Texas RV Travel blog

Comanche Cyclone

Comanche Cyclone

Comanche, Texas
Saturday, June 7, 2008 8 am
Cross Country

300 cyclists expected

Special route for youngsters 10 and under. Country back-roads, no traffic, and very scenic. There are some scenic routes listed on the website in case you cannot make the race. This is a pretty part of Texas.

Routes

All are PDFs.

Cyclone Route Map - 10 Miles
Cyclone Route Map - 22 Miles
Cyclone Route Map - 28 Miles
Cyclone Route Map - 42 Miles
Cyclone Route Map - 55 Miles
Cyclone Route Map - 75 Miles

RVers: You may want to stay at Proctor Lake (Army Corps of Engineers Park)

Mesquite Rodeo Bike Ride

You will begin your ride from Resistol Arena at Rodeo Center located at 1818 Rodeo Drive. I-635 (LBJ Freeway) exit Military Parkway/Scyene. If you are traveling southbound, continue through both signal lights to the Arena. If you’re northbound, turn left on Military Parkway, take an immediate left after the overpass at Rodeo Center Blvd.Thousands of cyclists will start out from the Mesquite Rodeo Center. Bring your family, friends and co-workers.

Mesquite Rodeo Bike Ride

Mesquite, Texas
Saturday, June 7, 2008 8 am
2000 cyclists expected.

Route Details

RVers: I would stay at the Plantation Place RV Park.

Peach Pedal Bike Ride

Peach Pedal Bike Ride
Weatherford, Texas
Saturday, July 12, 2008
2500 cyclists expected

Routes of 100K, 39 miles, 26 miles and 9 miles. This course has some tough hills. but the hills are interspersed with flat stretches. Check in advance of the state of the roads in the area. Sometimes spring floods can wash roads away.

After the ride, shuttle buses will take riders from the start/finish to the Parker County Peach Festival in downtown Weatherford, where you’ll enjoy lots of food, crafts, music and country hospitality.

RVers: Stay at the Lake Mineral Wells State Park & Trailway. The Trailway provides opportunities for hikers, bicyclists and equestrians.

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Horseback Trails

McKinney Roughs Nature Park is located about 15 miles east of Austin on Highway 71. McKinney Roughs spreads over 1,100 acres and includes horseback riding (not camping). McKinney Roughs has two equestrian trail heads. Several of the trails offer scenic overlooks, cross pine groves and grasslands, as well as offer access to the Colorado River.

Trailhead gates are opened at sunrise and closed at sunset every day to allow trail riders access to the trails during optimal riding times. Fee is $10 per rider. Equestrian passbooks can be purchased for $250, which includes 50 passes. To check if equestrian trails are open, call the 24-hour trail information hotline at 1-800-776-5272, Ext. 7427.  Link to the trail map in PDF.

BastropTexas.net has some great photographs of McKinney Roughs park.

Hiking Trails

McKinney Roughs contains the most extensive collection of hiking trails to be found in Central Texas. The official park website mentions over 15 miles of trails, with more planned in the future. $3 per person. No biking and no dogs on trails. View the details at Texas Hiking website.

Photograph from Happy Horse Hotel website. All rights reserved.

Area Campground

Happy Horse Hotel has tent and rig camping (water and electric only). There are a few openings for the May Full Moon Ride on May 16 and May 17) . $35 for each horse/rider, which will include the $5 ride ticket. The ride will last 60 to 90 minutes after mounting up, and riders must be able to comfortably trot and canter their horses, since timing is everything. Call 512-303-0589 for more details and exact times.

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Photography by Earl Nottingham © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Did you know there is a place in Texas where you may view the history of the Great Plains, which includes 260+ million years and six major geologic periods? The story is told in the sandstone cliffs and multicolored clays that form gypsum-laced pedestals, hoodoos and slides of the canyonlands. Standing on the bedrock of the Southern Plains, you will agree that Caprock Canyons State Park amd Trailway is unlike any other area of Texas.

Caprock Canyons State Park was Park of the Month November 2007. Below is an excerpt from this article:

Imagine a place where marbled redrock canyons slice through a vast landscape dominated by table top-flat plains, where miniature mountains pierce an azure sky, where historic railroad bridges seem to float in space and the descendants of ancient bison herds graze native grasses . . .

After the Visitors Center and the Discovery Center, the park road winds from the escarpment to the canyonlands below. Lake Theo, accessed by the first turn-in to the left along the park road, offers fishing, swimming and non-motorized boating. The next right is Honea Flat Camping Area, where you park your RV. Down the road and to the right is Wild Horse Camping Area, the equestrian camping area.

After a couple of miles, as the road descends into the canyons of the North Prong and South Prong of the Little Red River, you will find Red Tent Camping Area on the left, the trailhead of the Upper and Lower Canyon Trails to the right. The road ends at South Prong Tent Camping Area. There are two primitive camping areas on the canyon trails.

Caprock Canyons State Park includes the Trailway, a 64-mile Rail-to-Trail conversion. Used for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding, this multi-use trail begins at South Plains on top of the caprock escarpment and ends at Estelline in the Red River Valley. On the way from escarpment to river valley, the Trailway crosses 46 bridges and includes a trip through Clarity tunnel, home to a colony of Mexican free-tailed bats (April through October).

Notes:

• All visitors must obtain an entrance permit to use parking area and trailway.
• Overnight campers must obtain permits at the park headquarters.
• Day-use fees may be paid at pay stations located at each trailhead.
• Do not tie animals to man-made structures.
• The Mexican free-tailed bats living in Clarity tunnel are very sensitive to traffic, noise, light and human presence. Walk your bike through the tunnel.

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