always open to the public
• Attend our annual Tourism & Preservation Roundup
• Plan your next adventure within the 50,000 exciting square miles of the Texas Plains Trail Region!
Other Resources for Partners and Volunteers
Other helpful resources for our partners:
• Contact us to request a Partner Packet of information and benefits
• Download a road map of the Texas Plains Trail Region
• Texas Plains Trail Region By-laws
• TPTR Partner Grant Program guidelines and application
• TPTR Tourism Rack Card Project 2018–19
• Guidelines for Hosting a Board Meeting
• Guidelines for Hosting a Tourism & Preservation Round-up
• Board of Directors Application
• Honor Roll of Board Members
• The Texas Rehabilitation Tax Credit and Heritage Tourism: A White Paper
• Subscribe to the Texas Historical Commission's free Medallion magazine
• "A Grande Dame Shines Again: 85 Years of Big Spring's Hotel Settles during Boom, Bust, and Boom," presentation by Barbara Brannon at the 2015 West Texas Historical Association conference. The paper (pdf) and accompanying PowerPoint (pdf, 71MB) demonstrate the benefit of historic preservation to one Texas downtown. Feel free to download and quote, with attribution.
• Download our West Texas Music Heritage map (courtesy of Pamela Brink)