About a half-hour from Dallas is the Blackland prairie, upon which Kaufman County sits.  This is a lake-heavy county, with easy access to the Cedar Creek Reservoir, Lake Ray Hubbard, and Terrell City Lake.  Outside of fun lake activities, Kaufman is also a great place for antiquing and touring historic homes, as well as community events like a barbeque cook-off, the Heritage Jubilee, and an Octoberfest.  A local community college and the Southwestern Christian College offer higher education to students who don’t wish to commute to Dallas.