Twisted Sisters, Texas Hill Country

About this drive

The Twisted Sisters — the informal name for Ranch Roads 335, 336, and 337 in the Texas Hill Country northwest of San Antonio — cover about 100 miles through limestone ranch land that turns spectacular in the spring wildflower season and again in the clear-light fall. The three roads form a loose circuit through the Leakey and Camp Wood area, passing through small hill country towns, crossing the Frio and Nueces rivers, and threading through cedar and oak-covered ridges on curves tight enough to have given the roads their name. The Texas Hill Country is motorcycle territory — the roads are clean, the curves are satisfying, and the local culture has adapted: Leakey and Camp Wood have developed a hospitality economy around weekend riders arriving from San Antonio and Austin, with camp sites, river lodges, and diners that have been open on the same hours for forty years. March brings bluebonnets — Texas's state flower — in concentrations along the roadsides that can stop traffic in both directions as people pull over to photograph them. The Frio River canyon near Leakey is cool enough in summer to swim in, and several river outfitters rent inner tubes for floating the quieter sections. The nearest major city is San Antonio, about two hours to the southeast.