Below Junction, US-83 continues southward through 55 beautiful miles of rolling ranches and native pecan orchards, entering a verdant, spring-filled region that was one of the last strongholds of the Lipan Apaches and Comanches. The rolling hills around Leakey (pop. 420; LAY-key) hold limestone caves, some of which the Confederates mined for saltpeter—an essential ingredient of gunpowder—during the Civil War. At 1,600 feet above sea level, this is one of US-83’s prettiest reaches through Texas, as the road follows the clear, cold Frio River through 17 miles of cypress, pecan, live oak, cedar, walnut, wild cherry, piñon, and mountain laurel. Some areas also have bigtooth maple and sycamore, a major tourist attraction in the late fall when the leaves change color.
You’ll find a dozen or more camps and lodges—including tin-roofed, wooden-sided Welcome Inn Motor Hotel ($50 and up; 830/232-5246) on US-83 in the center of Leakey—between the highway and the river, which is popular for fishing and tubing.
East of Leakey, there’s a wonderful drive into the Hill Country along Hwy-337 to Lost Maples State Park, north of Vanderpool. The road gets especially rugged (and popular with proto–Lance Armstrong cyclists) around Medina, midway to San Antonio. Back on US-83, heading south along the eponymous river, the hamlet of Rio Frio (pop. 50) boasts the largest live oak tree in Texas. The centuries-old tree stands alongside Hwy-1120 on the east side of the Frio River.
About 10 miles south of Rio Frio along US-83, the very pretty 1,420-acre Garner State Park (830/232-6132) offers campgrounds, cabins, hiking trails, canoe rentals, pedal boats, river swimming, and a popular summertime dance terrace on the banks of the Frio River. On summer weekends, the park reaches capacity early in the mornings, so to make the most of it get here as soon as you can or stay overnight. Just south of the park entrance, the Frio Canyon Smoke Shack (830/232-6605) serves up the “best burgers between Canada and Mexico,” along with traditional Texas BBQ brisket.
