Would some of the good Texans on here mind helping please ?
After I attend DSC in January I am driving a few hours to Rocksprings. A suggested route from Dallas is through Duncanville ( Highway 67 ? ), on to Stephenville and Burnwood ( Highway 190 ? ), then on to Manard and Highway 83, continuing to Highway 377 through Junction and Telegraph to arrive at Rocksprings. I know Texas has Toll Roads which I would rather avoid and wonder if the described route manages to do this.
If not could anyone with knowledge of how to bypass Toll Roads please offer an alternative route ?
Many thanks for any replies.

Don't you have a mobile? You can set up WAZE and Google Maps to avoid tolls.

no toll roads that I know of

You will have to work very hard to find a toll road in Texas. Outside of a few around Dallas/Houston/Austin, and they are basically serving the suburbs. They are well marked and you won't get on one by mistake. We don't have toll highways like a few of the other states do. The route that has the least amount of road changes would be to get on Interstate 20 west from Dallas/Ft.Worth to hiway 377 south in Benbrook. You can take 377 all the way to Rocksprings . It does not get much easier. And no toll roads. My little Ranchita is about 17 miles east of Rocksprings. Best of luck! Lee.

As far as I know, once you get out of the DFW Metromess, where you are headed I do not believe there are any Toll roads.

The route Lee listed is as good as it gets.

Best of Luck.

I must say all your helpful comments do ease my mind considerably. And thankyou for that. Info I received here kinda conjured visions of regular toll stations and I was not looking forward to dealing with that. Obviously Texas has their act sorted on that front.
I find it's always worth asking the locals who know the true status of their backyard.
Thanks again guys.

Lee/Randall:

WOW, never heard of toll roads in Tex.
News to me there's any even in the big cities. Wasn't last I was thru there. But, I-20 was being rebuilt in '04 my last pass thru there.
Must be new additions since then.

George

George there are a few, but using the route Lee listed, I-30 used to be a Toll Road but that has been about 30 years back.

I have drove most of the route and it is all goods road.

Rocksprings must be a popular destination just now. I just booked a red deer meat hunt out southwest of there for early December.

You won't have any problem avoiding toll roads taking the route you're interested in.

Shouldn't be any. The only one I know of going that way is the new one from Ft. Worth to Cleburne. It is pretty nice, but only one lane each way which is not good far accidents.

I haven't been around much since '75, but, before that til late 60's I drove within 50 miles of every inch of Texas and never saw a toll road ever. hauling pipe and rigs around mostly. But, a lot of other stuff too.

Back then D/FW was two cities 40 miles apart too. Flying over there in July '11 it was all one big mess. I-20 thru Dallas was under construction in '04 when I drove thru. No idea what they've done with that. Last I was in Houston was '75, some of the southside interstates hadn't been completed then and was a mess. Especially with a real long wide load!! What a bitch that was! 12' dia x 130' long, to Minot, ND too. Man I was glad to deliver that sob.

Wide fancy interstates cost a bundle of money. Texas has always had real good roads everywhere.
Not much cold weather to screw them up like up here, or Wyo do. Makes a big difference.

George

Texas has bought into toll roads in recent years - particularly in congested metropolitan areas. There has been a lot of push back - and a lot of resistance by drivers. There are toll roads through Austin (130 and 45 toll) that have gone underutilized because folks figure "I already paid my taxes, why should I pay for roads again." The contract between the state and toll entities apparently has a clause where Texas guarantees a certain amount of revenue - and that hasn't been met by drivers in recent years - so the state has had to come up with the difference.

I rarely use the toll roads. I think I saw where it costs about $35 to transit Austin north to south. They do have light traffic and high speed limits. On one of the few times I used one, I enjoyed the 80 mph speed limit - until I saw the dismembered carcasses of a whole sounder of hogs that had met their demise with one of those high-speed vehicles! Gives one pause...

All the toll roads are in and around the large metroplexes, once out of the Dallas area and considering the route you mention I don't know and any toll roads, and Im a native born Texan now living in Idaho.

Im pretty sure the regular hiways have more deer and hog kills by vehicle than the toll or interstates..there is a dead deer every 100 yards or so in some places..Many killed at 50 miles per hour at night...A state with 8 million plus deer last I heard, calls for careful driving day and night.

Ray,
I did some driving around Idaho in 2015, between Boise and Salmon. I enjoyed my time on the scenic highways very much. It was during hunting season and many hunters trucks were parked along roads and at access points. What surprised me was the numbers of Mule Deer particularly and also some Whitetail seen from the roadsides despite hunters being very active at that time. No animals were at all concerned with vehicular traffic in near proximity. When we took a drive further up country from North Fork we began to see Elk and Sheep too, many times feeding right besides the road. Driving through game country here in NZ you are lucky to see game at all and if you do the view is usually of a rapidly departing animal. Of course, there is the odd exception, but very few.

I spend $2,500 a year on tolls just to get to and from the office. Pretty hard to avoid tolls in Dallas.

If you use google maps, it will warn you if your route requires tolls and you can select to avoid tolls roads as well.

Lee’s route still may be the best...it used to be for sure. The only thing I will add is that the stretch from Benbrook to Granbury was a nightmare (at least compared to how it was in the 80s when in College in Stephenville/Tarleton) when I last drove it (couple if years ago) due to all the new traffic signal lights added.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Lee’s route still may be the best...it used to be for sure. The only thing I will add is that the stretch from Benbrook to Granbury was a nightmare (at least compared to how it was in the 80s when in College in Stephenville/Tarleton) when I last drove it (couple if years ago) due to all the new traffic signal lights added.

Exactly. Expect small stretches of towns that will slow you. Also, remember where we put the wheel and the side of the road! Haha!

Safe travels.

No toll roads unless you really try to find one on your route.
I-35 s to 67 (Cleburne). Hook up with 377 in Cleburne and take that to Brownwood. 377 will take you in to Brady where you'll catch HWY 190 W to Menard. At Menard, take 83 south to Junction then stay on 83 to Rocksprings. One thing to note, from Junction to Rocksprings is a winding road with some tight turns. If the sign says 35 mph around a corner, believe it!
Some beautiful views along the way from Junction to Rock Springs.
Safe trip!

I just got back last night from traveling from Dallas to Leander (Austin) to Lometa and north to Idaho. 83, 84, 190 all good to travel, texas has great roads and even on the single lane road, they move over to let you pass...I try to stay on interstates if possible, but that's just me, the other roads are mostly 4 lanes..No toll roads once you leave the Dallas metroplex but any road around Dallas is murder...the people are friendly however, everyone was waving at me or honking their horn!!

To all contributors.
I am following this thread and updates regularly. Many thanks to all for all the great comments, advice.
Cheers

quote:

the people are friendly however, everyone was waving at me or honking their horn!!

Did you notice how many of them folks only had one finger left on their hand?

30-06King,
You can drive thru Idaho fron any direction these days and not see a deer or elk..Its called management I suppose...and yes those were the days when I could kill a 30" Mule deer in Unit 54 on any given day and did...Today one might consider shooting the first horned deer he sees, but a half decent 4x4 is likely if you have a day or two and know the country..Its somewhat depressing...but on the upside that same unit that's never had elk is crawling with huge bulls for the last couple of years, as is the big desert around twin falls.

Ray,
I understand that Winter 2016 in Idaho resulted in higher game mortality. I hope your current Winter is not so severe. But I am willing to bet if I drove the same route around Idaho today I would still be delighted to spot deer, elk, sheep here & there. The tough ones survive the rebalancing acts of nature. Prior to my 2015 hunt some NZ friends, and AR commentators, made a point of bemoaning the negative impacts of Wolves on deer and elk and how their numbers were comparatively depleted. Similar views were expressed by the outfitter and guides in hunting camp, so before hunting started there was a little concern about how difficult the hunt would be. That's not to say a negative mood pervaded camp at all because in fact the mood was optimistic, as one would hope. From an Idaho first timers perspective I was amazed at the game numbers seen, particularly Mule Deer which was the primary objective. I realise the hunt was timed with a game population peak after a series of milder Winters but still we hunted hard to find the best bucks possible. I didn't take the first antlered buck seen. My buck is not a 200 inch dream buck by any means but a very worthy trophy from a very real and enjoyable hunt. And I cannot say that without acknowledging my hunting guide, Brian Johnston, who was the primary factor in this hunt's success.

https://drive.google.com/file/...PaX/view?usp=sharing