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texxter
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- Joined
- May 18, 2005
- Messages
- 594
- Reaction score
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- Location
- Plano, TX
- First Name
- Francisco
- Last Name
- Romero
What: This is a route (65 miles one way, 100 miles back) to Carpenter's Bluff Bridge over the Red River, roundtrip from Allen. Roads are two-lane roads mostly, decent surface with a few very narrow roads. The Carpenter's Bluff Bridge is a 1-lane old bridge that was built in 1910. The return to Dallas has some nice roads, and it's a bit longer.
Where: North Dallas, from Dalllas area to Red River in Oklahoma
Designation: Route, mostly Farm-to-Market roads.
We turned left (north) on 69 and passed through Bells (this is the last place to get gas if you need it). Just past Bells, on the north side, we took FM1897, which splits off to the right. This road eventually drops off some bluffs which gives a great view of the river valley ahead. Just before Ambrose we turned left (northwest) on FM1753. From this intesection we went 3/4 mile to an unmarked blacktop road where we turned right (north). This is a fun road with several sharp 90 degree turns and areas where the trees have overgrown to almost create a tunnel effect.
Eventually, the road parallels the river and you can see it through the trees to the right. Coming to a wide place in the road, where there are a few houses are grouped together and the backside of a cafe on the right, is the bridge also on the right. The trees and foliage on either side fo the bridge almost obscure it. Friendly folks leaving the cafe said that it was a good place to eat breakfast. (We didn't try it, and I haven't tried it the other times I rode through.)
According to the historical marker, the bridge is an old steel trestel railroad bridge built in 1910. Sometime later, after the railroad closed, the bridge was converted into a one lane car/motorcycle bridge. Users have to stop and check to see if anyone is coming from the other direction. Once it's clear it's your turn to cross. Halfway across you can get a good view of the river, which is fairly wide. Water was actually flowing.
After a picture taking session, we continued on the road which curves to the north. Just before Hendrix, Ok we turned right (east), sorry didn't see a road number or name. Coming to a stop sign at a similar sized road headed north-south, we turned left (north) sorry didn't see a number or name here, either. This road ended at Hwy 78, the same as Hwy 78 in Texas. We turned right (east). This stretch of road is very long and straight. The temptation is to visit triple digit land to make things more interesting. I haven't seen any law enforcement in this area but I would expect police/sheriff not to be too friendly to high speed foreigners from Texas. Also I've found folks in these out-of-the-way rural areas don't think twice about pulling out in front of you at 30mph. So, Be Careful.
Eventually, 78 makes a 90 degree turn to the south and soon we were at the Red River, again crossing on another steel girder trestle bridge. Just past the bridge, on the left we saw a dirtbike park which appeared to be making great
use of the sandy areas alongside the river. There's even a freestyle ramp...
I have attached the GPS file and the routing sheets disguised as GPS files too so that I can upload them. Remove the .gdb at then end and save them as pdf files. Hope that's ok with Scott! They are fairly small files.
Where: North Dallas, from Dalllas area to Red River in Oklahoma
Designation: Route, mostly Farm-to-Market roads.
Many thinks to Paul (Jing) for posting enough information here to allow me to create this route. I have pasted here some of Paul's comments for completeness:
We turned left (north) on 69 and passed through Bells (this is the last place to get gas if you need it). Just past Bells, on the north side, we took FM1897, which splits off to the right. This road eventually drops off some bluffs which gives a great view of the river valley ahead. Just before Ambrose we turned left (northwest) on FM1753. From this intesection we went 3/4 mile to an unmarked blacktop road where we turned right (north). This is a fun road with several sharp 90 degree turns and areas where the trees have overgrown to almost create a tunnel effect.
Eventually, the road parallels the river and you can see it through the trees to the right. Coming to a wide place in the road, where there are a few houses are grouped together and the backside of a cafe on the right, is the bridge also on the right. The trees and foliage on either side fo the bridge almost obscure it. Friendly folks leaving the cafe said that it was a good place to eat breakfast. (We didn't try it, and I haven't tried it the other times I rode through.)
According to the historical marker, the bridge is an old steel trestel railroad bridge built in 1910. Sometime later, after the railroad closed, the bridge was converted into a one lane car/motorcycle bridge. Users have to stop and check to see if anyone is coming from the other direction. Once it's clear it's your turn to cross. Halfway across you can get a good view of the river, which is fairly wide. Water was actually flowing.
After a picture taking session, we continued on the road which curves to the north. Just before Hendrix, Ok we turned right (east), sorry didn't see a road number or name. Coming to a stop sign at a similar sized road headed north-south, we turned left (north) sorry didn't see a number or name here, either. This road ended at Hwy 78, the same as Hwy 78 in Texas. We turned right (east). This stretch of road is very long and straight. The temptation is to visit triple digit land to make things more interesting. I haven't seen any law enforcement in this area but I would expect police/sheriff not to be too friendly to high speed foreigners from Texas. Also I've found folks in these out-of-the-way rural areas don't think twice about pulling out in front of you at 30mph. So, Be Careful.
Eventually, 78 makes a 90 degree turn to the south and soon we were at the Red River, again crossing on another steel girder trestle bridge. Just past the bridge, on the left we saw a dirtbike park which appeared to be making great
use of the sandy areas alongside the river. There's even a freestyle ramp...
I have attached the GPS file and the routing sheets disguised as GPS files too so that I can upload them. Remove the .gdb at then end and save them as pdf files. Hope that's ok with Scott! They are fairly small files.
Last edited:
I did not catch the part at the end with you links to save the pdf files.. I have the directions now, so no need to send ... Thanks
Yea right !!! All the CRs around there are well worth the time if you have a DS bike or don't mind a little dirt.