What to See in Lubbock - Top Sights and Attractions

Yellow House Canyon is about 32 km long, heading in Lubbock, Texas, at the junction of Blackwater Draw and Yellow House Draw, and trending generally southeastward to the edge of the Llano Estacado about 10 km east of Slaton, Texas; it forms one of three major canyons along the east side of the Llano Estacado and carries the waters of the North Fork Double Mountain Fork Brazos River.

Within the city limits of Lubbock, Yellow House Canyon remains a narrow and shallow channel with a typical width of less than 0.5 km (0.31 mi) and a typical depth of not more than 20 m (66 ft). Here, the city of Lubbock has constructed a series of small dams that form a series of narrow lakes, collectively known as Canyon Lakes. The Canyon Lakes park offers conservation areas and recreational opportunities on the water and in the narrow park along the water's edge.

As Yellow House Canyon extends outside the city limits of Lubbock, the canyon gradually widens and deepens. Around 15 km (9.3 mi) to the east-southeast of Lubbock, a dam was constructed to form Buffalo Springs Lake, a recreational lake that now inundates the site of the main springs, though the springs continue to flow beneath the waters of the lake. Immediately downstream of Buffalo Springs Lake is a much smaller dam that forms another recreational lake named Lake Ransom Canyon, where numerous single-family homes surround the lake to form the community of Ransom Canyon, Texas.

Downstream of Ransom Canyon, the North Fork is finally allowed to flow freely across sparsely populated ranchland as the canyon continues to deepen and widen. Where the North Fork crosses Texas Farm to Market Road 400, the canyon is nearly 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and 60 m (200 ft) deep. Further downstream, near the confluence of Plum Creek and the North Fork, the walls of the canyon begin to curve sharply outward as the North Fork Double Mountain Fork Brazos River flows out of the canyon and onto the rolling plains of West Texas.^[3]

Art gallery in Lubbock, Texas. The Buddy Holly Center is a performance and visual arts center in Lubbock, Texas, dedicated to Buddy Holly as well as the music of Lubbock and West Texas more broadly. The building in which it is located opened as the city's Fort Worth and Denver South Plains Railway depot in 1928. In 1996, the City of Lubbock obtained a sizable collection of Holly-related artifacts from his estate, and the next year it purchased the former depot. In 1999, the new Buddy Holly Center opened as the home of the newly acquired Buddy Holly collection as well as a replacement for the city's Fine Arts Center, which had been established in 1984.

The Center features a permanent gallery for the Buddy Holly collection, which showcases artifacts and documents from Holly's childhood as well as his professional career, as well as the Texas Musician Hall of Fame, the Lubbock Fine Arts Gallery, and three additional visual arts galleries that host traveling exhibits. In 2002, an oversized sculpture of Holly's distinctive horn-rimmed glasses was installed outside the Center's main entrance, and in 2013 Crickets drummer Jerry Allison's restored house was relocated to the site and opened to the public.^[5]

Museum in Lubbock, Texas. Lubbock Lake Landmark, also known as Lubbock Lake Site, is an important archeological site and natural history preserve in the city of Lubbock, Texas. The preserve is 336 acres and is a protected state and federal landmark. There is evidence of ancient people and extinct animals at Lubbock Lake Landmark. It has evidence of nearly 12,000 years of use by ancient cultures on the Llano Estacado. It is part of the Museum of Texas Tech University.

Visitors can watch active archeological digs. Volunteers from around the world help with the ongoing excavations each summer, and local people can volunteer also, making the site accessible for non-scientists. There are both guided and self-guided tours offered throughout the year. The landmark's hours of operation are Tuesday-Saturday from 9am-5pm, and Sunday from 1pm-5pm.

The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a designated National Historic and State Archeological Landmark.^[8]

High-rise building in Lubbock, Texas. The Metro Tower, also known as the NTS Tower, is an office high-rise building located in Lubbock, Texas. Completed in 1955, it is the tallest building in Lubbock at 274 feet. The 20-story building was originally known as the Great Plains Life Building after an insurance company that served as its first occupant. It suffered heavy damage in the 1970 Lubbock tornado, and sat vacant and derelict for several years amid talk of possible demolition. After extensive renovation, the building was reopened in 1975 and has been occupied ever since. It is the second tallest known building to have survived a direct hit by an F5 tornado. The tallest is the ALICO building in Waco, TX which is two stories taller. However, after the tornado, the Lubbock fire department closed some floors due to the worsening condition of the building.

In mid 2019, it was stated that MRE Capital would renovate the building. The renovation will include facelift and full restoration of the building. It also would added 89 residential units. The company would provide US$20 million budget for the revitalization. The building renovation is expected to start in late 2019, and be finished by the end of 2021.

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.^[10]

Building in Lubbock, Texas. The Lubbock Memorial Civic Center is a convention center located in Lubbock, Texas. It was built in 1977 and dedicated to the memory of local residents who died in the Lubbock tornado of 1970 that struck the site of the center.

Concluding in November 2015, the building underwent extensive renovation work, covering bathrooms, meeting rooms, pedestrian mall areas, lighting, external courtyard and new seating in the building's theater.

Building facilities include:

• A 40,000-square-foot (4,000 m2) exhibit hall which also doubles as a 2,995-seat indoor arena and can be used for sporting events, trade shows, conventions, banquets, and concerts (maximum capacity 4,914). Attached to the exhibit hall is a 11,000-square-foot (1,000 m2) balcony with retractable seating. Its ceiling height is 30 feet from floor to rafters, 45 feet from floor to roof.
• A 14,104-square-foot (1,310 m2) banquet hall, used for banquets and smaller meetings, seating up to 1400 persons.
• A 1,395-seat theater used for smaller concerts, stage shows and other events. It is the home of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra and Ballet Lubbock. It features two concession stands, two box offices, and four dressing rooms, among amenities.
• A 28,000-square-foot (2,600 m2) pedestrian mall marking the main lobby for the complex, and an outdoor plaza.
• A mezzanine room with a 100-foot glass wall.
• Twelve meeting rooms and a terrace suite.
• Ticketing business, Select-a-Seat is located in the facility, and provides ticketing to events in the building and other venues throughout West Texas.

The annual National Cowboy Symposium and Celebration, co-sponsored by the American Cowboy Culture Association, is hosted each year at the Lubbock Civic Center from Thursday through Sunday after Labor Day.^[13]