How far to the nearest mountain range from Austin? (Canyon: station, gas)

[texastea]

Originally Posted by TheHarvester

For me, it's Cloudcroft/Ruidoso in New Mexico. And there was one summer when I was going so insane from the heat that I made the drive just to feel what 70 degrees was like again. .

lol, my dad did the same thing last summer. Just got in his truck and drove to Cloudcroft to cool off!

[another_hot-day]

Originally Posted by justanothercalifornian

I just googled Big Bend images and they are unbelievably gorgeous!! Well worth an 8 hour drive. Thanks people!

I'm heading out for Big Bend tonight!

[twange]

Originally Posted by StuckInTexas

The problem with the Fort Davis and Big Bend area is it's just too remote.

Not to be too contrary, but I really fail to see the problem with this. Remote areas are very appealing to me. Then again, the OP did not specify just "seeing" mountains and scenery vs. actually going out "into" them. Two different things really.

[sberdrow]

I missed them so bad I used to try and pretend the clouds that met the horizon, were mountains...now that is pathetic. Now I have the Rockies and all is good.

[StuckInTexas]

Well, the thing about Colorado is that you got the roads going into the mountains and the mountains are greener. In Texas, there are only a few roads like this, and most of the real scenic areas are govt. owned parks, or owned by the nature conservatory group (Davis Mountains). This limits access somewhat.

Big Bend has some pretty big mountains, Emory peak rises 4,500 feet straight up from the valley base to an elevation of 7,825. Believe it or not - it only has 1000 feet less prominence than Pike's Peak. Prominence means the height surrounding the immediate base. Obviously Pike's Peak is higher from a distance, where it raises 8,000 feet from the valley floor. However, Big Bend and the Davis Mountains are definitely real mountains... Look at the nubers below of Texas and then look at Colorado's chart to get an idea... Problem is Big Bend is a pretty long drive from Austin, but the Davis mountains aren't too bad.

Texas Most Prominent Peaks and Highest Peaks
(Big Bend) - Emory Peak 4,500 Prominence / 7,825 Elevation
(Davis Mountains) - Baldy Peak 4,000 Prominence / 8,325 Elevation
(NW of Davis Mountains) - Eagle Peak - 3,200 Prominence / 7,484 elevation

Colorado Most Prominent Peaks
(near Denver) - Mt Elbert 9,100 Prominence / 14,433 elevation
(colo springs) - Pike's Peak 5,500 Prominence / 14,410 elevation
goes on and on....

Anyhow, not the best comparison, but shows you that Texas does have "real mountains". Mt Elbert is freaking huge though, I've driven to the top and you can see downtown Denver from it, it looks like you are in an airplane it's so high. Nothing like this in Texas....

[StuckInTexas]

A few other tips:

If you want to see "almost small mountains" but not have to drive so far, well I've also done some reasearch in the Texas hill country (biggest hills)... There are a few areas to check out. Generally speaking the highest "hills" I've found in the hill country range from 600-900 feet from the surrounding base. There are several areas where this occurs, but some are hard to access, you'd need to study a map to get there. Others I can tell you where they are....

Very close to Austin
FM 1431 near the Lago Vista Airport, approx 1,200 feet in elevation drops to 680 feet to Lake Travis below. There is a road (turn right on Bar K Ranch from 1431) you can drive up and get a great view of the lake. There are also some areas from 620 / lakeview that have similar views.

Just south of Llano (5 miles south or so), about 75 miles from Austin
There is an airport here on a very large hill that drops some 800 feet or so to the valley floor beneath it. Not sure if the road is completely private, never been, but I've seen it from a distance. Some views near here almost look like mountains, you can pretend

Father out
Near willow city loop about 80 miles west of Austin, an area called the Cedar Mountains have some peaks just under 2,000 feet in elevation, which at points drop from 1,900 down to a valley of just above 900 feet. This is right at 1,000 feet in prominence and is the closest thing to mountains in the hill country. I have no idea if you can find a road to go up any of them, but I expect it to be difficult to find. You can see some of the Cedar Mountains from the willow city loop itself (a famous scenic loop for blue bonnetts), but they are a a bit far out and you're not going to be looking at the highest ones from this point. You also don't get the up-high view unless you can find a road that goes up them.

Near Medina, Tx / Uvalde / and Garner area
There are a few fairly prominent hills out here, but looks pretty inaccessible by car. Maybe some good hiking places I'm sure.

Wimberly Area
Some decent hills out here, although not as high as some of the other places listed.


This is probably a lot more info than anyone wanted, but figured I'd spread the nonsense anyways...

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by StuckInTexas

Well, the thing about Colorado is that you got the roads going into the mountains and the mountains are greener. In Texas, there are only a few roads like this, and most of the real scenic areas are govt. owned parks, or owned by the nature conservatory group (Davis Mountains). This limits access somewhat.

Big Bend has some pretty big mountains, Emory peak rises 4,500 feet straight up from the valley base to an elevation of 7,825. Believe it or not - it only has 1000 feet less prominence than Pike's Peak. Prominence means the height surrounding the immediate base. Obviously Pike's Peak is higher from a distance, where it raises 8,000 feet from the valley floor. However, Big Bend and the Davis Mountains are definitely real mountains... Look at the nubers below of Texas and then look at Colorado's chart to get an idea... Problem is Big Bend is a pretty long drive from Austin, but the Davis mountains aren't too bad.

Texas Most Prominent Peaks and Highest Peaks
(Big Bend) - Emory Peak 4,500 Prominence / 7,825 Elevation
(Davis Mountains) - Baldy Peak 4,000 Prominence / 8,325 Elevation
(NW of Davis Mountains) - Eagle Peak - 3,200 Prominence / 7,484 elevation

Colorado Most Prominent Peaks
(near Denver) - Mt Elbert 9,100 Prominence / 14,433 elevation
(colo springs) - Pike's Peak 5,500 Prominence / 14,410 elevation
goes on and on....

Anyhow, not the best comparison, but shows you that Texas does have "real mountains". Mt Elbert is freaking huge though, I've driven to the top and you can see downtown Denver from it, it looks like you are in an airplane it's so high. Nothing like this in Texas....

Your right, and besides, one pines for mountain scenerly in ones home town, the fact that they are several hours away is no help. If your going to drive that far, might as well drive to NM or Colorado, its just a few more hours and you have the Rockies. I remember looking out my house window and seeing a sea of houses as far as the eye could see..... and then it would meet the sky. Some people like this I gues, me I would sigh.....shake my head and work real hard to figure out a way to go back home.

[another_hot-day]

Got back from Big bend last night. It is an incredible place with tons of hiking trails. Gorgeous desert mountains. Well worth the drive IMO.

[StuckInTexas]

Did you run over any rabbits, when I went to Big bend I killed like 30 suicide rabbits... Don't ask me why but they run in front of your car, these scraggly looking desert rabbits.

[another_hot-day]

Actually I only saw one rabbit the time I was there. There were tons of road runners, tarantulas, and millipedes on the roads. Luckily I didn't kill anything.

Love your name by the way.