It is amazing what Americans can accomplish without involving the government.
There are, of course, multiple highways that crisscross the Lone Star State, but if you want to bike, run, or ride across the state, you are out of luck … until now.
Bike enthusiast Charlie Gandy, along with his friends at Bike Texas, a nonprofit organization created to promote bicycle access and education, has been working with the state, local, and even federal government, along with private property owners throughout the state, to create a 1,500-mile-long trail stretching from Beaumont, Texas, in the east, to El Paso, Texas, in the west.
“This is a route that is rugged, remote, rural, and, therefore, romantic,” Gandy told Fox News.
The inspiration for Gandy’s trailblazing was the so-called Triple Crown of trails: the Pacific Crest Trail in the West, which stretches from the Canadian border in Washington to the Mexican border in California, and the Appalachian and Continental Divide trails in the East.
“As a native Texan, I’m a 66-year-old guy who likes to challenge myself to big, hairy goals and adventures,” Gandy said. “And it seemed to me like it was time for Texas to have its own Pacific Crest-type adventure route.”
The trail, named the Cross Texas Trail, or “XTX,” utilizes multiple state parks, the Big Bend National Park, and county and city land, but also plenty of private property.
Ninety-six percent of the land in Texas is privately owned, meaning lots of cooperation for landowners. “These roads are only being used by the people who live on those routes,” Gandy said of the many gravel back roads and one-lane highways in rural Texas that are part of the route. Often, when landowners hear about the project, they even ask Gandy to reroute it through their land so they can be part of the legacy.
“For a lot of Texans, it’s a point of pride,” Gandy explained. “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.”
The trail purposefully does not go through any major cities, instead choosing diverse landscapes, such as deserts, brushlands, forests, and quirky small towns. However, it is still accessible to big urban areas, with trail entry points near Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.
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Gandy and Bike Texas expect the project to be completed this spring. But don’t expect anyone to traverse it the entire length right away. There are still hundred-mile stretches in the desert without any access to water.
But Gandy and friends are working on it. “This is a generational project,” Bike Texas CEO Robin Stallings said. “We’re just getting started.”