
Drives Texas Austin, San Antonio and the Hill Country
Park Road 1C: Lost Pines
Park Road 1C · Buescher State Park → Alum Creek Road
The drive
Park Road 1C is the curviest drive in Texas east of I-35, and one of the shortest in Carve: seven miles of narrow, hilly road that twists through the Lost Pines between Buescher and Bastrop state parks. It's a 30 mph road, and it feels faster than that, rising and falling through loblolly pines and through woods still recovering from the 2011 Bastrop fire.
The drive runs north-west from the Buescher end, off FM 153 near Smithville, which is the nearer end from Houston. It finishes just short of the Alum Creek Road junction inside Bastrop State Park, about a mile from Park Road 1A; from there you can carry on to Bastrop's gate.
Along the way
- Buescher State Park (FM 153)
- Alum Creek Road (Bastrop State Park)
Good to know
- It's inside two state parks: there's a daily entry fee and a driving-tour fee for the park road, set by Texas Parks and Wildlife.
- The parks are open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Keep to the limit: the road is narrow, the crests are blind, and park visitors stop to look.
Open all year, weather permitting. Roads close for snow, fire, storms and repairs: before you set off, check Texas Parks and Wildlife: Buescher State Park.
What you get in the app
Free on iPhone and Android. CarPlay and Android Auto come with Apex.
More drives near here
Distance, time, elevation, curves and intensity are from Carve's route. Checked 2026-10-28.

