Ranch Road 1 (RR 1) is a

Ranch Road In the United States, a farm-to-market road or ranch-to-market road (sometimes farm road or ranch road for short) is a state highway or county road that connects rural or agricultural areas to market towns. These are better quality roads, usually ...

located in Gillespie and

Blanco Blanco (''white'' or ''blank'' in Spanish) or Los Blancos may refer to: People *Blanco (surname) Fictional characters *Blanco, a hobbit in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth * Blanco Webb, character in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge'' * El Blanco, albin ...

counties, in the central region of the U.S. state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The highway is approximately , and begins at U.S. Route 290 (US 290) in Stonewall, running along the

Pedernales River The Pedernales River ( ) is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately long, in Central Texas in the United States. It drains an area of the Edwards Plateau, flowing west to east across the Texas Hill Country west of Austin. The name "Pede ...

through

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in central Texas about west of Austin in the Texas Hill Country. The park protects the birthplace, home, ranch, and final resting place of Lyndon B. Johnson, ...

, the late President Lyndon Johnson's former ranch, and through

Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site is a state park located along the Pedernales River in Gillespie County, Texas, United States west of Johnson City, Texas, Johnson City and east of Fredericksburg, Texas, Fredericksburg. The state cre ...

, before terminating at US 290 near Hye. The road, designated in 1963, is the only road in the state that the

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...

(TxDOT) has designated as a "Ranch Road". In the earliest days of the state highway system, the route was a part of State Highway 20, and was later part of US 290 before that highway was relocated to the south.

Route description

Ranch Road 1 begins at US 290 on the west side of Stonewall, as a two-lane, paved road. The highway follows along the south bank of the Pedernales River around the town's north side and intersects RM 1623 on the town's east side. The route continues along the river briefly passing through a narrow southwestern portion of

, before entering Lyndon B Johnson State Park and Historic Site. The route crosses the length of the state park at its northern edge along the riverbank and exits the park before intersecting PR 49, which crosses the river accessing the national historic site. After crossing into Blanco County, the route turns away from the riverbank to the southeast returning to US 290 west of Hye. Although the road is located in the

Texas Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ameri ...

, the road only encounters gentle grades within the channel of the Pedernales River.

Classification

Ranch Road 1 is classified by TxDOT as a Ranch Road and is the only highway in the state currently categorized as such. The route is not officially part of the state's Farm and Ranch to Market Road System, although it is considered similar to the Farm to Market Road system. RR 1 is signed with a shield similar to a Ranch to Market Road.

History

Ranch Road 1 was designated on December 19, 1963, 27 days after Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president, from its current western terminus at US 290 near Stonewall to a point west of the county line between Gillespie and Blanco counties. The following year, the road was extended eastward to its present terminus near Hye. The route was originally part of SH 20. In 1935, US 290 was routed over the road, and the SH 20 designation was dropped in the 1939 general redescription of the state highway system. US 290 was rerouted south to its current location sometime between 1941 and 1961.

Major intersections

References

External links