| 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.
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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!
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.
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| Lone
Star Motorcycle Museum |
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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
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.
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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.
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.
If
you have a larger groups of people, you’ll want to
head a bit further south on Hwy
83 out of Leakey to Concan, and
then back to the southeast a
mile or so on Hwy 127. Here
you will find Neal’s Lodges.
Neal’s has big cabins
that will hold larger groups
of people, but don’t plan
on coming down here without advance
reservations because they are
not likely to have a vacancy.
In fact,
they probably are
already booked full for all holiday
weekends for the rest of your
life, but it never hurts to ask.
Neal’s
will also arrange your float
trips on the Frio, as will a
lot of other
float operators in the area.
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!
Bronco
Bob |
