Traveling from IL to TX

We plan on doing my own little trip:
The True Grit trail.
In Ark. Darninell in Yell county
Fort Smith. Ark.
McAlliter Oklahoma
Winding Stair mountains. Ok.
The Indian Territories.
All from the movie.

Thanks for the information. Think we will be heading toward San Antonio. Any thoughts on that area? Places in TX we should avoid?

Might want to work in the Natchez Trail into the route south. Northern 75 miles you might want to skip, but the rest is a nice restful ride. No commercial traffic or signs.

Here's a hodge podge of older posts On Texas.

More on:
San Antonio & Corpus Christi.

Rio Grande Valley in South Texas

Texas PanHandle

Another hodge podge of posts with some repeated info but with some new (I hope):
:h Clicky

Somethings I'd like to see, but haven't:
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum - Waco

Amon Carter Museum of American Art - Fort Worth and Kimbell Art Museum - Ft. Worth and Other Fort Worth Art Museums

What route are you planning?
Where in TX. You plan to travel to.?

What interests you?

Vibrant multicultural cities: Houston, San Antonio, Austin. I personally prefer Chicago, but also like San Antonio, it is a different kind of city.

The beach: Galveston Island, Mustang Island, the Padre Islands.

Birding: the several wildlife refuges along the Gulf Coast will be full of migratory waterfowl and shore birds in October. High plains birding anywhere west of the Breaks, including most of the Panhandle (called Hill Country further south).

High desert wilderness: the Big Bend

Dark night skies: the Davis Mountains or the Big Bend

Antiquing and historical towns: the Hill Country west of the San Antonio - Austin axis.

Geologic features: Palo Duro Canyon, and the southern end of the Rocky Mountains.

For the feel of early Texas, history of independence, the whole area east of I-45, mostly piney woods, lakes, former cotton country. Further south towards the Rio Grande Valley, you go through the area of the original giant cattle ranches (Hollywood would have you think they were in the Monument Valley, but no, it was mostly East Texas).

I prefer to stay in Texas state parks, will buy an annual pass for a Texas road trip. Other people like the features and services of the RV parks, and at the other end of the scale, more primitive, more isolated wilderness sites with no services beyond a road in.

Depending on where you are going in Texas, you could follow Route 66 and explore all the historical sites along that route. Another possibility would be to go west to Dubuque or Clinton, follow the Great River Road at least as far as Hannibal before turning west again.

Between here and Chicago, Hannibal and Carthage are favorite stops, and Lake of the Ozarks will be nice on the shoulder of its season. Branson if you are into the theme park scene. That's all on the route to central Texas. If you are going to East Texas, your route could take you through Memphis (worth a stop), and if West Texas, the route could be through Iowa, western Missouri and Kansas, where I find places to stop like Living History Farms in Des Moines, Pony Express museum in St Joseph, the Earhart Birthplace in Atchison, the stepping off places and enroute traces of the Santa Fe Trail, the aviation and camping museums in Wichita.

MICKANDMICHELE wrote:
We are fairly new to RVing and are planning to get on the road for a few weeks. Thought about heading to TX from Chicago area in mid-October. Would love to hear some recommendations about places to stay and sights to see.

Stop by Branson for a few days. Get on their websites and see if there's anything going on that you'd like to see or do. Where are you going in Tx?
Ron