The Texas Hill Country can be a road cyclist’s dream come true. With many miles of quiet, country roads, considerably great weather, and friendly atmosphere and people, if you’re looking for some fun and some challenges, it doesn’t get much better than the Texas Hill Country. The Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) has put together a route that might entice and assist a passionate cyclist, ranging from novice to experienced.
Depending on day-long travel distances and an itinerary of things you might like to see or do, this trip will require some time, but consider the benefit! The ACA has mapped the trip on their website (which can be purchased for a fee), and provide GPS coordinates and terrain detail. Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes in the springtime would be a welcome sight, not to mention all of the historic sites, live music, friendly towns to visit, and the beautiful natural scenery. This 310-mile loop through the Hill Country both begins and ends in Austin, and they’ve been kind enough to include cutoff routing should you only require or have a short timeframe in which to complete it.
Photo: Adventurejay
Beginning in downtown Austin, crossing Lady Bird Lake and cycling past McKinney Falls State Park, the ACA commences in a spot that already provides so many great Texas Hill Country detours for sight-seeing. From McKinney Falls, the route continues south to Gruene through a series of majority “narrow, rural 2-lane county and state roads.” They recommend stopping in Gruene, and provide a couple of integral tourism sites to check out, and then carry the route on, following the Guadalupe River to Canyon Lake Dam. The ACA advises that from May through September, this portion of the route can get fairly busy with river tubing traffic, as a necessary precaution, and note that when you reach the Canyon Lake Dam, this is where the challenge of some hills come into play (although the scenery can’t be beat.) There is a recommended five-mile detour from the route which is recommended here for the Devil’s Backbone, which is, of course, optional and has a great lookout at the Blanco River valley.
Photo: Flickr/Woody Hibbard
The route continues to Gillespie County and Fredericksburg, passing the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site, which could be another great place to stop, as tours of the ranch are available here. And Fredericksburg is noted as one of the most popular destinations on their route, citing that weekends there normally provide many opportunities for fun things to happen. As a day-ride, they make note of approximately a 30-mile “Luckenbach Loop” detour which they feel can be done as a day-ride. And it would be nice to stop for a cold beer after a long day of cycling.
Photo: Pixabay
Onward towards Llano, passing Lake Buchanan and Inks Lake, riding towards Burnet, the ACA makes note of a couple of parks to stop at along the way, to take in the views and to take a break. They mention that the route from Burnet follows less-traveled county and state roads, back towards the suburbs of Austin, around which many of the roads will be listed on established bike routes through quiet neighborhoods. And with respect to the requisite cutoff routing, they note that if need be, you can take a 71-mile “Pedernales Cutoff” between Fredericksburg and Austin, which would make the entire loop approximately 100 miles shorter. Practice safety first, pack your essentials, but most of all, have fun cycling through the Texas Hill Country!
