Road Trip

The Ride to the Texas Hill Country

By David Lindsey

On June 5th, 2003, a small group of ArkLaTex StarRiders set out for the Texas Hill Country. A beautiful area just west of the I-35 corridor that connects Austin, San Marcos, and San Antonio. We left the town of Waskom on the Louisiana/Texas border and headed down Highway 79. After smooth cruising for a couple of hours, we met the typical summer downpours. We pulled off into a rest area, donned our wet weather gear, and proceeded to "cruise" through 100 miles of the wet stuff. As we arrived at Round Rock, a northern suburb of Austin, we were finally able to go back to the dry mode. The remainder of our four-day trek was sunny and warm. We crossed over I-35 and made our way through the small towns of the eastern part of the Hill Country to Blanco. This is a charming little town just south of Johnson City and would serve as our base to ride to and from on our trip. We checked into our rooms at the Swiss Lodge and sat outside our rooms in the evening plotting our adventures for the next day.

Blanco is a small town with a small-town attitude and great folks. The town seems to revolve around the Town Square and the bowling alley; its diner seems to be the cultural center. Everywhere we went in Blanco, we were met with the best of hospitality. It seemed as though we couldn't stop for food or fuel without someone introducing themselves and/or giving us tips on the "must-do" rides in the area.

On our first morning in Blanco, the group got together and had breakfast at the bowling alley café diner and then set out for the some of the southwestern sections of the Hill Country. We traveled through farmland and nice rolling hills to visit towns such as Boerne, Pipe Creek, Bandera, and Medina. Bandera is known as the Cowboy Capital of the World and one of the spots we will have to revisit in the future, as time did not allow for much time off the bikes. One of our top priorities was to visit and ride an area called the Frio Canyon. You can make a loop basically from Bandera to Utopia to Leakey (pronounced Lake-EE) to Medina. If you are ever in Leakey, a must do is the Frio Canyon Motorcycle Stop. The shop is basically a large barn with a huge opening on the street side that leads into the gift shop, a picnic-style eating area, and an "under construction" café. Bob Robin, the manager of the shop, was super. He discussed the area, the best riding spots, and even helped give a hand with some all-important picture taking.

Frio Canyon Motorcycle Stop in Leakey, Texas

The stretch of Ranch Road 337 through Leakey is known as the best bike riding in the state of Texas. After riding it, I will agree. Lots of twists, turns, dips, and beautiful scenery make it one the best rides around.

Great Curve!

After finishing our roller coaster of RR 337, we set out on Highway 16 to the historic town of Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg is one of the many towns settled by German folks and is another of those places that one needs to allow plenty of time to visit.

Texas Ranch Road 337

Texas Ranch Road 337

Just outside of Fredericksburg, we visited Luckenbach. Of course, it is mostly famous because of the old Waylon Jennings tune, and there is not much there, but it has a great aura and, of course, another "photo op."

Post Office in Luckenbach

Our third day in the Hill Country started with a ride on the Willow City Loop. I will promise that the name is misleading! The Loop is basically a paved road about the width of an average home driveway that meanders through about 16 miles of private properties. Taking you through dips, canyons, cattle gaps, and tons of free grazing cattle along with all of the wildlife you can imagine, it is one of the slower rides you will take in the area. From this area, we made our way up to the town of Llano and then to Kingsland to ride State Road 1431. Here is where the Llano and Colorado Rivers join and the road meanders beside them through hills and turns, leading you back toward Austin and Round Rock. We had such a good time on this one that we stopped in the town of Lago Vista, gassed up, turned around, and hit it one more time. After going back to our motel for a bit of a break, we then headed southeast from Blanco toward Canyon Lake with a trip down the Guadalupe River on inner tubes. It is a nice slow moving ride with a couple of small waterfalls to slip over--and more beautiful scenery. The water is clear with a green tint (due to the granite it runs over, I am told) and mostly it is COLD! The river is just another of a ton of must-do things in the Hill Country.

The next morning, the crew loaded all their gear up and started back toward home, the Piney Woods of East Texas and Western Louisiana. Except for a couple of missed turns inspired by yours truly, we had a fabulous time and look forward to another visit to the Hill Country with hopefully more time to spend there. We squeezed as much fun as we could into our 1300-mile trip and have nothing but fond memories of our time there.