San Antonio-El Paso Road -- Lancaster Hill Wagon Ruts, SH 290 rest area near Sheffield TX - Wagon Roads and Trails on Waymarking.com

Lancaster Hill is a well-known landmark in this part of Texas. It was an important vantage point for soldiers who were stationed from 1855-1871 at nearby Fort Lancaster (whose ruins you can see from here on a clear day). It was a hard climb for pioneers in covered wagons on their way to new lives of California gold fields.

For early-day Old Spanish Trail Auto Route travelers, it was probably more a matter of nerve and tolerance for dust. This is a steep road, dirt-paved in the 1920s-30s, and the switchbacks with the views STRAIGHT DOWN are still scary in 2016, with a modern paved road with strong protective stone walls and guardrails.

But at the top of Lancaster Hill -- WOW! What a view!

Sharp-eyed travelers who knew about the Old San Antonio-El Paso Road can still see pioneer-era wagon ruts from the old emigrant road winding down Lancaster Hill.

Today's travelers can see the ruts from the rest area at the top of Lancaster hill. If yu go read the historic markers, the ruts are right down the hill from where you are standing.

Road of Trail Name: San Antonio-El Paso Road State: Texas County: Crockett Historical Significance: This route moved settlers West into sparsely populated western Texas, and was also used as a primary route to the California gold fields after 1849 Years in use: 1849-1870s How you discovered it: I have been reading several historic markers and interpretive signs about this road on this trip Book on Wagon Road or Trial: Fort Clark and Brackettville: Land of Heroes (TX) (Images of America) Paperback – September 10, 2002 by Bill Haenn We found many books that mentioned this road, but none on specifically the road itself. The san-Antonio-El Paso Road is discussed in many books in the larger context of the history of the forts it served, or the pioneers who rode on it, or the stage/mail lines that operated over it. Website Explination: https://www.nps.gov/foda/learn/education/upload/Traveling%20the%20San%20Antonio%20-%20El%20Paso%20Road%20Student.pdf Why?: Emigrants and pioneers used this road to go west to new lives or to travel to California, where gold had been discovered. The U.S. Army (and from 1862-2865 the Confederate Army) used this road to travel between several frontier era forts, moving men and matériel as needed. Parts of this old road have now been turned into modern highways, and so are still in use today Directions: Lancaster Hill rest area SH 290 east of Sheffield TX

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Date Logged Log User Rating   12/20/2016 Benchmark Blasterz visited it