Austin Hill Country

[beverclan]

Hi, I'm new to Texas, living in the Dallas area (Southlake) and wondered if anyone has suggestions for a 3-4 day tour of Austin and the Hill Country (roads, lodging).

[txtinman]

Well, you have to ride the "Three Sisters". I can't speak for lodging because I camp every time I visit the Hill Country. Garner State Park is a good place to camp for a couple of nights. It's right in the middle of Hill Country riding. Watch for critters at all times of the day out there and good riding to you.

[rlswim]

Hi, I'm new to Texas, living in the Dallas area (Southlake) and wondered if anyone has suggestions for a 3-4 day tour of Austin and the Hill Country (roads, lodging).

Hello beverclan, and welcome to Texas. We have two very active clubs in the DFW area. BMW DFW http://www.bmwdfw.org/ mostly in the western region of DFW, and Lone Star BMW Riders http://www.lonestarbmwriders.org in the eastern area of DFW. Come visit our meetings, and join us on rides!

Richard

[BeemerMike]

Hi, I'm new to Texas, living in the Dallas area (Southlake) and wondered if anyone has suggestions for a 3-4 day tour of Austin and the Hill Country (roads, lodging).

Frio Canyon Lodge in Leakey. Right in the middle of everything. You can ride the "Three Sisters" and all of their cousins until you wear your tires down! Motorcycle museum and cafe just north of Vanderpool.

Another MOA "Mike White" in Texas? Uh-oh. :eek

[beverclan]

First of all, a BIG thanks to txtinman and BeemerMike for cluing me into the Three Sisters. Didn't know about those roads (I'm new here in Texas), but that's why I asked the forum; local knowledge rules. Looked up "three sisters texas roads" on the internet and got intrigued. Seemed like a good place for a long weekend ride, so I went.

Friday (10/17) I started from Southlake (just north of DFW airport) and took the 377 to 281 to Burnet. Lots of straight roads but with enough curves and hills to keep it interesting, and the occasional tall hill to give a brief, teasing glance at the immensity around me. Texas is so new to me, the scenery was all good all the way down. I loved all the small towns, and clearly there's lot's of local pride. Stops at local eateries like Storm's in Lampasas were a highlight of the run. Then I took the Texas Hill Country Trail on the 29 to 2241 to 16 down through Fredricksburg and Kerrville to Bandera. Really nice town squares and courthouses, places I'd like to come back and spend a little time in, and I was just getting rolling into the hills.

Also, I REALLY appreciate Texas' sensible speed limits: the roads are small, but engineered well, and really roll at 60-70 mph (so why do the freeways in Tarrant & Dallas Counties usually limit at 55-60)? In addition, most of the slower folks are kind enough to pull into the wide shoulder pavement to let you pass. It's a dream!

Spent the night in Bandera at the River Oaks Inn. Nice place, friendly staff, and when I arrived they had already moved me out of a more expensive room (last available when I booked) just because a smaller one opened up. (Sorry BeemerMike, but i couldn't make it all the way to Leakey in a day). OST had great fajitas for dinner, but the nightlife scene was empty. Where WAS everyone on one of the nicest weekends of the year?

Set out for Austin Saturday via the Three Sisters. What a RIDE! I'm from the SF Bay Area, and these roads rank with anything there. Going over the slot-cut saddles, the steep up-and-downs (five in succession at one place!) and through all of the turns on good pavement was a real treat.

In addition to the natural scenery (outstanding washes and rivers and eagles and ...) the succession of artwork gates guarding the entrances to the ranches along the way provided lots of visual interest (next ride I need more time to stop and photograph some of them), and the ranches themselves were pretty spectacular. One I passed was full of buffalo under the oaks, another featured zebras.

Trying to find another route back led me to a real find, the 1340 along the Guadalupe River into Kerrville. Wow! Great road and spectacular scenery, and Stonehenge (you have to Google "Stonehenge hill country")? It seemed that anytime I got off the main routes and onto the side roads it just got better. I need a better map with more detail on the country roads before next time, any suggestions???? Another find was getting off 290 to run the parallel SR1 along the Pedernales River through the park past the LBJ Ranch, slower but so spectacular. Just a chance decision (if it's route ONE it must have some significance?) that looked good and turned out to be right.

I ended my day running up 281 from Johnson City (a town with a prosaic name but lots of charm) to Marble Falls to catch the 1431/183/620/2244 into Austin, and couldn't figure out what Austin is. Between the hills and the roads I took, I just got a glimpse of pieces of the city. Intriguing! What goes on in Austin will stay in Austin I'm sure, because really, by the time I rolled in I was bone-tired, and 6th St was jammed, and the Texas/Missouri game was on TV, so I vegged out, watched the game, and got a nice bite to eat at the Tex-Mex place next to the Oltorf La Quinta where I was staying. I have to go back.

Austin to home on Sunday was going to be a chore because I had to make a deadline (cook a special meal for my daughter who was in town), but the scenery back was good, and I made a real discovery by getting off the 281 onto the 220 at Hico to look for the 51, just to same some time. The 220 is like the 281, but the 51, what a road! The first (although short) part is everything that the Three Sisters are, and is also close to Dallas/FtWorth.

I haven't been able to get my own bike out from CA yet, so I had rented an F800ST from Sport Ryder in Carrollton (great outfit!) for this trip, and spent Thursday getting used to to it NW of Dallas on some roads suggested by Todd Richmond from the BMW-DFW club. Very smooth and responsive, great quick gearbox, tight in the corners, and enough power that I didn't have to downshift on any of the hills. The only drawback was a REALLY annoying mirror placement, it's set up for a great view of your forearms! I had to keep moving my arms to get a view rearward. Also, the front suspension has a tendency to bottom out quickly (CLANG!).

Other than that, it was a dream ride, much lighter and quicker than my 2000 R1150GS (about 250# lighter with the same 84hp). I'll need to find out what the long-term outlook for belt drives is (I've been a shaft-drive fan, and if you have any input please reply), but there was no vibration or chain hiss, nice! I put 1200 miles on it in four days, and it was comfortable enough for me as a touring bike, even in the wind, as it was a fun bike going through the twisties. I didn't have much luggage and was riding one-up, so I can't speak for it as a loaded touring bike with two-up. I'm going to wait to try the F800GS to see if it's better, but one of these is definitely in my future.

[BeemerMike]

First of all, a BIG thanks to txtinman and BeemerMike for cluing me into the Three Sisters.

De nada. Bienvenidos a Tejas!

Also, I REALLY appreciate Texas' sensible speed limits: the roads are small, but engineered well, and really roll at 60-70 mph (so why do the freeways in Tarrant & Dallas Counties usually limit at 55-60)?

Dallas and Tarrant counties are ozone nonattainment areas. I think the lower speed limits are part of their attainment plan (SIP).

In addition, most of the slower folks are kind enough to pull into the wide shoulder pavement to let you pass. It's a dream!

Yes, MOST folks in Texas are polite and considerate, especially once you get away from the big cities. It can take a little getting used to. ;)

[Howie_778]

Hi. Writing from Ottawa, Canada, and getting ready to put the bikes into hibernation soon. (Hopefully the snow won't fly until late November.)

This time of year brings thoughts of our winter bike get-away. The Austin Hill Country looks ideal. So my question is: what is the weather like in the area in late February? (We're planning our vacation for Feb. 20-27/09.) We're not too concerned about the cold, but not crazy about ice + snow.

Last winter we did a loop around southern Arizona. Other than briefly getting caught in a snowstorm at Kitt Peak National Observatory the weather was great: 25F in the morning; 50F by the afternoon; always sunny. And beautiful roads and scenery.

We would like to visit the Lone Star State this winter.

Thanks.

[cathdeac]

Here is a handy link:
http://www.motorcycleroads.com/

Choose the state, click and enjoy.