The Great Texas BBQ Crawl Overland Trail

kellyrshort1

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Not many things are more quintessential than taking a Texas road trip that includes a stop for some amazing BBQ. Combine this with an overlander’s wunderlust and you got a combination that goes together like peanut butter and jelly… or rather, like ribs and brisket!

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Go Native Overland, led by Todd Greenburg, has created a nearly 1,000 mile long hop-on, hop-off style overland route through some of Texas’ most prime BBQ country. This circular loop is a bullseye of classic, new, and award winning BBQ joints in what’s known as the Central Texas region of Texas, also known as the “best area” for Texas BBQ. With a strong German, Czech and African heritage that combined over centuries it created what is now known worldwide as Texas style BBQ. And it doesn’t focus just on the Texas Monthly Top 50 list – it also includes the old stalwarts, the lesser knowns, the old joints you knew as a kid from road trips with the family.

We recently drove the northwest quadrant of the BBQ overland trail through towns like Mason, Llano and Burnet. An excerpt from my trip report is below. Over time, we hope to complete the entire route (see http://txgxoverland.com/2022/03/best-texas-bbq-overland-trail/ for full report):

I recently drove the northwestern portion of the trail from Mason to Temple. Starting at Cooper’s Original Pit BBQ in Mason, we followed the path along the Llano River, crossing at two low water crossings before arriving in Llano. Hoping on paved surface, we meandered around Buchanan Lake with its blue water and long shoreline eventually stopping at the majestic and now retired Highway 29 bridge south of the dam. Feeling the pangs of hunger, we stopped at Warehouse BBQ and Meatery in Burnet gorging ourselves on the Texas Trinity: brisket, ribs and sausage. Take it from me – you don’t want to miss the peach cobbler!

Heading home through the Marble Falls area and back to I-35 for the trek back to DFW, I realized what makes this one of the best overland trails Texas has to offer. Not only does it capture one of the Lone Star State’s favorite past times – driving to far flung BBQ joints to try out the new ‘que – but its designed for so many people to participate and enjoy! The non-technical nature of the trail means you don’t need a tricked out overland rig to enjoy the route and the “drive whichever part you like” component of the trail means most of the state is within a couple hours of hoping on the Great Texas BBQ Crawl trail and getting your fill of the state’s best BBQ.

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