Willow City Loop, TX

“You have to ride the Willow City Loop,” said a friend, “that is where you will see the best wildflowers.” We were anxious to see wildflowers and being in Fredericksburg, TX in April we knew the flowers were bursting with color. Only problem was this statement was made regarding motorcycle riding. Now we have a Dodge Ram 5500 and not a motorcycle – big difference. Once we were assured, BART could navigate the Loop, off we went and we were not disappointed.

The Willow City Loop is approximately 13 miles of narrow ranch roads traversing private property consisting mostly of ranches with the entire area being fenced. Even the fences were interesting with one having boots on the fence post and caps on a gate side.

We saw more than wildflowers, boots, and caps that day. We enjoyed cattle wandering the roadways, beautiful rock outcroppings, and streams with low water crossings. The colors were vibrant and the sky was bright blue. It is hard to realize just how vibrant and beautiful the flowers were.

We found Willow City Loop with little problem, but Willow City was another story and we had to research it. Willow City holds the distinction of being a non-German settlement established before the Civil War. Although less than twenty miles from Fredericksburg, the Anglo residents traded with establishments in Austin. They preferred dealing in English rather than German. Interestingly the settlement had an English newspaper in the 1890s which was later sold and the business was moved to Fredericksburg.

In 1904 the population was estimated to be 132 and decreased continually until it reached 17 in the mid-1960s. Shortly after, the population increased to eighty five and since 1970 has hovered around seventy five.

Two establishments were recommended for snack and a beverage – Knot in the Loop Salon and Harry’s on the Loop. We wanted to do our part to support Willow City, but neither establishment was open. We had done our research and both were supposed to be open for business. I guess when you live on the Loop the weekends are your best business times since we are told weekends are bumper to bumper traffic on the Loop. We are sorry to have missed both opportunities since each looked interesting.

Even though we did not get a chance to experience the local color of either Willow City salon, our drive along the Loop was leisurely and full of natural color and beauty.