How's the drive from Ft. Worth to Amarillo??? (Houston, Dallas: legally, train)

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by ksknfla

Any update on travel between Ft Worth and Amarillo on 287? Do the local police still target speeding infractions? What is the road surface like? ie; bumpy; recently repaved; 2 or 4 lane and time of travel.
Thanks for any help, I'll be thru there the first of November and just doing some pre travel scouting.

I've only taken it from Decatur to Amarillo. It's four lanes the entire way, and in-between towns it's a divided highway that's just below interstate standards. Not the worst drive in the world (I-35/135 and I-70 in Kansas are far worse).

The terrain changes west of Wichita Falls and again just outside Estelline.

Speaking of Estelline, it's the worst speed trap on the route. A majority of the town's budget is funded by speeding tickets. Just be wary of quick transitions down to 25 or 35 mph as you approach towns, and use the Waze app for your GPS. That road is heavily traveled enough to the point where real-time updates may come in handy.

[spacecitytx]

As my wife is literally from Amarillo, I've made this drive quite a few times...from HERE IN HOUSTON. The Houston to DFW drive is fine...I've driven that route a million times. From there to Amarillo is annoyingly boring and long. I will never do it again, barring some unforeseen circumstance.

[spacecitytx]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

I've only taken it from Decatur to Amarillo. It's four lanes the entire way, and in-between towns it's a divided highway that's just below interstate standards. Not the worst drive in the world (I-35/135 and I-70 in Kansas are far worse).

The terrain changes west of Wichita Falls and again just outside Estelline.

Speaking of Estelline, it's the worst speed trap on the route. A majority of the town's budget is funded by speeding tickets. Just be wary of quick transitions down to 25 or 35 mph as you approach towns, and use the Waze app for your GPS. That road is heavily traveled enough to the point where real-time updates may come in handy.

Agreed with the bolded...I've been a victim myself, although I caught most hell in Wilbarger County.

[loves2read]

Boring

[TXsterling]

It’s 340-miles. At a 60-MPH average it’s 5.5-hours (trip time). Very well maintained divided 4-lane. Plenty of services. 75-mph speed limit which covers ANY idea of timeliness unless one’s an a-hole who illegally uses the left lane for travel and causes thereby difficulties for all others. That says all that needs to be known about complainers.

Takes one from WHERE THE WEST BEGINS off the edge of the prairie at 600’ and onto the plains then the Caprock at up over 3,600-ft. One crosses two major temperate zones.

This was Comancheria, where that tribe pushed back the line of civilization 100-miles during the Civil War. Buffalo Country. The Sioux and Cheyenne weren’t half the foe that were the Comanche (themselves not the same genetic make as other tribes), worlds greatest horsemen.

“Boring” is apt term for those who describe it as such. Blind to what’s there. One leaves the shelter of forest near Dallas (which extends to the Atlantic) and at approximately Decatur enters the West which runs to the California Sierra. 287 parallels the tracks that Texans rode the Denver Zephyr to escape the summer heat at Rocky Mountain National Park a couple of generations last century. There’s no lack of spiritual accompaniment from The Late Misunderstanding onwards.

The Old West. The Dry Line. Where EVERYTHING became harder.

US 287 is one of Americas great highways. Starts in Port Arthur and runs up to Denver, thence to Yellowstone and into Montana. Or, on the edge of the Panhandle one can change to a different route, US-83 south, or to pick up US-62 across southern Oklahoma.

Those ignorant of history, biology and zoology are themselves the ones needing help. The Road speaks to those who understand the changes and differences apparent.

Big Sky Country once on the road from Ft Worth to Denver. Miles of white-face cattle in my childhood, now big-Ag irrigated. Since then, cows went east, and cotton came west.

2-mile long container trains. An American sight found nowhere else on Earth. Wyoming coal to Texas power plants. During the war this was bomber command. Still is, as west of IH-35 is where you’ll see tankers, bombers and transports in training.

I drove it again a few days ago against a constant 30-mph crosswind. That changed to ice & snow north of Amarillo. Watched a formation of AF C-17s for over a 100-miles do touch & go in & out of Rick Husband at Amarillo. Just the latest trip on a road my family has traveled 150-years on horse, by train or car or truck.

You prepare for the weather and being broken down, or suffer the consequences. Sudden temp drops of 50F in a few hours. Ice storms. Tornadoes. Or enjoy a late spring picnic and listen to meadowlarks sing. The abundant fragrance of grasses. Gigantic thunderheads reaching to 60,000-ft altitude in summer.

Ignorance has a cure. Texas libraries are full of books on Texas history and field guides. Didn’t become what it was by accident. Pioneers matter, city immigrants don’t.

You’ve wanted a CB radio. Radioddity CS-47 might serve as it has latest NRC. Wilson 5000 mag mount. The Plains is where it comes into its own you traverse Americas Food Factory Floor. Learn what citizens doing tangible work are about from Texas up into Canada.

US-287 doesn’t reveal what’s just a ways away: Medicine Mound, the JA Ranch, Palo Duro Canyon, Alibates. Quanah Parker, the Waggoner Ranch, The Dust Bowl, and so on. Months of reading to BEGIN to have understanding.

The Roof of the World. Up onto the Llano Estacado where Spaniard conquistadors went mad . . .



.

[loves2read]

When we took road trips in TX we always had a column of the Texas Highway History markers and would stop at some but read all of them along the way

This is the land of Alan LeMay’s novel “The Searchers” although movie was not filmed in TX

[elan]

I've driven it probably more than a 100 times. It is boring in some places, others not so much. A lot of history just off that road and I'm pretty into it. Five and a half hours, Estelline speed trap is serious. There's another one this side of Bowie, before they bumped up the speed limit I was caught twice. Funny thing the last cop that gave me a ticket also stopped and changed my flat tire. This was several years later, but I still remembered him.

[tmtex]

Boring, long, uneventful

[rabbit33]

So what's the issue? 5 1/2 hours. Well maintained highway.

Gas up the car and go. Who needs advice on how to ”tackle” this?

[TeamLynn]

I do it fairly often....pretty boring.
You could stop by Big Texan and have a steak in Amarillo....definite tourist attraction, but I like the food...and fairly reasonable. FREE if you can eat the 72oz steak and all the sides and a desert in 15mins or some gimmick like that. They have names of people who have done it recently.
Take some spray paint and leave your graffiti at Cadillac Ranch.
There is some kind of Western heritage museum in Vernon about the world famous Waggoner Ranch....huge ranch you will drive thru.
Not sure there is much to do if you stop at the Commanche Medicine Mounds in Hardeman County, but maybe you can catch some spirits or inspiration there or dream about chasing buffalos on the plains.
You could stop at Quannah and see the Rail station.....
Wichita Falls....well stop and see the falls....
If you're tried of steak and want to see the new Texas Indians, stop at Punjabi Dhaba north of Decatur for lunch/dinner. Guessing that might be your first stop at a Punjabi truck stop.
If you're not into Naan, Butter Chicken and Lamb Biryani, and want another steak, then mosey on down to Decatur and right on the square is Sweetie Pies Ribeyes....load up on your beef.
Then before you hit Fort Worth, stop at Buccees....that is pronounced BUCK EEs....Not Buceys....get you some Beaver gear, a BBQ sandwich from the Brisket Board, and some Beaver nuggets....if you use a shopping basket, you might be a redneck.

Reverse it all if you're starting in Ft. Worth.

If you still have time, you can stop and see the Roy Orbison mural in Vernon...that's where he was born.