Eighty miles west\u00c2\u00a0 of Austin,\u00c2\u00a0 the Texas Hill Country is a scenic, uncrowded region of wooded hills and clear, spring-fed streams that offers some of the best road biking in America\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0 Sunbelt,\u00c2\u00a0 especially\u00c2\u00a0 fall\u00c2\u00a0 through spring when most northern states are buried in snow. The two top cycling areas are, first:\u00c2\u00a0 the network of\u00c2\u00a0 low-traffic backroads that web the hills around Fredericksburg, a town\u00c2\u00a0 founded by German pioneers where biergartens\u00c2\u00a0 and German\u00c2\u00a0 culture\u00c2\u00a0 still\u00c2\u00a0 flourish;\u00c2\u00a0 and\u00c2\u00a0 second:\u00c2\u00a0 the\u00c2\u00a0 spectacular\u00c2\u00a0 100-Mile Mountain Loop in the western Hills where it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more like Switzerland than Texas.<\/p>\n
In\u00c2\u00a0 a\u00c2\u00a0 single week,\u00c2\u00a0 this\u00c2\u00a0 author\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0 favorite bike\u00c2\u00a0 tour\u00c2\u00a0 takes\u00c2\u00a0 you\u00c2\u00a0 exploring\u00c2\u00a0 the\u00c2\u00a0 most exciting and rewarding roads in both areas (see\u00c2\u00a0 Resources).\u00c2\u00a0 While\u00c2\u00a0 pedaling\u00c2\u00a0 the\u00c2\u00a0 full length of the 100-Mile Mountain Loop you will\u00c2\u00a0 ride\u00c2\u00a0 for miles\u00c2\u00a0 through\u00c2\u00a0 the canyons of rivers\u00c2\u00a0 like\u00c2\u00a0 the Frio and Nueces, and wind along\u00c2\u00a0 high\u00c2\u00a0 ridges\u00c2\u00a0 like Horse\u00c2\u00a0 Collar\u00c2\u00a0 Bend, the highest road in the Hill Country.<\/p>\n
Then\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00c2\u00a0 recommend\u00c2\u00a0 you\u00c2\u00a0 spend\u00c2\u00a0 three full\u00c2\u00a0 days\u00c2\u00a0 cycling\u00c2\u00a0 the\u00c2\u00a0 rolling\u00c2\u00a0 hills\u00c2\u00a0 near Fredericksburg, where one\u00c2\u00a0 loop ride takes you to Enchanted Rock, a huge pink dome of bare slickrock. On another, you cycle to the Willow City Loop,\u00c2\u00a0 famed\u00c2\u00a0 for\u00c2\u00a0 its\u00c2\u00a0 stunning\u00c2\u00a0 panoramas\u00c2\u00a0 and\u00c2\u00a0 blazing\u00c2\u00a0 displays\u00c2\u00a0 of bluebonnets\u00c2\u00a0 each\u00c2\u00a0 spring.\u00c2\u00a0 Both\u00c2\u00a0 rides\u00c2\u00a0 take you\u00c2\u00a0 through\u00c2\u00a0 the\u00c2\u00a0 heart\u00c2\u00a0 of\u00c2\u00a0 the\u00c2\u00a0 Hills,\u00c2\u00a0 past stone and\u00c2\u00a0 log\u00c2\u00a0 farmhouses built more\u00c2\u00a0 than a\u00c2\u00a0 century\u00c2\u00a0 ago\u00c2\u00a0 by\u00c2\u00a0 German\u00c2\u00a0 pioneers,\u00c2\u00a0 and through miles of open range where herds of link to the top ten tours<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Eighty miles west\u00c2\u00a0 of Austin,\u00c2\u00a0 the Texas Hill Country is a scenic, uncrowded region of wooded hills and clear, spring-fed streams that offers some of the best road biking in America\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0 Sunbelt,\u00c2\u00a0 especially\u00c2\u00a0 fall\u00c2\u00a0 through spring when most northern states …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[616],"class_list":["post-1629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-texas-hill-country"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4tok-qh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nsheep and goats often wander on the roads.Motels\u00c2\u00a0 abound\u00c2\u00a0 in\u00c2\u00a0 Fredericksburg, which\u00c2\u00a0 is\u00c2\u00a0 an\u00c2\u00a0 excellent\u00c2\u00a0 place\u00c2\u00a0 to\u00c2\u00a0 overnight, as are Kerrville, Laekey, Rock Springs, and Junction.\u00c2\u00a0 State\u00c2\u00a0 parks\u00c2\u00a0 with\u00c2\u00a0 campgrounds also\u00c2\u00a0 exist\u00c2\u00a0 near most\u00c2\u00a0 overnight\u00c2\u00a0 stops. My recommended\u00c2\u00a0 route\u00c2\u00a0 will\u00c2\u00a0 have\u00c2\u00a0 you\u00c2\u00a0 pedal
\nnearly 400 miles, with an average day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ride of\u00c2\u00a0 55\u00c2\u00a0 miles,\u00c2\u00a0 all\u00c2\u00a0 on\u00c2\u00a0 paved\u00c2\u00a0 roads.\u00c2\u00a0 Though it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s possible\u00c2\u00a0 to\u00c2\u00a0 ride\u00c2\u00a0 the Hill Country year-round,\u00c2\u00a0 the\u00c2\u00a0 best\u00c2\u00a0 times\u00c2\u00a0 are\u00c2\u00a0 spring\u00c2\u00a0 and\u00c2\u00a0 fall \u00e2\u20ac\u201d mid-March through mid-May, and mid-September through mid-November. Resources:\u00c2\u00a0 The\u00c2\u00a0 website\u00c2\u00a0 www.tourvelo.org\/txhills.html<\/strong><\/a> covers\u00c2\u00a0 every\u00c2\u00a0 aspect\u00c2\u00a0 of\u00c2\u00a0 Hill Country bike touring, including maps, when to go, state park campgrounds, overnight accommodations,\u00c2\u00a0 caveats,\u00c2\u00a0 and\u00c2\u00a0 a\u00c2\u00a0 complete\u00c2\u00a0 day-by-day tour itinerary with a route description.
\n–Norman Ford<\/p>\n