Roadtrip stops in Texas

Hi all,

My husband and I are in the process of planning a 2 week roadtrip from San Francisco to NYC. We anticipate taking the 80 to the Appalachian Trail and will be passing through Texas. We have never been and I%26#39;d love to know your must see/do/eats through El Paso, Lubbock and/or Dallas. Any thoughts are welcome, we are very open and have no set schedule except are hoping to keep the trip to 2 weeks.

Thank you for your suggestions!

Roadtrip stops in Texas

I-80?? That doesn%26#39;t come near Texas.

Roadtrip stops in Texas

There are basically two ways of entering Texas from the West: via I-10 at El Paso or via I-40 to the West of Amarillo in the panhandle. The I-40 route is much closer to a direct route from San Francisco to the East but crosses only a small portion of Texas. You might choose to enter the panhandle and then angle Southeast via Wichita Falls into the DFW area. If so, Palo Duro canyon is a good sidetrip with fine ';Old West'; scenery. It%26#39;s just South of Amarillo.

The trip from there to Fort Worth is pretty long with plenty of wide open spaces. I do recommend Fort Worth as a stopover. It has first-rate museums, zoo, botanical gardens, etc. It%26#39;s downtown is very nice. Many enjoy the Stockyards area which has been transformed into an entertainment district.

Dallas%26#39;s interest to a visitor is actually quite limited. I would recommend the Dallas World Aquarium and the complex of museums in the Fair Park area. If you happen to be in town during the state fair, it shouldn%26#39;t be missed. The best historical-type site is the Sixth Floor Museum in downtown Dallas, from which the shots that killed JFK were fired.

Dallas is a first-rate restaurant with plenty of options. If you like Tex-Mex at all, this is the definitely place. The Bar-b-Q doesn%26#39;t reach the sublime heights of Central Texas but it will excel virtually all Q outside the state.

From the Dallas area to the East, one takes either I-30 toward Texarkana and Arkansas or I-20 toward Shreveport and the Deep South. Either way, there%26#39;s not a great deal of general interest in East Texas. There are some nice lakes. Lake%26#39;o%26#39;the Pines is not far from I-30. Lake Tyler State Park is very close to I-20 and quite a picturesque spot. From either Interstate you can easily make a side trip to the little town of Jefferson, a quaint old place that was once one of the largest cities in the state. This area has a real ';old South'; flair.

If you choose to enter via El Paso, you have the option to explore the vast Big Bend country which is beautiful and diverse. Please be aware that distances in this area are very daunting and that accomodations are limited. Somewhat closer to the freeway are the Davis Moutains. The little town of Fort Davis is interesting with an old cavalry fort and a top observatory. The little-visited Guadulupe Mountains National Park is very good for hiking, especially in Autumn. This area also provides reasonably good access to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. This is a natural wonder not to be missed. Worth a day or two of sidetrip.

Unfortunately, once you leave the mountains of Far West Texas behind it is a very long haul to DFW through the oil-field and ranchland country.

You do not say when you will be making your trip. It%26#39;s probably unnecessary to say it, but you need to be prepared for a great deal of heat in the summer. Days in West Texas can be oven-like, although the evenings are generally present. East Texas is not as hot during the day, as a general rule, but much more humid.

The best time to visit Texas is probably October. (Spring is also nice with the caveat that very severe weather can occur).

Thank you- t was supposed to be I-10! Although, I like some of these suggestions, so we may change it up!

fromtheedge gave some great routes to consider! As I am sure you can tell from that post and looking at a map, I-10 itself will not get you to El Paso, Lubbock, and Dallas, so you%26#39;ll have to decide which of those is most important to you. If you continue on I-10 you can hit San Antonio and Houston and then make your way into Louisiana. It%26#39;s a potentially more interesting route than taking I-20 through Dallas, but still not very scenic one you get through San Antonio.

Why do you want to drive via Tx between SF and NYC? It will be a long detour. I80 is good, followed by I70, or continue on I80 through Wyoming but I70 will be more scenic and more places along the way. And how long do you want to spend at the Appalanchian Trail? Maybe also put your questions on the Road Trip forum.

Tet

Mr. Ted is correct that the I-10 route takes you to an entirely different part of Texas. You could see the Big Bend/Davis Mountain area and then take I-10 into San Antonio. That city and its surroundings are very interesting. From your post, I assumed that you were looking for a more northerly route. I-10 will get you to the Gulf Coast which is a rather roundabout way of getting from SF to NYC.

Actually, and I have to apologize from my lack of knowledge, we are planning on a southern route, extended trip. We%26#39;ve been the north route, but have not had a chance to visit most of the southern states. I have family in Atlanta so we were going to head down south through AZ and travel along the south to Georgia - with a few diversions (i.e. New orleans or anything cool in Texas, New Mexico, etc). and then head up north to NYC .

We%26#39;re leaving the country out of NYC in September so this is our last blast and just want to see some things we haven%26#39;t seen before. As we%26#39;ve never done this trip before, I basically looked on a map, saw the 10 and said, yeah lets take that. But all of your directions and information have been very helpful!