Everyone who has driven FM 1826 past Salt Lick BBQ has looked at the gravel entrance directly across the road and wondered what it is. The camp entrance sits right against the world-famous barbecue stop, close enough that you can smell the smoker from the gate. Most people passing through never turn in. The people who live here do, and they've been doing it since before Salt Lick existed.
That gravel drive leads to Camp Ben McCulloch, a reunion ground on Onion Creek that dates back to the late 1800s. This year's reunion, the 130th, ran June 19 through 26. The creek still has the same rope swing regulars talk about and swimming holes that cool off in the shade, all part of its slow, unhurried pace. If you want to understand Driftwood's weekend traditions, Camp Ben McCulloch is one place to start.
A Longstanding Local Calendar
Camp Ben McCulloch runs on its own rhythm, and it has for over a century. Every April, the grounds host the Old Settler's Music Festival. Every June, the reunion brings families back for a full week of camping, swimming, and washer pitching along the creek. Both events are part of the camp's longstanding calendar, and people return year after year, generation after generation.
That continuity is part of the camp's appeal, alongside its creekside setting.
The Festival Named After Bugs
Along that same stretch of FM 1826, another creekside property hosts an event with a name that tells you exactly what it thinks of itself. Chiggerfest turned 28 this year, and the joke embedded in the name has never worn off for the people who go. The 2026 edition ran June 13, with 17 bands split across two stages, food, drinks, and vendors, and a portion of every ticket going to the Connor Kind Scholarship Fund.
Chiggerfest is not trying to be Austin City Limits. It doesn't need a Live Nation sponsor or a national headliner. It's a family-friendly, camp-overnight kind of festival where people pitch tents along the creek, listen to indie, rock, and country bands they mostly already know, and go home a little sunburned. That's one part of a Driftwood weekend in June.
Driftwood's Wineries and Breweries
Driftwood also has wineries and breweries that draw visitors:
- Vista Brewing, a 21-acre ranch with its own brewery, tasting room, and farm-to-table restaurant, has its next Sunday Funkday barrel-share scheduled for August 23 and holds quarterly Barrel Club pickup parties for members.
- Driftwood Estate Winery sits on a bluff over its own vineyards, with The Driftwood Bistro operating on the property for guests who want a full meal with the wine.
- Duchman Family Winery and Twisted X Brewing Company round out the wine side of the circuit, both frequent stops on day-trip itineraries out of Austin.
- Lone Man Mountain Brewing Co. and Suds Monkey Brewing cover the craft beer side, with Suds Monkey running its own bingo nights and member meetups.
Driftwood's wineries and breweries are one part of the local scene. Camp Ben McCulloch offers another, with a history and creekside traditions that predate the businesses on this list.
What's Actually New
The newest addition to the food scene is Whiskey Ridge, which opened in late 2024 at the corner of FM 150 and FM 3237, directly across from Hays City Store. The team behind Austin's Cover 2 and Cover 3 built a 6,000-square-foot restaurant around Texas cuisine, Gulf Coast seafood, and a serious whiskey list, and it's still the closest thing Driftwood has to a destination sit-down dinner outside of Trattoria Lisina.
Hays City Store itself has become the town's closest thing to a regular concert hall. Its Shakedown Live series already played dates in May and June this year, with the next two on the calendar for September 12 and October 18. It's a small venue with a consistent booking pattern, which is a different kind of reliability than a festival headliner. You don't need to check whether Hays City Store is doing something this month. You need to check which date.
Two Calendars, One Town
What all of this adds up to is a town with two distinct calendars. Wineries and breweries attract day-trippers from Austin with brunch menus and seasonal releases; Camp Ben McCulloch, Chiggerfest, and the creek are part of a calendar shaped by longstanding traditions.
For residents, the creek, the reunion, and the festival are part of Driftwood's summer traditions—whether that means swimming, gathering with relatives, or checking creek conditions.
Together, Driftwood's traditions and destinations give the town its distinctive appeal.
If you're weighing a move to Driftwood or thinking about what your own property here could support, from acreage along the creek to something closer to town, Friedman Real Estate has spent decades working this part of the Hill Country and can talk through what you're actually looking at. Let's connect.
