Question on driving from Dallas to Lubbock (Fort Worth, Abilene: live, restaurants)

[caroldixit]

I am planning to drive from Dallas to Lubbock. Google Maps gives me 3 route choices for the approx 6 hour drive:

(a) I-20 W and US-84 W which passes through Abilene
(b) US-82 through Wichita Fallas
(c) TX-114 W which takes me through Seymour

Which would be a better route to take?
Will I be able to see some scenic West Texas deserts/cactii & stuff?

[joqua]

Originally Posted by caroldixit

Which would be a better route to take?
Will I be able to see some scenic West Texas deserts/cactii & stuff?

Texas highways are some of the finest anywhere, so it's a matter of time/distance.

The serious desert is further west than where you're going, but there are sandhills and brush/mesquite and possibly a few stray desert plants like yucca.

[Westerner92]

I'd suggest taking the I-20/US 84 route. There are no two-lane highways, and the traffic on the interstate tends to run fairly quickly. You won't see deserts, but the drive around Post is fairly scenic (by West Texas standards at least).

[shoe01]

Please send rain to the rest of the state. You've been hogging almost all of it.

[TexasVines]

Originally Posted by caroldixit

I am planning to drive from Dallas to Lubbock. Google Maps gives me 3 route choices for the approx 6 hour drive:

(a) I-20 W and US-84 W which passes through Abilene
(b) US-82 through Wichita Fallas
(c) TX-114 W which takes me through Seymour

Which would be a better route to take?
Will I be able to see some scenic West Texas deserts/cactii & stuff?

you want to take route C many people say it is actually the fastest.....the DPS is thick around Seymour though route B is WAY out of the way going through Wichita Falls you can also take a route that goes along 380 through Post, Texas and up to Lubbock 114 or 380 will give you the most "west Texas" and will give you the best view of coming up the Cap Rock onto the Llano Estacado the I-20 route will give you the most views of the wind turbines and a bit of the Cap Rock just outside of Post Fuel up in Aspermont or Guthrie if you think you need to.....because a couple of the towns on the maps are basically not a lot and no fuel no fuel Snyder to Post if you come that way

[catman]

US 380 is my favorite route, good road with great scenery and little traffic (especially the western part).

[doctorjef]

There is NO point going through Wichita Falls and that route is ugly. I always used to drive the route that goes through Seymour and Olney between Lubbock and Fort Worth. Much preferable IMO.

[TT Dave]

I would choose the I-20 W and US-84 W route. There's some fairly nice hills and mesas along I-20 W in the Eastland/Ranger area and then again up near Post on 84 W. As noted above, it's 4 lanes all the way on that route and more places to stop too.

[rr2005]

If you're leaving from the north or east parts of Dallas, take 380 to Post and turn north onto 84. If you're leaving from the south or west sections of Dallas, take I-20 and get onto 84 just outside Roscoe. I've driven between DFW and Lubbock via every possible route about 247,125 times, and trust me, these are the fastest.

[High_Plains_Retired]

I've driven all three routes but I would vote for your number 3 if you seek scenery. The drive through Dickens and Crosby Counties on TX 114/US 82 as you come up onto the Caprock is nice. Watch for deer if you plan to do any night driving along this route.

If you want an an uneventful drive, but more gas stations and restaurants, take I-20 to Roscoe, then U.S. 84 to Lubbock. The Caprock at Post is nice. Try George's Restaurant at Post if you like chicken-fried steak.

I was going to say there really isn't much cacti here on the south Plains but I just found a good-size Opuntia growing in the pasture behind my barn yesterday. I also have a few Yucca baccata but, at Lubbock, you really have to get further west into New Mexico to find the scenery usually associated with desert climates. With this unusually dry weather we've been having, some live sand dunes can now be found around the south Plains though.

Drive carefully.