This is a slightly expanded/modified version of the article I wrote for Planetbiker Magazine about riding in the Texas Hill Country. Print publications being what they are, space is limited, and sometimes it’s useful to use the net to get out all the things you’d have liked to put in the print article but couldn’t, so here it is:
Texas has no shortage of places to ride, but there's a couple of places in Texas that local bikers head for every chance they get. We try to keep them a secret, and I'm bound to catch flak for telling all of you in our neighboring states rather than keeping the secret right here at home, but hey...we ride Oklahoma and Arkansas on a regular basis so it's only fair to invite our neighbors down to our stomping grounds, right? So let's take a look at one of them...the Texas Hill Country.
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The Texas Hill Country is more formally known as the Edwards Plateau, and the landscape is made up of eroded, rocky, hilly land with shallow soil. It’s not much good for farming but it supports enough growth to make good grazing land, so there’s a lot of cattle and sheep ranching in the area. There’s also a lot of open range land, which means cattle guards and livestock on the roads. Whitetail deer are everywhere down here, and they seem to consider bounding out into the road in front of motorcycles to be a particularly rewarding form of entertainment, so you want to keep a wary eye out for hazards with hooves. |
The Hill Country forms a rectangle about 200 miles wide and 100 miles high. We’ve got San Antonio over in the southeast corner, Del Rio holding down the extreme southwest corner down on the Rio Grande, Sonora out on Interstate 10 nailing down the northwest corner, and the northeast corner is roughly up around Lampasas, 50 or so miles NNW of Austin. The Hill country doesn’t really look like mountains so much as flat land that was dug out to create the elevation changes And since it was once part of the Great Plains and the hills were a result of erosion over the centuries, that’s pretty much what took place.
Lots of folks think of Fredericksburg when they think of visiting the Hill Country, and I’d consider it mandatory to spend some time in the Fredericksburg area, with side trips to Luckenbach to see just exactly what it was that Willie ‘n Waylon and the boys were going back to. What you’re going to find is a bar, a post office, a general store, a beer hall, and camping, and they have motorcycle-only parking right up front. Riders are first class citizens in Luckenbach…the only trick is finding the place.You also won’t want to miss Wildseed Farms, especially during the growing season, and war/history buffs will want to check out the Admiral Chester Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg.
If you can find it, the Willow City Loop has the best bluebonnet viewing anywhere on the planet at the right time of year, but I’m not going to tell you how to find it. It’s kind of an unwritten rule that nobody who knows tells anyone else how to find the Willow City Loop. You have to want to go there bad enough to dig up the directions for yourself. And please, if you do go there, don’t stop and gawk at the scenery and block the road. There are working ranches out there and the ranchers who are trying to work them don’t much like being stuck in a tourist traffic jam way out in the middle of God’s country, and I can’t say that I blame them. If you do find yourself in the neighborhood, you’ll want to check out the Knot in the Loop Saloon, where you will find refreshments and live entertainment. Also to the north of Fredericksburg, Enchanted Rock is a must see. It’s not a must-climb though unless you are stout of leg and lung.
Heading south out of Fredericksburg on Hwy 16 will lead you to Kerrville, which is a decent sized town will all of the modern conveniences, but the idea here is to get out of town, so stay on 16 and head on south out of Kerrville towards Medina. Heading south on 16, the road is your typical state highway – 2 lane, high speed limit, gradual sweeping curves, long lines of sight. But as you near Medina, you will suddenly come upon some warning signs – tight curves ahead, really low speed limits (as low as 15 MPH), and folks, I want you to know that they ain’t kidding! This is where the fun begins and the long ride to get here becomes worth it.
| Not long after the twisties begin, and before you get into Medina, you’ll come across a one of the premier places to hang your hat in Texas. On the west side of the road you’ll come across a place called the Koyote Ranch. Here you’ll find a couple of lakes, a swimming hole, a pool and hottub, a mercantile store, restaurant complete with biergarten, a bed and breakfast in the lodge, a whole assortment of cabins, RV and tent sites for camping, and so much else that you just need to visit their website for the whole story. One look at this place and you’ll start mentally plotting a way to move there and stay forever! |
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When you get to Medina you’ll want to be looking for Hwy 337 running west out of town. When you find it, take it and get ready for for the best that Texas has to offer, because once you hit Hwy 337 you are truly entering what is widely considered to be the Motorcycle Mecca of Texas. Next stop is Vanderpool, Texas, about 20 scenic miles down the Highway. When you get there you’ll find that there’s not a lot to Vanderpool, but they do have a mighty fine post office. If you turn left at the intersection at Hwy 187, you can roll on down to Utopia, and hey, it’s not every day you can visit Utopia, now is it? Utopia is also the location of the semi-famous Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch which is probably best known as one of the favorite causes of Kinky Friedman, the man who is starting to make it look like it actually is possible that a straight-talking politically incorrect Jewish independent might actually get himself elected as the next Governor of Texas. Now there’s something you just don’t see everyday around these parts.
Heading back north on Hwy 187 to Vanderpool, and slightly on past, and you’ll pick up the next section of Hwy 337 west. Just look for Lost Maples General Store at the intersection. You’ll know you’re there when you see the 1950-something Buick sitting out front. The Buick has been there for about 40 years now…the story I got was that some guy broke down there on the way to California, so he left the car and hitchhiked towards home and they never saw him again and nobody ever came for the car. Before you continue your ride west on Hwy 337, take some extra time and go on up Hwy 187 past the
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store...in a couple of miles you will
come to the Lone Star Motorcycle Museum – it’s in a big white metal
building on your left…can’t missit.
This is one of those places that feels a little surreal. If you’re like
me, you’ll be asking yourself “How did a place like this wind up way out
here in the middle of nowhere, and WHERE DID THEY GET ALL OF THOSE COOL MOTORCYCLES?” It’s a must-see see if you’re
anywhere in the area. Check out their website at
www.lonestarmotorcyclemuseum.com for hours of operation.
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If you head a bit further north on Hwy 187 you will come to Lost Maples State Park, which is known for being one of only two spots in Texas where maple tree will grow naturally, the other being way out west in McKittrick Canyon in the Guadalupe Mountains on the Texas/New Mexico border. Get there at the right time in the fall and the leaves put on quite a show, which, as with most shows nowdays, you will get to share with countless other visitors.. But let’s get back on Hwy 337 west out of Vanderpool.
| This road will throw you some serious twists and turns for about 17 miles as it makes it’s way over to Leakey (pronounced Lake-E). Leakey is in the true heart of the Hill Country and it’s often my base of operations for riding the area as well as floating the Frio River, which is another of the must-do activities in this area (in season, of course…Frio means COLD in Spanish, and you won’t find many people in this spring-fed stream unless it’s plenty warm outside. |
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Leakey has a jewel of a place to stay for cyclists-only called the D’rose Inn. There you’ll find 4 rooms and 11 cabins on the edge of town, close to everything yet secluded. Owner Deb Rose bought the property in 2003, when it was known as the
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Mountain Laurel Inn, and has been working on upgrades and renovation of the property ever since. Deb is one of us and made the move to cyclists only in the fall of 2005, and she hasn’t looked back since. If you’re down that way to ride Highways 335, 336, and 337, or to float the Frio River, D’Rose Inn is the place to stay if you can get a reservation, but don’t delay. There’s only 15 rooms available and they fill up fast in season. | ||
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Leakey is also the home of the Frio Canyon Motorcycle Stop, and you can’t miss the place since it’s in an aircraft hangar sized metal building one address west of the main intersection in town. It’s a great place to stop and get something to eat, something cold to drink, and just recharge a bit before you roll one down the blacktop.
I like to leave Leakey on 337 West over to Camp Wood (about 21 miles), and then pick up Hwy 335 headed north out of town. This is one pretty ride of about 25 miles, part of it along the Nueces River and eventually it spits you out on State Hwy 41, From there, you will probably want to turn right and take 41 back across to Hwy 336 and take 336 south back to Leakey. Keep in mind there aren’t gas stations on every corner out here. Most of the time, there’s nothing on corners out here. When you see a place to buy fuel, you probably ought to top off the tank, especially if you are on a machine with limited range.
There are hundreds of things to see and do in the Texas Hill Country. It’s one of those areas you just have to visit once and it will have you coming back year after year, and each time you return you’ll discover new places to go and things to do. It might be a bit far for bikers from North Texas and neighboring states, but it’s within a day’s ride and it’s worth the trip.
If you like the idea of spectacular wildflowers, big sky, lots of crooked roads, caverns to explore, viewing Bald Eagles nesting along the Llano River within sight of the highway, (seasonal viewing along the Llano River just N.E. of town along State Hwy 29), a replica of Stonehenge, a cave where you can watch literally millions of bats come swarming out each night at dusk, a castle out in the middle of nowhere, and the best bar-b-que on the planet, you’re going to like the Texas Hill Country….you can’t possibly see and do it all on one visit, but if you visit once, you’ll be hooked, and you’ll be back!
Those of you who were paying close attention might recall that I lead off this article by saying there were a couple of places that Lone Star bikers love to ride, and then I only mentioned one of them. The other one is Big Bend. Stay tuned and ride safe!
Joe