Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Google search engine
HomeTravelTexas man invents 1.5K-mile adventure trail for hikers, bikers and horseback riders

Texas man invents 1.5K-mile adventure trail for hikers, bikers and horseback riders

Join Fox News for access to this content

You have reached your maximum number of articles. Log in or create an account FREE of charge to continue reading.

By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive.

Please enter a valid email address.

For hikers and bikers who’ve conquered the Triple Crown — the Pacific Crest, Appalachian and Continental Divide trails — there’s a new adventure route in town. 

It spans the entire Lone Star State, and it’s going to be traversable by spring.

“This is a route that is rugged, remote, rural and therefore, romantic,” Charlie Gandy, a retired community design consultant and former state representative, told Fox News Digital. 

RESERVATIONS FOR ELECTION WEEK GETAWAY SELL OUT IN SECONDS AS ‘UNPLUGGED’ TRAVEL SPOT OFFERS STEAL OF A DEAL

Gandy announced plans last month for the Cross Texas Trail or “XTX” — a 1,500-mile trail for hikers, bikers and, because it’s Texas, horseback riders.

Charlie Gandy in Texas

Charlie Gandy, adventure enthusiast, is heading up the effort to create the XTX trail in Texas. (Melissa Balmer)

“As a native Texan, I’m a 66-year-old guy who likes to challenge myself to big, hairy goals and adventures — and it seemed to me like it was time for Texas to have its own Pacific Crest-type adventure route.”

Gandy and some buddies got together with Bike Texas, a non-profit bicycle advocacy and education organization, to plan a rough but scenic back road, gravel, single track route that stretches all the way from Orange to El Paso.

“It meanders through the bayous and lowlands and the Big Thicket [National] Preserve,” Gandy said. 

CALIFORNIA COUPLE GOES VIRAL FOR SHARING TOP PLACES TO VISIT IN THE US ‘AT LEAST ONCE IN YOUR LIFE’

“It goes from the rolling hills around Navasota up to Luling and New Braunfels and into Hill Country, past Fredericksburg. It goes down towards Concan and then out west into Big Bend National Park and then up through Big Bend Ranch to Marfa and Fort Davis. 

“From there, you reach the highest peak in the state, Guadalupe Peak — and then you still have another 150 or so miles to El Paso,” Gandy added.

XTX in Texas rough draft map

A working map of the Cross Texas Trail, called XTX. (XTX)

As of now, the team has mapped a draft route and they are testing it. 

They are also organizing sponsors and supporters who are helping them pave the way.

“What we’re finding is that sometimes the road doesn’t go all the way through and we need to reroute,” Gandy said, adding, “…then in other cases, we have people saying, ‘Well, that looks fine, but have you considered going this way? Because I own some property over here, and I would love to be on this legacy route.’”

WORLD-TRAVELING COUPLE WALKS ACROSS ‘LEAST-VISITED COUNTRY’ IN UNDER 60 SECONDS

trail on bike path with rough terrain

Bikers will have the opportunity to ride 1,500 miles, and enjoy a rough but scenic view across the state of Texas. (iStock)

Ninety-six percent of the land in Texas is privately owned and currently, the longest continuous trail in the state is just 96 miles long, running through Sam Houston National Forest in East Texas.

Gandy said the XTX scout team is taking advantage of gravel back roads and one-lane highways in rural Texas.

AMTRAK ANNOUNCES ‘FLORIDIAN’ TRAIN WITH 2-DAY ROUTE, SPARKING REACTIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

“These roads are only being used by the people who live on those routes,” he said. 

horseback riding on a scenic trail

Instead of traveling along the trail with your own two legs, people are also encouraged to ride horseback through the new Texas trail. (iStock)

“So they’re quiet and they’re scenic. And that’s exactly where you would want to ride a bike or a horse or walk as opposed to drive,” Gandy said.

The route doesn’t go through any big cities. 

By design, it does just the opposite of that, taking adventurers not only through diverse landscapes but also interesting and sometimes quirky historical towns.

TOP US STATES TO VISIT WHERE PEOPLE HAVE CLAIMED UFO SIGHTINGS

“I can get going on the history of La Grange and the Chicken Ranch. There’s a reason we’re going through La Grange, and ZZ Top told the story pretty well,” Gandy said. 

Robin Stallings, director of Bike Texas

Robin Stallings, executive director of Bike Texas, is partnering with Gandy on the XTX in Texas. (Bike Texas)

But Robin Stallings, executive director of Bike Texas, said proximity to metropolitan areas is a plus.

“It’s convenient to Houston. It’s convenient to San Antonio and Austin. And of course, it ends up in El Paso. So I think that’s a real opportunity for all these urban Texans to get out there,” Stallings told Fox News Digital.

FROM ALABAMA TO TEXAS, US TRAVEL SPOTS TO SOAK UP AMERICAN SCIENCE AND INNOVATION

Texan or not, that apparently bodes well for more than just the hard-core hikers and bikers looking to take on an extreme challenge, according to Gandy.

trail runners iStock

Gandy imagines that various hikers and runners will section out the Texas trail over a week or weekend. (iStock)

“We’ll have long distance people wanting to ride bikes the entire distance, and these are true athletes that are biting at the bit to get this route done so that they can test themselves against it,” Gandy said. 

“We’ll have people who will do a section hike or a section ride for 100 to 300 miles over a week or a weekend. And then we’ll have day hikers, people who will have heard about the XTX and want to go get a taste of what that’s about. So we’ll show them how to connect on a perfect spring day to see the bluebonnets.”

The XTX is being billed as a solid wintertime challenge — as no one should try to tackle the Texas heat in July or August.

COLORADO WOMAN RUNS 2,200-MILE APPALACHIAN TRAIL IN 40 DAYS, BEATING FASTEST KNOWN TIME RECORD

The halfway point of the trail is the Devil’s River — which leaves another 750 miles of desert to reach El Paso. 

man stopping on bike ride to drink water

Gandy and Bike Texas are still working out the best way to replenish those on the trail when there are miles and miles with no water. (iStock)

There are 100-mile stretches with no water or other replenishment, but Gandy and his team are working on that too.

“That’s really a big part of our mission right now,” Gandy said. 

“Identifying our friends along the route, people who support the trail because they either want to hike it or bike it or horse ride it, or they have a bed and breakfast or a restaurant along the way, and they can see the economic benefits of people showing up in their town,” he added.

AIRLINE PASSENGER’S ‘AWKWARD’ SEATING ARRANGEMENT GOES VIRAL: ‘NEVER GOING TO RECOVER’

Gandy has put $10,000 of his own money into the project, and he’s working with Bike Texas to secure more sponsors in a grassroots effort to get the digital and print maps in place by spring, he said.

horseback riding on trail

Grandy said he has already put $10,000 of his own funds into the project and is hoping to secure more sponsors in an effort to get the trail in place by spring. (iStock)

While it might seem an overwhelming task — charting a traversable path across rugged terrain in a state with as much land mass as France and England combined — Gandy said it all starts with a vision.

“One hundred and 24 years ago, Benton McKay imagined a route that would go from Georgia to Maine and that has become the Appalachian Trail,” he said. 

“In 1938, Clinton Clark imagined a route from Mexico to Canada on the West Coast, and that has become the Pacific Crest Trail. So all these trails start with imagining a route,”‘ Gandy said.

For more Lifestyle articles, visit foxnews.com/lifestyle

For Gandy, the XTX is a legacy project.

bike trail in TX split

Grandy sees this Cross Texas Trail, XTX, as his legacy and something that will outlive him. (XTX; Melissa Balmer)

“For a lot of Texans, it’s a point of pride. And all we’re doing is harnessing the energy of that point of pride and turning it into something that we can share. Trails like this are healthy endeavors for a whole lot of reasons. That’s why I put my own money into it and I feel good about raising money from others.”

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER

If they do it right, Stallings said, the XTX will evolve.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I think five years from now, it’s going to be better,” he said. 

“And 10 years from now, it’ll be even better. This is a generational project that’s just getting started.”

Source

RELATED ARTICLES
Google search engine

Most Popular

Recent Comments