Miles and Miles of Texas

2,623 miles, in fact, of scenic drives and remote highways and hidden spots just waiting beyond the bend. So get behind the wheel, hit the open road, and prepare to discover a Texas you’ve never seen.

by Courtney Bond, Jordan Breal, Michael Hall, Joe Nick Patoski, Patricia Sharpe, Brian D. Sweany and Katy Vine

June 2012

The 
“Drive” 
Drive

By Joe Nick Patoski

ROUTE: West of Ozona to Sanderson
DISTANCE: 85 miles
NUMBER OF COUNTIES: 3
WHAT TO READ: James H. Evans’s Crazy From the Heat

A drive whose sole purpose is to experience the simple pleasure of being behind the wheel has a few requirements. The route must lead west, because that’s the story of Texas and America. The road must be off the beaten path and as free from traffic as possible. And the driver must have an open mind and an eye for discovery.

That’s why my favorite drive in Texas begins 23 miles west of Ozona, dipping south from Interstate 10, where the speed limit is 80 miles an hour but the landscape is so vast I feel like I’m hardly moving. Buttes and outcroppings covered with oak, mesquite, and prickly pear are interrupted by green river valleys. This is the canyon country of the Trans-Pecos, where the Hill Country and the Edwards Plateau transition into the Chihuahuan Desert and the basin-and-range topography that defines the West begins. It is one of the emptiest—and most scenic—parts of the state, and I am completely 
at home.

From I-10, I follow Texas Highway 290 west toward Sheffield, and the hills morph into mesas and small mountains. The brush looks harsher and thornier, and the exposed soil is rendered into hardpan or rubble as creosote, catclaw, and other desert plants appear. This stretch of highway is part of the old route that ran from Austin to El Paso before the interstate, but it is still broad-shouldered and sturdy. It’s lonely enough for drivers passing in the other direction to wave or offer a raised hidy finger, acknowledging their fellow traveler.

Nine miles later, the cactus-studded overlook above Fort Lancaster State Historic Site marks the literal edge of the old frontier. This was one of the roughest drops for stagecoaches along the Old Government Road, the trail that ran from San Antonio to El Paso. Beyond the fort, which once boasted 25 permanent buildings but now consists only of ruins for visitors to explore, a rusty metal truss bridge crosses the swift-running Pecos River. That leads to the outskirts of Sheffield, where you pick up Texas Highway 349 and head south for eleven miles. Turn right onto Ranch Road 2400, a tighter two-lane highway with a smaller shoulder, a sprawling desert landscape, and far to the west, mountains rising on the horizon. No buildings, no billboards, no trace of humanity interrupt the view.

Where could this be? Mexico? The Sand Hills? Greece? For 39 more lonely miles, the road runs through broad canyons and magnificent desert vistas to the junction at U.S. 285. From there it’s 16 miles into Sanderson, the Cactus Capital of Texas and a charmingly ancient railroad town. The road twists and curves as the first signs of civilization appear: Sanderson Wool Commission, small houses, mechanic shops, and finally U.S. 90.

Turn left and it’s less than an hour to Judge Roy Bean’s Jersey Lilly saloon, in Langtry. Go right and it’s less than an hour to Marathon. Big Bend National Park is a little more than an hour beyond that. Alpine, Marfa, Van Horn, and the great American West beckon. Where you go doesn’t really matter, because you’re already Somewhere Else. And that’s what a “drive” drive is all about.

 

The Road to Nowhere Drive
To be fair, Ranch Road 2810 isn’t exactly a road to nowhere—it leads 
to the oasis of Chinati Hot Springs. But this spot outside Marfa did provide the perfect setting for this month’s gorgeously remote-looking cover. It’s unlikely that you’ll see another soul out here (except maybe the Border Patrol), and be forewarned: the final 22 miles bump along over a gravel road, so a high-clearance vehicle 
is recommended.

START: Marfa
END: Chinati Hot Springs
DIRECTIONS: West on 
RR 2810 (look for the sign for the springs)
DISTANCE:  55 miles

 

The Birding Drive

By Patricia Sharpe

ROUTE: Mission to South Padre Island
DISTANCE: 89 miles
NUMBER OF COUNTIES: 2
WHAT TO READ: David Allen Sibley’s The Sibley Guide to Birds

Hugging the U.S.-Mexico border in far South Texas, the sultry stretch of land known as the Lower Rio Grande Valley is the Casablanca of the bird world. Sooner or later all of the usual—and some very unusual—suspects end up here. Want to see a green jay, which looks as though it has been dunked in a bucket of chartreuse paint? No problem. What about a black-and-orange Altamira oriole, which wears a Halloween costume year-round? Easy. Species from Mexico and Central America find the Valley’s subtropical climate very much to their liking, and U.S. and Canadian birds take time out here for R&R during their marathon migrations.

Happily, seeing some of the five hundred species that live or visit here is a breeze because many top sites lie just off U.S. 83. And though I saw my fair share of fast-food joints and trailer parks, what

I remember most about 
the scenery are the palm trees and bougainvillea that dot the route.

Begin your trek near Mission at the sprawling Bentsen–Rio Grande Valley State Park. This oasis is part of the World Birding Center, a fantastic group of nine government-sponsored sites spread across the area. Right off the bat, I saw a great kiskadee, a flycatcher with a black-and-white mask and bright-yellow vest. As it turns out, the mammal-watching isn’t too shabby either. I joined forces with a couple from Wisconsin, and the three of us waited patiently for a bobcat, javelina, or coyote to cross the trail as daylight faded.

Just a mile away is the National Butterfly Center, where more than two hundred species of butterflies have been sighted. Kids love the green ravine called the Hackberry Trail that forms a sort of leafy secret tunnel. At the end of it is a clearing where multiple bird feeders and slices of fresh orange guarantee you’ll see something fun, like a flock of red-winged blackbirds or maybe some zebra butterflies. For a change of pace, from there I headed eleven miles east to a WBC site in McAllen called Quinta Mazatlan, a lovely Mexican colonial–style house encircled with walking paths and well-kept lawns. There I was startled by a whole flock of chachalacas, big, goofy brown birds that sound like a cross between a turkey and a donkey.

At Estero Llano Grande State Park, in Weslaco, another WBC site, a ranger informed me that it is the best place in the Valley to see paur
aques (“par-ah-keys”). You’ll need keen eyes, though, because these astonishingly camouflaged relatives of nighthawks look exactly like a pile of dead leaves. After a stroll, relax on one of the park’s decks overlooking a tranquil pond and let the world fly or paddle by. During the Big Sit birding event last year, an astounding 99 species were spotted in 24 hours.

Rested up, get in your car and continue east on U.S. 83 before turning onto Texas Highway 100. The road rolls toward warm sea breezes and the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, a WBC site where you can see dapper gray-and-white laughing gulls and ponderous brown pelicans sail over the water. Finish your Valley excursion by going north via Park Road 100 as the Gulf of Mexico spreads out before you. When you reach the numbered beach roads on the right, park, take off your shoes, and go scrunch your toes in the sand. Give the horizon your best thousand-mile stare and enjoy the salt air and solitude at the very 
tip of Texas.

 

The 
Wildflower
Drive
Every Texan has his or her favorite stretch of road for seeing wildflowers each spring. Might we suggest one of our own, where bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, and countless other varieties rule the Hill Country for a short but glorious time each year?
START: Brady
END: Llano
DIRECTIONS: East on Texas Highway 71
DISTANCE: 54 miles

 

The Music Drive

By Joe Nick Patoski

ROUTE: Turkey to Lubbock 
(the long way)
DISTANCE: 366 miles
NUMBER OF COUNTIES: 13
WHAT TO LISTEN TO: Buddy Holly’s That’ll Be the Day and 
Waylon Jennings’s Ol’ Waylon

West Texas is the Texas of wide-open spaces, but it is also the Texas of music giants, starting in the Rolling Plains in the heart of red-dirt ranching country, not far from the 6666 and the Matador. The landscape is sparsely populated and visually powerful, and the sky is so big that only the most creative imagination can fill up the canvas. That was the case with James Robert Wills, who came from a farming family near Turkey and went on to become the King of Western Swing. That point is driven home at the Bob Wills Museum at the old Turkey grade school, where his life is recounted in phases through storyboards, photographs, and album covers.

Heading north from Turkey, drive 88 miles on Texas Highway 70 to Pampa, crossing undulating grasslands and passing over eastern extensions of Palo Duro Canyon. In downtown Pampa the old Harris Drug Store, where Woody Guthrie worked as a teenager and first learned guitar, is now the Woody Guthrie Folk Music Center. Guthrie’s story is told through photographs, letters, and news clips, and his legacy as the greatest folk singer in American history is celebrated with live jams twice a month. In July the center will celebrate Woody’s one hundredth birthday. About a mile west is the 150-foot-long “This Land Is Your Land” music-note fence.

Pages: 1 2 3 4  next »