Fort Worth Cattle Drive at 11:30 or 4: Build Your Stockyards Day

The Fort Worth Herd drives its longhorns down East Exchange Avenue every day at 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., except Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and Easter, and watching costs nothing. The drive lasts about eight minutes, so the real planning is what goes around it: the 11:30 drive pairs with the Stockyards' museum, walking tours and a weekday arena show, the 4 p.m. drive with a Friday or Saturday night at the rodeo.

Where to stand, and how early to arrive

Stand on the sidewalk in front of the Livestock Exchange Building at 131 East Exchange Avenue, or across the street by the RFD-TV Building at No. 130, and arrive about 30 minutes early, as Visit Fort Worth advises, to park and claim a spot. The herd sets off from the Fort Worth Petting Zoo at 157 E. Exchange and walks to just past the Livestock Exchange Building, and the street closes five minutes before it starts.

Expect company. A TCU 360 reporter described the 11:30 crowd filling both sidewalks, with people weaving for front-row spots, and the city puts yearly visitors to the Stockyards at about 9 million. The pace is slow on purpose: the cattle walk "at a very slow pace because that's the way it actually occurred 150 years ago," as the announcer told the crowd in an NBC DFW report. Opinions split. One Komoot reviewer called the whole corner a tourist rip-off, while a Fort Worth native quoted by TCU 360 never tires of it and brings every out-of-town visitor along.

For a closer look without the crush, go before or after. The drovers pose for photos before each drive, and between drives the steers rest in a corral just east of the Livestock Exchange Building that has an observation deck. Leave the drone behind: the Herd doesn't allow them.

When the drive doesn't run

Weather is the main risk: the Herd's Trail Boss cancels drives for lightning and extreme weather, and when heat is the problem, it's the 4 p.m. drive that goes. In 2023 the Herd cancelled the afternoon drive from June 26 to July 31 because of record heat while keeping the 11:30 drive running; in a normal summer, the afternoon call is made day by day.

There are no drives on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day or Easter Sunday. Cancellations go up on the Herd's Facebook and Instagram (@FortWorthHerd), so check before you drive over, and from June to August treat 11:30 as the safer bet.

What to pair with the 11:30 drive

Pair the 11:30 drive with the sights on the same few blocks: a weekday arena show, the Stockyards Museum, a guided walk and some cheap extras.

Legacy of the Longhorn, Monday to Thursday. Cowtown Coliseum's newest show starts at 12:30 p.m., right after the drive: 45 minutes of live longhorns and Herd drovers, 19th-century wagons and big-screen history, at $20 general admission when it was announced in August 2026. It runs "most weeks," and the Coliseum's calendar showed several late-October dates cancelled, so confirm before you plan on it.

The Stockyards Museum. The North Fort Worth Historical Society's small collection on the district's cattle-trading past sits on the first floor of the Livestock Exchange Building ($3, free for children 12 and under). It's open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. but closed Sundays and Tuesdays, and its listings disagree on other weekdays, so check before a midweek visit.

A guided walk. History walking tours leave daily at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. ($15 adults, $13 seniors, $5 children), with tickets sold at the Cowtown Cattlepen Maze. A Monday-to-Thursday noon version adds the Legacy show ($20 for adults).

Cheap extras. Look down as you walk: the bronze markers inlaid along Exchange Avenue, Main Street and Rodeo Plaza are the Texas Trail of Fame. The Cowtown Cattlepen Maze ($8, half price on Tuesdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily) keeps kids busy, and Billy Bob's Texas, a honky-tonk with almost three acres under one roof, charges $6 to look around before 5 p.m.

Skip for now. The Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame on Rodeo Plaza is closed for renovation and expansion, with no reopening date posted when this was checked in October 2026.

For lunch, the advice in our Fort Worth travel guide is to leave the souvenir strip for Magnolia Avenue.

Built around the 4 p.m. drive: a weekend evening

On a Friday or Saturday, the 4 p.m. drive is the better anchor, because it rolls straight into dinner and the Stockyards' two big nights out. (If you'd rather catch the 11:30 drive and spend the afternoon at the Kimbell, the one-day plan in our Fort Worth travel guide does that before the rodeo.)

Before the drive. From Friday to Sunday, the free Herd Experience runs 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the longhorn pen behind the Livestock Exchange Building, where drovers saddle horses and demonstrate roping and branding; no tickets are needed. Families might prefer the Grapevine Vintage Railroad's 45-minute Trinity River Excursion, which leaves Stockyards Station at about 3 p.m. on its operating days and returns around 3:45 ($12 to $20; check in 90 minutes ahead).

The rodeo. The Stockyards Championship Rodeo runs Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Cowtown Coliseum, the 1908 arena billed as home of the world's first indoor rodeo: about two hours of bull riding, bronc riding, roping and barrel racing, with air-conditioning. Doors open at 6 p.m., and children 4 to 12 can sign up free at the main entrance until 7:30 for the calf or mutton scramble, which starts around 8:30 (a parent signs a waiver). The box office and concessions take cards only, tickets are non-refundable, and the Coliseum recommends buying ahead in case of a sellout. Some weekends swap in a 1:30 p.m. matinee or a special event, as when the Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering took both Saturday slots in late October 2026, so check the calendar for your date.

Billy Bob's instead. Billy Bob's Texas runs live bull riding on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 and 9 p.m., $8 in cash on top of a concert ticket (some concerts and special events differ). That overlaps the rodeo, so pick one: the Coliseum for a full rodeo with kids, or Billy Bob's for bull riding, a concert and two-stepping. Over-18s need government ID, and minors must be with a parent or guardian.

Thursday option. Cowtown Coliseum's PBR Stockyards Showcase is bull riding only, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

A Fort Worth native writing for TravelAwaits warns that the Stockyards "can become quite rowdy at night"; if that's not your scene, head out after the rodeo.

Parking and getting there

Parking is the hidden cost: the Stockyards' own lots charge a flat daily rate that climbs toward the weekend.

Self-parking is $12.50 Monday to Wednesday, $17.50 on Thursday and $22.50 Friday to Sunday, plus tax and a service fee, and the lots take cards only. Premium lots and special events cost more, and valet at the corner of Exchange Avenue and Mule Alley is $20 to $25. Trinity Metro's Orange Line bus skips the fee, running between downtown and a stop at 131 E. Exchange from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily, every 15 minutes according to Cowtown Coliseum.

Staying in the Stockyards puts both drives and the rodeo within walking distance, at the cost of noise on rodeo nights; the options are in the where-to-stay section of our Fort Worth travel guide.