Ride Report: March 14-18, 2022
Following is a report on three dual-sport day-loops I designed, two originating in Junction and one in Mason. Some of these roads I’ve ridden on different occasions and many of them are familiar to Texas dual-sport riders. I had been regularly checking the weather hoping for four days of mild weather and no rain. Last year, I tried to ride part of these same routes and got rained out after one day.
Day 1: I left Lubbock early Monday morning pulling my one-man RV with my DRZ-400S safely strapped down inside. I arrived in Junction about 3:30 and picked a spot in the city park on the banks of Llano River just north of the bridge. As I was setting up, the park guy came by and informed me the city council was meeting that night to discuss banning overnight camping. The park is free but it’s dry-camping only. He related that the city fathers were understandably upset because campers had been peeing outside and dumping waste water in the park. Later, I “pigged out” on some pork ribs at Lum’s and watched a movie in my rig till bedtime.
While prepping my bike Tuesday morning, the park guy came by and gave me the bad news … must vacate by 6 pm that day. I had planned to relocate the trailer to Mason on Wednesday evening anyway, so I decide to go ahead and move after my days ride.
Day 2: I left Junction on FM 1674 which parallels I-10 and rode the slab west to Roosevelt. West of Roosevelt I crossed I-10 on CR-278 then followed CR-314/213 to CR-900. Even though these are county roads, they are blacktopped until CR-900. More pavement than I like but still neat country. If you’ve never ridden CR-900, it has about 15 gates with about half being chain-latch and the rest are bump-gates. The bump-gates are tricky on a scooter, necessitating getting the gate swinging just enough to pass by before it comes back and knocks you down. These gates are not all created equal, some being much heavier and hard to get moving. Three times I walked the gates open and propped them rather than chancing an injury.
This is a great two-track road winding through isolated ranchland. Scared up lots of deer and buzzards along with a few wild turkeys. Eventually the road becomes FM-2630 which intersects US-377 just before Rocksprings. Leaving Rocksprings, I headed south on TX-55 several miles to CR-350. I followed a circuitous route with numerous gates along county roads 350, 353, 380, 390, 394, 390, River Road before entering Camp Wood. This was a great ride with several creek crossings, eventually gaining some elevation before switch-backing down to Camp Wood. There is a narrow concrete moss-covered water crossing where CR-353 intersects CR-380. Beware! The waters not deep, so I put my boots in the water like outriggers and feathered the clutch and throttle as I creeped across without incident. I’ve fallen three times on such crossings; you can be down in the blink of an eye.
After eating a snack and refueling in Camp Wood, I rode north on TX-55 to Barksdale then split off on RR-335, one of the “twisted-sisters”. At the tiny village of Vance, I turned onto FM-2631 which meanders northeast for 8 miles before turning to Stroman Ranch Rd for 8 miles of dirt. This was a really good two-track ride before changing back to pavement on FM-3235 for 8 more miles, eventually intersecting RR-336, another of the “sisters”. I then traveled north on 336 then turned west on TX-41 to Hackberry Road. Hackberry Road is a well-maintained dirt road that meanders along Hackberry Creek to Camp Eagle Adventure Camp before finally connecting with RR-335. It was a great ride but with a major pucker-factor as the creek crossed the road about eight times leaving very slick, moss-covered concrete. That was the end of the dirt for the day as I followed 335, 41, and 377 back to Junction. The day began cool but climbed to near 90 with lots of wind. I rode 230 miles, about a third on asphalt.
I arrived back in Junction about 5:30, loaded up the bike and trailer and headed the 45 miles to Mason. There I located Fort Mason Confederate Memorial Park and self-paid $30 for a spot with hookups. Enjoyed some good Mexican for supper, bathed at the park shower and wearily crawled in my bag.
Day 3: Since my north loop from Junction actually went through Mason, I simply reversed my track and rode it starting in Mason. I rode south on FM-1871 to dirt Mill Creek Rd. which continued south to TX-385. Turning off on CR-420, I rode CR-410 to the west branch of CR-322, then back to TX-385 and north to US-377 and into London for a quick bite. This set of roads is really good riding, varying from two-track to graded with a couple of gates. London is tiny but has gas, a convenience store, and a café, but I was prepared with my usual trail lunch.
Next, I followed CR-370 west and then turned south on CR-372 and CR-3721 back to US-377. This section leaving London is a great ride with some two-track and a good deal of elevation change. Once again, I encountered lots of deer, sometimes necessitating quick shutdowns. Very windy and near 90 again. At Teacup on 377 I took CR-314 to CR-320 to FM-2169 just east of Junction. A few miles of slab and I turned east on CR-410, riding county roads 412, 470, and north on 420 back to TX-385. After a few miles on 385, I turned briefly onto Mill Creek and then east on Salt Branch. This is a good dirt county road running about 20 miles east to FM-783.
One of the interesting features of this road, and really the whole area, is the ubiquitous 130-year-old stone houses and churches erected by early settlers. Many of these have been remodeled and are still functioning ranches and churches. There is also and abundance of rural cemeteries with their own story to tell. From FM-783, I traveled unpaved Simonsville Rd until it morphed into FM-1723 and brought me back into Mason about 4:30.
This loop was 160 miles with about 70 percent dirt, mostly class-2 sections, with perhaps a few roads a bit more technical. Took a shower and drove to the town square where I enjoyed a great burger at the Willow Creek Café. I decided to load up tomorrow after my ride and head back to Lubbock, so I got permission to park my rig out of the way since checkout was 11 am.
Day 4: I got up early on Thursday so I could hook up my trailer and vacate my RV spot before leaving to ride. I left Mason about 8:30 going north on TX-386 and then forked left on unpaved Old Mason Road which follows the western boundary of Mason Mountain Wildlife Mgmt. Area.
After abut six miles, I turned east on Lange Road along the north boundary, then south on Blackjack, completing the perimeter of the refuge … good riding. Briefly north on TX-386 then east on FM-2618. I turned north again on Hey Spring Rd. for an up-and-back section, returning to 2618 via Spiller Mine Rd. Spiller Mine was fun, gaining some elevation for a few miles. Next, Flygap Rd. carried me north and east to CR-411. 411 continued east to count roads 310, 343, and 410 to Valley Spring.
This was a really scenic area winding around and through several mountains: Lone Oak Mountain, Deer Mountain, Smoothing Iron Mountain. Turning southwest at Valley Spring on CR-409, I rode by Rough, Briscoe, and King mountains before following Kothman Rd. to TX-29. I then traveled east to CR-405 and 404 which meandered north of 29 before turning south on CR-403 and back to 29. Crossing TX-29 I rode CR-102 south and then turned west on CR-104. CR-104 is the dirt road that parallels the Llano River between Castell and Llano. There’s an old concrete stepping-block, low-water crossing over the Llano at CR-103. It’s still there but has been replaced by a nice new bridge.
It’s probably obvious by now that this loop is very erratic, primarily designed to take advantage of crooked (crooked is good!) and scenic county roads in the area. South of the river, my track continued south on CR-103, 105, and 109 before turning west on CR-110. I followed 110 to the community of Loyal Valley at US-87 then due north on Keyser Ville all the way to Castell. These roads were fairly easy riding with occasional mild sand. I continued to scare up more deer all through the day. At Castell I splurged on a patty-melt at the general-store before heading west again on CR-104 still following the Llano River then turning north to TX-29. I rode west a few miles to Lower Willow Creek Road which is half of a loop south to the river again, the other half running back north to TX-29 on Art Hedwig Hill Road.
That was the end of the dirt for the day so I quickly made my way to Mason, arriving about 3:30, having covered 165 miles. It was a good day of riding, fun roads, scenic country, but hot and windy. I loaded the bike, changed clothes, and headed to Lubbock. It was a rough trip home as I met a weather front and bucked a 35-mph wind all the way home.
These loops are not very technical riding, with a few exceptions … 555 miles in three days. But if you enjoy ranch country, dirt roads, nice scenery, with some history thrown in, it’s worth the trip.
