best route Aggieland to Lubbock?

2,081 Views | 27 Replies | Last: 16 yr ago by JasonD2005
ZoneClubber
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AG
Can't get the right search function. I'm sure it's been discussed.

What is the fastest/best route from College Station to Lubbock? Heading to Utah/Colo this summer and I'm going to try to get to Lubbock our first night after an afternoon start.
WestTexasAg
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I like going Hwy 36 all the way to Abilene. I assume you know the rest from there.
CanyonAg77
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http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=898874&forum_id=39

http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=936746&forum_id=39

http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=1379254&forum_id=39
CanyonAg77
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From the second link, just reverse it...

Perhaps someone with a membership can do a search, but this has been covered before. Short answer:

US84 to Roscoe. I-20 through Abilene. Highway 36 to Temple. Loop around Temple, continue on 36 to Caldwell. Highway 21 toward Bryan, Loop 47 (?) around B-CS, comes in by Easterwood field.

There are variations, such as heading due east out of Lubbock, and picking up highway 6. Some folks will cut south at Sweetwater and take some back roads that run south of highway 36. But for the absolute straightest shot, that's the way to go.

Also the shortest distance is to go through Temple and pick up highway 53 then 485 to intersect highway 6 just north of Hearne. The downside is that you have to drive through Temple and the developing area to the eat of it, as well as several little communities and intersections where you have to slow down and stop. It is also narrow and twisting and sometimes crowded with slow drivers. If the 7-year-old is subject to car sickness, don't go that way. But if you like a challenge and it is still daylight, it can save a few minutes.

Easy gas/food/potty stops: Post, Sweetwater, then most of the little towns down 36, except the REALLY little ones like Gustine, Rising Star, etc. Hamilton is a little tricky because there aren't any food/gas stops on 36, but if you turn north downtown on 281 for a few blocks, there are a few places. Temple has several easy stops, but it seems like Abilene has darn few that are easy to get to.

Long stretches with no easy stops: Post to Snyder and Sweetwater. Sweetwater to Cross Plains, Gatesville to Temple.

You can make the trip in abuout 6.5 hours, though I'd allow 7 to 7.5 with a kid.
CanyonAg77
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Caldwell route on Google Maps

The back road to Temple via 485/53

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 7/10/2009 9:46a).]
ZoneClubber
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Excellent info. Thanks. Other than one time as an undergrad, I don't think I've driven it.

I drive the 485/53 route often from BCS to lampasas so Ill probably take the popular route from temple.
rockylarues
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I could be wrong, but I think last year we took Hwy 6 all the way to I-20 near Cisco, then 20 to 84, 84 to Lubbock. Pretty simple that way.
CanyonAg77
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You can do that, but it's longer and you have to go through Waco.

Blech.
JasonD2005
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1) I've driven and timed them both (the 6 route and the 36 route) and they are almost exactly the same
2) Hwy 6 is not longer, it just feels like it b/c there are more dumpy-ass little speed-traps between Waco and Eastland
3) Yes, Waco sucks
4) You might make it in 6.5 hours if you stop once for gas only. A reasonable trip will take you 7 and w kids you're talking 7.5 to 8
5) Overall it's a push
JasonD2005
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6) The drive blows no matter which way you cut it
7) I now reward myself with a trip to the new REI at Round Rock when I come home...a little out of the way but not too much
Igotzhippoteef
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quote:
US84 to Roscoe. I-20 through Abilene. Highway 36 to Temple. drive through temple and get on Highway 53 heading east. Take that for about 15 miles and then take at right at FM 485. You will hit Highway 6 at Hearne. Take 6 in the remaining 20 miles.


This is a little diffent. It may be confusing the first time you try it but the drive is pretty and it saves about 15 minutes.
beefisbest
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I make this trip several times each year. I go via highway 6. Waco is no sweat with the new by-pass. Also all but 15 miles between C.S. and Waco are now four lane. Best stops are Johnnie's restaurant in Clifton, Wiseman's Chocolate in Hico, Koppe Kup restaurant in Hico, Ranch House restaurant in Sweetwater, and McDonald's in Post. Seven hour drive.
JasonD2005
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Don't forget the Sonic/Whataburger/Dairy Queen oasis at I-20 exit 303.
ZoneClubber
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good stops are appreciated. Thanks for the info and links.

From the hub city I'm going the Muleshoe-Clovis-SantaRosa-Albuquerque-Farmington-Shiprock-Coretz-Monticello-Moab route
Igotzhippoteef
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The hwy 6 route is the easiest and safest but it is probably 30 minutes longer than the hwy 36 route.
JasonD2005
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quote:
From the hub city I'm going the Muleshoe-Clovis-SantaRosa-Albuquerque-Farmington-Shiprock-Coretz-Monticello-Moab route


holy chit! what you going to be doin up there?
CanyonAg77
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According to Google Maps, the 6 route is about seven miles longer than the 36 route. Frankly, I thought it would be much longer, at least 20 miles.
twk
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Higway 6 has gotten better because most of the loop around Waco is now four lanes and there only a couple of traffic lights (or maybe just one). Once all the construction is finished on 6, it will be even better. Besides, you can go through Dublin and get some real Dr. Pepper there.
MooreTrucker
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quote:
Highway 21 toward Bryan, Loop 47 (?) around B-CS, comes in by Easterwood field.



Isn't there another exit off 21 that comes in by the West Campus?
AgFan1999
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MooreTrucker,

That's the exit you're thinking of. 47 merges with 60, which becomes University Drive, which goes by campus.
hemikicker
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I drove the 36 route from lubbock to bcs on friday, and the 6 route back to lubbock on sunday and...... (drumrole)

the 6 route was faster by ~ 15 minutes, and pretty sure i sped more on the 36 route.

really what i think makes the 6 route really catch up to the 36 is the extra time you're on I20... no slowin down and such..

anyways both beautiful drives though... my favourite is the "Deep **** Ranch" on the 36 route...
ZoneClubber
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I enjoyed the 36 route. We drove to Utah and Colo from College Station. I enjoyed it much more than the past trips on the Interstates. I had never been through Comanche. The wind farms on 84 are hypnotic.
hemikicker
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yea its kinda crazy driving through there at night... all those windmills have one red light on top and they all turn on and off at the same time... pretty crazy lookin
JasonD2005
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quote:
my favourite is the "Deep **** Ranch" on the 36 route...

Then you miss the Lazy Ass Ranch on Hwy 6...I digress, Deep S*** is better.

+1 on the red lights on the wind turbines...feels very "otherworldly" driving through there at night.
CanyonAg77
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I always thought it was weird that the red lights flashed together. Then I thought about how it would look if they went off individually and randomly. It would be seizure-inducing if 1000 windmills went off at different times.

If you really want to be amazed, take highway 70 and 277 south out of Sweetwater toward Winters. The windmills you see from I-20 are just a very small part of the 1000 or so that are out there.

Found this pic online

dandy
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my 2 cents. I always thought the highway 6 route was faster, as their are fewer stops. 36 seemed like there was a town every 15 miles. Not to mention it's almost 4 lane all the way to waco now.
fuzzyfan
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I used to be one of those young bucks that thought you could speed on 36 and make it faster from West Texas to College Station. Saved 30 minutes on that route. Now I take I-20 to HWY 6 and drive easy. Good road and not that many stops. Jump on 84 at Roscoe and head north.
chadr03
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I grew up in Dumas about 3 hours north of Lubbock, and my freshman year when I was heading home I got stuck in a traffic jam just north of Waco. (Later I found out a armored car rolled over and money was everywhere and people were getting out of their cars trying to get some I never saw anything but cars for miles). I didn't have a map with me but I was tired of sitting in traffic so I took the next exit on and headed northwest. I drove down po dunk roads in the middle of nowhere for hours. I finally decided to take a look at a convince store to get my bearings and I was near Wichita Falls and knew the rest of the way from there. After that I made a point to try to take a different route to and from Aggieland, and no matter how big or small the road they all seemed to take about the same amount of time. I recommend taking as many routes as possible you can see all kinds of neat places in Texas.
JasonD2005
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Ahem, speaking of that 36 route...thought I'm POSITIVE it's about 20-30 min longer, I decided to take it last time just to shake things up a little bit. I've always wanted to nab a photo of this but always in too much of a hurry to stop. This time I got it.



Hopefully tucked away on one of the least traveled boards on texags won't get me banned.
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