Texas is getting its very own long-distance cross-state thru trail thanks to one ambitious outdoorsman with a vision. The Cross Texas Trail (xTx) would extend 1,500 miles from Orange to El Paso, winding along some of the Lone Star State’s most scenic landscapes, passing towns and many historical sites, gaining roughly 56,000 feet in elevation along the way.
The nonprofit organization behind the xTx describes it on its website as “the future Pacific Crest Trail of Texas.”
Veteran trail hiker, bike-riding adventurer, and Texas native Charlie Gandy is leading the charge in establishing the xTx. The former Mesquite and East Dallas resident first had the idea when he was hiking the Tahoe Trail in June 2024. He saw the power that cross-state trails had to connect people, uplift communities, and transform the individuals on them. He was a few days into his hike when it hit him.
“I could see a route across [Texas],” Gandy told GearJunkie. “I just wasn’t sure how I was going to get it done at that point.”
While people could technically hike the route now, Gandy hopes to have it officially established by the spring of 2025. At that point, it will be open season for thru-hikers, bikers, and horse riders who want to traverse the state of Texas by trail.
xTx: The Pacific Crest Trail of Texas
Gandy graduated from the University of Texas and worked under the governor before starting several businesses of his own. He’s a serial entrepreneur, but he also has a history in the nonprofit world. He founded BikeTexas.org, the first statewide bike advocacy group in Texas. Now, he’s also founded xTexas.org. He’s also an avid and fairly accomplished hiker in his spare time.
“I’ve hiked all of the fourteeners in Colorado and almost all of them in California and elsewhere,” he told me.
He revealed his plans for the xTx at the Texas Trails and Active Transportation Conference in September. He called the initiative kind of a wild ride, but said the response from both the hiking community and most of the locals he’s heard from has been positive.
“This is a big hairy goal that I get to undertake,” Gandy said. “It kind of has a life of its own.”
The trail will be a mix of singletrack and about 40% gravel roads. It will showcase the diverse environments, scenic landscapes, and cultural variety that span the largest state in the contiguous U.S. And, Gandy hopes, the xTx will also draw visitors who will bring business to the communities it passes through.
“It’s a new opportunity to have a different type of customer in town,” he said.
Gandy’s nonprofit, xTexas, is working to get the route officially established and recognized by the state. In true Texas style, he’s already got an “xTx” iron he intends to brand fence posts with as trail markers.
Crossing Texas: No Easy Endeavor
Texas isn’t just the largest state in the U.S.; it also has more privately owned land than any other state. That has made designing the route somewhat of a challenge for Gandy. He knows that it will change as he starts having more conversations with counties, towns, and private landowners.
Still, his initial route finding was done simply using Ride with GPS, mapping different scenarios with his targets in mind. So far, he said, he’s ground-proofed the first half of the trail.
The xTx eastern trailhead is in the town of Orange on the Louisiana border. The first 200 miles meander along bayous, passing through small towns with Cajun influence.
From there, it enters the rolling hills east of Beaumont and north of Houston, passing historic towns where travelers can stay in bed and breakfasts or local hotels. Because so much of Texas is privately owned, camping opportunities are not abundant.
The route then passes through Big Bend National Park and eventually summits Texas’s highest peak — and the highest point in the state at 8,751 feet — Guadalupe Peak. The western terminus is in El Paso.
That’s the general route, according to Gandy. As he ground-proofs it, he says he’s dialing the details and tweaking the route where it can be improved.
“In some cases, it’s very attractive for hiking; in some cases, it’s not. In some cases, it’s really attractive for riding a bike, and in other cases, it’s impossible,” he said. Those are the on-the-ground kinks he’s working out now.
Getting xTx Across the Finish Line
By spring 2025, Gandy hopes to have the route defined and the trail officially established. Indeed, this undertaking is “big and hairy,” as Gandy said. But the payoff could be a grand Texas legacy, something that locals will use to get outdoors and exercise and that will draw different kinds of tourism to some of Texas’s smaller off-the-beaten-path communities.
He’s pitched in $10,000 of his own money and raised $10,000 more. But he says he still needs around $30,000 to complete this project within his timeframe. You can learn more about his progress and plan and also donate to the nonprofit on the xTexas website.
“It’s fun what’s unfolding here,” he said. “I’m glad that the community is responding the way they are.”
