Texas is mostly flat, and that is exactly why the good roads here are so specific. Two regions carry the state: the western Hill Country, where the Edwards Plateau breaks into canyons around Leakey and Vanderpool, and the Trans-Pecos, where the Davis Mountains and the Rio Grande produce the highest and emptiest pavement in Texas. The roads worth planning a trip around are the Twisted Sisters loop, FM 170 along the border, the Davis Mountains Scenic Loop, RM 32 over the Devil's Backbone and the Willow City Loop north of Fredericksburg. Below is what each one gives you and the practical stuff that decides whether the day works.
Two regions, and a lot of driving between them
The distances are the first thing to understand. The Hill Country roads sit within a two-hour ride of San Antonio. The Trans-Pecos roads sit six to eight hours west of that, past Del Rio or past Fort Stockton, with almost nothing in between. Nobody rides both on the same weekend. Pick the region, then plan the loops inside it. Those transit days are long slab miles, and what a long highway stint asks of a newer rider is worth reading before you commit to one.
What the Hill Country offers is corner frequency at low elevation — the Edwards Plateau runs roughly 1,000 to 2,400 feet, so the drops and climbs are short and constant rather than long and sustained. What West Texas offers is scale: 75-mile loops with no towns on them, sight lines measured in tens of miles, and elevation that finally gets high enough to change the temperature.
Top roads in Texas
| Road | Length | What it is | End to end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twisted Sisters (RM 335 / 336 / 337) | About 100 miles as a loop | The state's best-known motorcycle roads; RM 337 alone is 56 miles of switchbacks and canyon climbs | Loop out of Leakey, or Camp Wood to Medina on RM 337 |
| FM 170, the River Road | 114.6 miles total; about 50 of them are the good part | Follows the Rio Grande through Big Bend Ranch State Park with sharp curves and steep grades | Presidio to Study Butte, via Lajitas and Terlingua |
| Davis Mountains Scenic Loop (TX 118 / TX 166) | 75 miles | The loftiest public highway in Texas, per the state's own travel magazine; open range, no towns | Loop from Fort Davis |
| RM 32, the Devil's Backbone | 23.2 miles | Ridge-top two-lane with valley views on both sides, close enough to Austin for an evening ride | US 281 south of Blanco to RM 12 in Wimberley |
| Willow City Loop | 13 miles | Narrow private ranch road through canyon country; famous for spring wildflowers, signed no stopping | Loop off FM 1323 northeast of Fredericksburg |
Open the FM 170 River Road in Google Maps — Presidio to Study Butte along the Rio Grande, ready to send to your navigation before you leave.
The Twisted Sisters, in one paragraph
Three ranch roads — RM 335, RM 336 and RM 337 — that link into a loop of roughly 100 miles west of Leakey. RM 337 is the technical one at 56.1 miles from Camp Wood to Medina, with hairpin switchbacks between Leakey and Vanderpool and a decreasing-radius corner at the gap that catches people out. RM 336 is fast and runs through open range with cattle guards on some of the curves. RM 335 rolls. It is the ride most Texans mean when they say they are going riding, and it has its own guide here: the full Twisted Sisters route page covers the mileage, the fuel gaps and the section-by-section detail.
FM 170, the River Road
FM 170 runs 114.6 miles in total, from Candelaria on the Chispa Road southeast to SH 118 at Study Butte, three miles from the Big Bend National Park entrance. The stretch riders come for is the southeastern half. West of Redford the road passes the turnoff for Big Bend Ranch State Park headquarters, and from there to Lajitas it runs through the park itself, where Wikipedia's route description — sourced from TxDOT planning maps — describes the road becoming mountainous with sharp curves and steep grades. It turns away from the river briefly at Colorado Canyon, comes back to it, and finally leaves the Rio Grande at Lajitas to run inland through Terlingua.
Two things make this ride different from anything else in the state. The first is that you are riding an international border for fifty miles with nothing on either side. The second is the grades. The climbs here are short and steep enough that heavily loaded bikes work for them, and the descents come with switchbacks that arrive right after a long straight, which is a bad combination for anyone who has been cruising.
Services are Presidio, Lajitas, Terlingua and Study Butte, and that is the complete list. Fill in Presidio.
The Davis Mountains Scenic Loop
Texas Highways, the state's own travel magazine, describes the loop as a 75-mile stretch of Texas 118 and Texas 166 and calls it the loftiest public highway in the state. It runs out of Fort Davis, and the standard direction is north on 118 into Limpia Canyon past Davis Mountains State Park, climbing steadily, then west and south on 166 around the back of the range and back to SH 17 a couple of miles below town.
SH 166 is 43.1 miles on its own and it is the part worth the trip. Wikipedia's route description, citing the county's own references, notes there are no towns on the route at all, that the right-of-way is unfenced through many pastures so loose livestock are a real hazard, and that much of the road looks across at Baldy Peak on Mount Livermore, the highest summit in the Davis Mountains. The first twenty miles from the SH 118 junction are narrow with grassy shoulders; after the RM 505 junction the lanes widen and the pavement improves.
Ride it in the morning. Afternoon thunderstorms build fast over this range in summer, and there is nowhere to shelter.
RM 32 and the Willow City Loop, if you only have an evening
RM 32 covers 23.2 miles from US 281 south of Blanco east through Fischer to RM 12 in Wimberley, crossing Blanco, Comal and Hays counties. Locals call the middle section the Devil's Backbone because the road runs the crest with the ground falling away on both sides. It is close enough to Austin and San Antonio to be a weeknight ride, which also means it is busy on weekends.
The Willow City Loop is a different proposition: 13 miles of narrow private ranch road off FM 1323 northeast of Fredericksburg, through canyon country that produces the most photographed bluebonnets in Texas from late March into April. The land on both sides is privately owned and posted, so stopping, parking and walking into the flowers are all off limits — ride it, look, keep moving. In peak bluebonnet season it can be bumper to bumper, which is worth knowing before you commit to a Saturday.
Fuel, heat and enforcement
Fuel. This is the number one planning issue in Texas. In the Hill Country the towns are close but small — Leakey, Camp Wood, Medina, Vanderpool, Bandera — and the northern halves of RM 335 and RM 336 have nothing. In the Trans-Pecos the gaps are genuine: Presidio to Lajitas is about 50 miles with no services, and the Davis Mountains loop has no towns on it. Fill at every real town rather than the next one.
Heat. Summer riding in Texas is a heat management problem, not a corner-speed problem. The Hill Country tops out around 2,400 feet, so there is no altitude relief; the Davis Mountains at over 5,000 feet are the one place in the state where summer afternoons are pleasant. Arizona plays the same card at higher elevation — our guide covers the Mogollon Rim run on SR 260. April, May, October and November are the good months statewide.
Animals. Deer everywhere at dawn and dusk, plus open range on RM 336 and on the Davis Mountains loop, where livestock legally have the road. Cattle guards on curves are a specific hazard riders on the Sisters warn about.
Enforcement. Rural Texas two-lanes are typically posted 65 or 70 mph, which sounds generous until the small towns drop to 30 with one sign. The towns are where tickets get written, and the Hill Country towns take it seriously on weekends.
Coverage. Cell service in the Hill Country canyons is patchy and in the Trans-Pecos it is largely absent. Plan on being out of contact for hours at a time.
Gear notes for Texas distances
The two problems here are heat and isolation, and they compound. Texas asphalt in July runs far hotter than the air, tire pressure climbs with it over a long day, and a slow leak on FM 170 is a very different situation from a slow leak in town — the next building might be thirty miles away. Our tire pressure guide covers how much temperature actually moves your numbers, and a valve-cap TPMS sensor tells you a tire is going down while you still have options. The second thing is navigation without coverage: route numbers change at unmarked junctions in the Hill Country, and downloading the map area before you leave and running it on a handlebar riding system display keeps the phone out of the sun and your eyes up. The JADO S6 handles both on one screen and keeps front and rear cameras recording, which is worth having on roads where livestock share the pavement.
FAQ
What is the best motorcycle road in Texas?
RM 337 between Leakey and Vanderpool, the central sister of the Twisted Sisters loop. It has the switchbacks, the elevation change and the reputation, and the surrounding loop gives you a full day without repeating yourself.
Where should I base a Hill Country weekend?
Leakey puts you in the middle of the Twisted Sisters with fuel, food and lodging. Bandera and Kerrville work if you want more choice in the evenings and don't mind an extra half hour to the good roads each morning.
Is West Texas worth the ride out?
If you have four days or more, yes. FM 170 and the Davis Mountains loop are unlike anything else in the state, and Fort Davis to Study Butte makes a natural two-base trip. For a weekend, stay in the Hill Country.
When is the riding season?
Year-round in practice, but March to May and October to November are when riders actually plan trips. Summer afternoons are a heat problem statewide except in the Davis Mountains, and winter mornings in the Hill Country canyons are colder than the nearest city forecast suggests.
How bad is the deer risk?
Real, and worst at dawn and dusk in the Hill Country canyons where tree cover means you see the animal at the same moment it reaches the road. Riding the good roads between mid-morning and late afternoon removes most of the exposure.
