xTx Founder Charlie Gandy – self portrait
This is Charlie Gandy, who’s set to become the first adventurer to complete the Cross-Texas Trail, the xTx, America’s newest long-distance hiking route.
The 67-year-old invented the trail himself, and invested $10,000 to ensure the route could become a destination for hikers, cyclists, and horseback riders.
Moving westward, he and his two hiking companions are set to arrive at the finish line in El Paso on the border with New Mexico on March 31st—having walked a full 1,500 miles across the Lone Star State.
Launched as a project in August of 2024, the xTx is meant to be traveled in late fall, winter, and early spring, when heat and water conditions aren’t so brutal.
Exactly how does one create the next Appalachian Trial? Well, in 2024, Gandy explained that it came down to the passion of a single man who pioneered both the Appalachian and the Pacific Crest Trail, making them iconic bucket list goals for hikers across the world.
“As a native Texan, I’m a 66-year-old guy who likes to challenge myself to big, hairy goals and adventures—and it seemed to me like it was time for Texas to have its own Pacific Crest-type adventure route,” Gandy told Fox News Digital.
Courtesy of xTx
xTx trail (via ridewithgps.com)
Beyond his own passion and obsession, the endeavor involved gathering sponsors for the creation of an organization to provide all the needed digital and hard-copy literature and publicity to let the nation know the trail exists.
He also had to find people willing to set up water stations in desert areas, and, because 96% of Texas land is privately-owned, people who were willing to allow the route to run through their property.
But Gandy and his chief partner in the endeavor, the nonprofit advocacy group Bike Texas, were actually inundated with enthusiastic Texans offering their own opinions of where the route should go—which often involved inviting it to run directly through their own land.
Like the Appalachian Trail, the xTx will take years to reach to its full potential. In its current iteration the xTx travels through the heart of rural Texas, weaving together public paved, gravel, and dirt roads, and wanders near or through sections of 17 state parks and 3 national parks.
Real County, Texas; Courtesy of xTx – Credit: Jake Irvin
Devils River, the half-way point of the XTX – Credit, mlhradio, CC 2.0 via Flickr
“We’re establishing a 1,500-mile seasonal late fall through early spring hiking, cycling, and horseback trail through the heart of true Texas. It’s the first of its kind for the state,” Gandy said in a statement from his current position around Toyah, Texas.
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The original working path for the whole route has largely been followed by Gandy on his current trip. You can see his progress and follow along as he nears the finish line on the Ride with GPS website.
It started on the eastern border of the state near Beaumont before launching through a number of bayous in a more-or-less flat decline from the hills north of Houston through a gap between San Antonio and Austin coupled with a loop above New Braunfels.
Completing the detour, the trail starts to climb slightly north through the desert before plunging down into the gorgeous topography of Big Bend National Park in a large horseshoe curve that eventually leads directly north to the highest peak in the state among the Guadalupe Mountains, and westward to El Paso and the finish line.
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