brd
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What: This road is one of the best within an hour's ride of the DFW metroplex. This can also make it a heavily travelled road on weekends, and the DPS is out there in the summertime.
The best stretch of FM 4 is north of I-20 about 2 miles from Santo to Palo Pinto (14 miles).
There are pretty much 2 sections to this piece of road. The first is down low in a little valley and goes along the east side of Palo Pinto lake, which you can't actually see from FM 4. It is a series of back and forth corners, none overly tight.
Then you get to the little town of Lone Camp and there is a 2-3 mile long straight stretch. It is very tempting to blast through here, but be careful. There are a number of driveways along this stretch, so think about safety. Also, I've heard this road is heavily patrolled on weekends and I saw two police on it early on a Thursday afternoon. You don't need to run it at super-legal speeds, anyway. The speed limit is 55mph and if you try to hold a constant speed near that through the twisty parts, which are plentiful, you will have a good time.
The second set of twisties starts and heads up into the hills toward the town of Palo Pinto. There are some nice curves going around the hillsides. Some are tighter than the first section. Here's a shot of the exit of one good corner and the beginning of the next up the hill:
In early April, there are bluebonnets along some of the roadsides (you can see them in the picture above on the left side of the road), but not enough to make it a popular wildflower viewing area, like the Willow City Loop.
All of a sudden, the speed limit drops and you're in Palo Pinto. There's a gas station there or back in Santo.
Don't be surprised if you find that you need to ride that road again. :wink:
There is one corner to be particularly careful of. There's a T intersection in the middle of a 25mph curve in the Southern section of twisties. It's well marked. The road that T's goes west and is Lakeview Drive. A few of the other corners are also blind curves around hillsides, so be careful there, too.
Where: From Ft. Worth, go west on Interstate 20 about 60 miles. There is an exit for FM 4 / Santo / Palo Pinto. Head north. After 2 or 3 miles you will pass through the town of Santo and then the good stuff starts.
The best stretch of FM 4 is north of I-20 about 2 miles from Santo to Palo Pinto (14 miles).
There are pretty much 2 sections to this piece of road. The first is down low in a little valley and goes along the east side of Palo Pinto lake, which you can't actually see from FM 4. It is a series of back and forth corners, none overly tight.
Then you get to the little town of Lone Camp and there is a 2-3 mile long straight stretch. It is very tempting to blast through here, but be careful. There are a number of driveways along this stretch, so think about safety. Also, I've heard this road is heavily patrolled on weekends and I saw two police on it early on a Thursday afternoon. You don't need to run it at super-legal speeds, anyway. The speed limit is 55mph and if you try to hold a constant speed near that through the twisty parts, which are plentiful, you will have a good time.
The second set of twisties starts and heads up into the hills toward the town of Palo Pinto. There are some nice curves going around the hillsides. Some are tighter than the first section. Here's a shot of the exit of one good corner and the beginning of the next up the hill:
In early April, there are bluebonnets along some of the roadsides (you can see them in the picture above on the left side of the road), but not enough to make it a popular wildflower viewing area, like the Willow City Loop.
All of a sudden, the speed limit drops and you're in Palo Pinto. There's a gas station there or back in Santo.
Don't be surprised if you find that you need to ride that road again. :wink:
There is one corner to be particularly careful of. There's a T intersection in the middle of a 25mph curve in the Southern section of twisties. It's well marked. The road that T's goes west and is Lakeview Drive. A few of the other corners are also blind curves around hillsides, so be careful there, too.
Where: From Ft. Worth, go west on Interstate 20 about 60 miles. There is an exit for FM 4 / Santo / Palo Pinto. Head north. After 2 or 3 miles you will pass through the town of Santo and then the good stuff starts.