For hikers and bikers who have conquered the Triple Crown—the Pacific Crest, Appalachian and Continental Divide trails—there’s a new adventure in town.
It spans the entire Lone Star State and will be passable by spring.
“This is a route that is rugged, remote, rural and therefore romantic,” Charlie Gandy, a retired community planning consultant and former state representative, told Fox News Digital.
ELECTION WEEK GET AWAY BOOKINGS BOOKED IN SECONDS AS “UNPLUGGED” TRAVEL POINT DEALS STEAL THE DEAL
Gandy announced plans last month for the Cross Texas Trail, or “XTX” — a 1,500-mile trail for hikers, bikers and, this being Texas, horseback riders.
Adventurer Charlie Gandy begins the quest to create the XTX Trail in Texas. (Melissa Ballmer)
“As a native Texan, I’m a 66-year-old man who likes to challenge myself to big, hairy goals and adventures — and it felt like it was time for Texas to have its own Pacific Crest-style adventure trail.”
Gandy and some friends met with Bike Texas, a non-profit bicycle advocacy and education organization, to plan a bumpy but scenic back road, with gravel and trails that runs all the way from Orange to El Paso.
“It winds through the bayous and the plains and the Big Thicket [National] Conservation,” Gandhi said.
CALIFORNIA COUPLE MAKE TOP PLACE TO VISIT US ‘AT LEAST ONCE IN YOUR LIFETIME’
“It goes from the rolling hills around Navasota to Luling and New Braunfels and Hora Hora, then Fredericksburg. It descends into the Concan and then heads west into Big Bend National Park and then up through Big Bend Ranch to Marfa and Fort Davis.
“From there, you get to the highest peak in the state, Guadalupe Peak — and then you still have another 150 or so miles to El Paso,” Gandy added.
A working map of the Cross Texas Trail, called XTX. (XTX)
For now, the team has mapped out a rough route and is testing it.
They also organize sponsors and supporters who help them pave the way.
“What we’re finding is that sometimes the road doesn’t go all the way and we have to change the route,” Gandhi said, adding, “…then in other cases, we have people saying, ‘Well, it looks OK, but have you thought about are you going this way? Because I have some property here and I would love to be on this heritage route.”
WORLD TRAVELING COUPLE WALK TO ‘LESS VISITED COUNTRY’ IN LESS THAN 60 SECONDS
Cyclists will have the opportunity to ride 1,500 miles and enjoy a rugged yet 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, crossing Sam Houston National Forest in East Texas.
Gandy said the XTX scout team takes advantage of the gravel roads and single-lane highways in rural Texas.
AMTRAK ANNOUNCES ‘FLORIDIAN’ TRAIN WITH 2-DAY ROUTE THAT CAUSES REACTIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
“These roads are only used by the people who live on these routes,” he said.
Instead of traveling along the trail on your own two feet, people are also encouraged to ride horseback on the new Texas Trail. (iStock)
“So it’s quiet and it’s picturesque. And that’s exactly where you’d want to ride a bike or a horse or walk as opposed to driving,” Gandhi said.
The route does not pass through large cities.
By design, it does the exact opposite of that, taking adventurers not only to different landscapes but also to interesting and sometimes quirky historical cities.
TOP US STATES TO VISIT WHERE PEOPLE HAVE CLAIMED UFO SIGHTING
“I can continue the story of La Grange and the Chicken Ranch. There’s a reason we go through La Grange, and ZZ Top told the story pretty well,” Gandy said.
Robin Stallings, executive director of Bike Texas, works with Gandy at XTX in Texas. (Texas Bike)
But Robin Stallings, executive director of Bike Texas, said proximity to metropolitan areas is an advantage.
“It’s convenient for Houston. It is convenient to San Antonio and Austin. And of course it ends up in El Paso. So I think it’s a real opportunity for all these urban Texans to get out there,” Stallings told Fox News Digital.
ALABAMA TO TEXAS, USA TRAVEL POINTS TO EDUCATE AMERICAN SCIENCE AND INNOVATION
Texan or not, this obviously bodes well for more than just die-hard hikers and bikers looking to take on an extreme challenge, according to Gandy.
Gandy envisions various hikers and runners splitting the Texas trail for a week or weekend. (iStock)
“We’re going to have long-distance people who want to bike the whole distance, and these are true athletes who bite into the track to complete this course so they can test themselves against it,” Gandy said.
“We’ll have people doing a section hike or a 100- to 300-mile route in a week or a weekend. And then we’ll have day hikers, people who will have heard of XTX and want to go and get a taste of what it’s all about. So we’re going to show them how to log in on a perfect spring day to see the blue candy.”
The XTX is billed as a solid winter challenge – as no one should try to tackle the Texas heat in July or August.
COLORADO WOMAN RAN 2,200-MILE APPALACHIAH IN 40 DAYS, FASTEST KNOWN TIME RECORD
The trail’s halfway point is Devil’s River — which leaves another 750 miles of desert to reach El Paso.
Gandy and Bike Texas are still working out the best way to replenish those on the trail when there are miles and miles without water. (iStock)
There are 100-mile stretches without 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,” Gandhi said.
“Finding our friends along the way, the people who support the trail because they either want to hike it or bike it or ride it, or they have a bed and breakfast or a restaurant along the way and they can see the economic benefits people show up in their city,” he added.
AIRPLANE PASSENGER’S ‘BAD’ SEATING ADJUSTMENT IS DONE FOR POWER: ‘NOT TO BE REPAIRED’
Gandy has put $10,000 of his own money into the project and is working with Bike Texas to secure more sponsors in a grassroots effort to get the digital and print maps up by spring, he said.
Grandy said he has already put $10,000 of his own funds into the project and hopes to secure more sponsors in an effort to get the trail up and running by spring. (iStock)
While it may seem like an overwhelming task — carving a passable route over rough terrain in a state with as much land as France and England combined — Gandhi said it all starts with a vision.
“One hundred and 24 years ago, Benton McKay envisioned a route that would go from Georgia to Maine that became the Appalachian Trail,” he said.
“In 1938, Clinton Clark envisioned a route from Mexico to Canada on the West Coast, and that became the Pacific Crest Trail. So all these paths start with imagining a path,” Gandy said.
For more Lifestyle articles, visit foxnews.com/lifestyle
For Gandy, the XTX is a legacy project.
Grandy sees this Cross Texas Trail, XTX, as his legacy and something that will see him through. (XTX, Melissa Balmer)
“For many Texans, it’s a point of pride. And all we do is harness the energy of that point of pride and turn it into something we can share. Trails like this are healthy endeavors for many reasons. That’s why I’m putting my own money into it, and I feel good about raising money from others.”
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
If they get it right, Stallings said, XTX will evolve.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“I think five years from now, it will be better,” he said.
“And 10 years from now, it will be even better. This is a generational project that is just beginning.”
