Yeah that's one big downfall, we have people asking us all the time where they can just go to get away and as big as Texas is there just isn't a lot of public area that is also somewhere you'll find yourself alone.
Congrats on the 1 year anniversary~What a cool big river crossing. I love what your doing, we started as a new couple 32 years ago. Really pretty place to wheel
Just did this part of the trail 2 days ago. Water was a little lower than pictured here, but not by much. Don't expect swimming water, but nice water to relax by and get your feet, and your rig, wet. I did it in a stock 08 4Runner. Do make sure to stop by the LLANO river which is about 30 minutes past this for some nice swimming. It's on very uneven, loose, Rocky terrain so be careful!
Maybe you can help clear some confusion up. I got attacked by people on Facebook for driving through a river. Apparently super illegal. I didn't know. New to Texas. Secondly, that whole loop has private gates that say no trespassing. Also confusing. Am I a criminal?
The majority of this loop is going down ranch roads around private land. Well within your rights to travel these roads but it's best to be respectful of the private land and any gates or driveways that are marked private. The river crossing here is perfectly legal to make, a lot of times the keyboard warriors on Facebook will crucify you for anything they deem irresponsible. There are laws prohibiting motor vehicles in waterways etc but it doesn't apply to all of them and in some cases the county road goes right through the water.
@@RockSolidRig Ok that's what I thought. So how do you know which roads you can go on and are "public" and can ignore the private and no trespassing signs? I don't want to get shot or anything haha. Plus are you supposed to just rip it and cross the river and not stop? Like what if I want to veer off James arriver road going through the river to take a cool pic in the water? I was having guys take photos of me and that freaked me out. I didn't want to get in trouble.
@6:08 in the video I was there yesterday again. I hiked to James River this time from that basin, bathtub, bowl terrain, creek bed, or whatever you wanna call it to the actual James River bed. Did y'all hike to James River from there too? It was only about 200 yards hike but totally worth it. It was VERY amazing, the view once you get to James River bed from there.
@@RockSolidRig ahh man!!! You'll definitely regret it!! Only took a few minutes hike to James River from where you were at. If you want to see some pics. I took there I can email you ;) The prettiest is at the opening of the James river.
@@prandomable I'm curious what you mean by "opening of james river?" I've been to this trail twice and usually just keep driving until I get to the Llano river. Never hiked up the james river tho.
@@DiscoPh3v3r @6:08 in the video where their Jeep was at. In the bathtub shape terrain. If you follow that creek bed downstream you'll get to/reach James River. I hope you understand what I meant. If not I can e-mail you a map if you still can't understand what I'm trying to say.
@@prandomable Ah, my bad I was thinking you meant from the river crossing! I totally get what you're talking about now. I'll definitely have to check it out from that perspective. Might even go this weekend!
Thanks for the video and the tips. For the few of us new to 4x4 driving it would be great if you could mention the driving settings and maneuvers when you were trying rocks and driving through the river. THX
Hi. I have been in that area and was wondering if there are any places along the James river that you can camp for a night or two that is not an actual camp ground, or rv park.
Not that I'm aware of, everything right there is private land where we drove through. I'm not certain if there is anywhere up or downriver that might be available for camping.
Thank you so much! We’ve been together for 8 years but only recently married, so I am hoping Josh doesn’t get sick of me anytime soon! Lol it was a fun place to be and we are playing around with as many angles as we can. It can be boring just seeing the same view and style over and over again. Bonus for matching names is always a win!
With enough filtering? Potentially....lol, there's a ton of livestock and a bat sanctuary nearby, I'd be hesitant to drink any unless absolutely necessary and I had a great filter for it.
So you guys started in Fredericksburg and went north Westerly to the James River Crossing and then went east and ended up at Sandy Creek River Crossing correct? So I plan on trying to do some of this Thanksgiving because I’ll be up in Austin for Thanksgiving near Georgetown and I will probably enter that route at the Sandy Creek Crossing then head west towards James River and then back south east and end up in Fredericksburg. Can you tell me anything about if I start at the Sandy Creekside and head west how difficult is it from that to the James River Crossing?
Sorry we didn't get back to you sooner, there isn't anything difficult you should come across in the entire trip. Only headache for us was the amount of cattle my shepherd mix wanted to bark at and get out to chase lol.
We appreciate you’re concern for the habitat. This trail is one that many people travel. Many of the private property owners allow people on their land to travel this route. You may notice the fencing and barriers that have been put up and all that guides where we can and cannot go. We do our best to ensure we do not contribute to habitats destruction as that hinders our ability to enjoy being out there looking at places such as this. Thank you for the concern though and I hope that others will have this same mentality as well. It really gives overlanders and off-roaders a bad name when that happens.
@@RockSolidRig not really.. the roads you are on are public, anything to the left or right is private. Land owners can’t stop you from driving on the county roads. But.. they can get you for trespassing on their land if you pull off the road and get in their fields. Now.. the river driving. Sb155 outlawed riding in creek or river beds in Texas. Once you got to the river, by law you can only cross in the shortest distance or marked crossing area. You did one of two things when you got off the county road and played on the rocks. 1. You were trespassing on private property if you were outside the classified “riverbed” 2. Or you were breaking the law with sb155 by riding in a river in a non approved vehicle... aka boat, kayaks, ect..
Regardless how the locals want to call it. TECHNICALLY it IS still Llano River. And there's a sign on Ranch Road 2389 saying Llano River at Dos Rios. Locals might call it James River Crossing. But NO out of towners will know that...it just doesn't make any sense to call it James River crossing (in my opinion).
@@TheDrivingFool is the motor? I’ll be doing this trail tomorrow and will let you know how deep it is this trip. There are several water crossings, this is just the long one.
@@jcriss82 here is a vid of low ground clearance sedan crossing it in 2WD with street tires. All the rivers are very low these days in the Texas Hill Country, as I was just there yesterday again. th-cam.com/video/orlTIQzyaJQ/w-d-xo.html
It really depends on how much of the trail you want to do. There are many places to start and stop as it crosses bigger paved roads in quite a few areas. We started in Fredericksburg and followed it all the way past the James river crossing and a little further than the Llano crossing after it. We were on the trail for probably 6 hours but we stopped quite a bit for pictures and video and to let the dogs out to play.
Rock Solid Rig awesome! I saw y’all a comment on Jeeps of Texas Jeep club and came to watch yalls video! Awesome video btw! Me and the wife are planning a trip now!
@@stevencastaneda4808 you guys will enjoy it I hope, it's beautiful and peaceful down there. Check out enchanted rock state park online. You can get reservations to get in and check it out if you haven't seen it already. When we were down there we didn't realize they were doing reservations only so we didn't get into the park unfortunately.
That might actually be illegal. The James and Llano rivers are protected by the fish and wildlife commission. I would look it up before doing this and also make sure your vehicle isn't loosing any fluids, anywhere. Our planet is changing and the extended droughts are a symptom of those changes. I know for certain that the state of Texas releases Rainbow Trout once a year into the Llano River to help replenish the fish. Please respect and care for our rivers. One day we may not have them in their pristine state and the water could dry up. Take care of our planet.
This is actually a county road that passes through the river, it's not illegal to cross the waterway. Believe me when I say we share your outlook on taking care of nature.
@@RockSolidRig Yes I noticed that. I will be there soon to do astrophotography. The road crosses through the water near the bat cave. Texas has some amazing places.
It is perfectly legal to drive across the James River at this location. It's a public road that travels through all this property and in the state of Texas any navigable river is property of the state.
Y’all should read the rules where y’all were at James River Road you’re supposed to only drive on the gravel bar and you’re not supposed to drive up and down the river like y’all were doing y’all really should familiarize yourself with the rules before they rescind permission and change it
I really need to visit this area soon, thanks for sharing.
I’ve crossed that on my Africa Twin, beautiful country out there
Awesome!!
Nice video, probleme of Texas, almost no public land...
Yeah that's one big downfall, we have people asking us all the time where they can just go to get away and as big as Texas is there just isn't a lot of public area that is also somewhere you'll find yourself alone.
Congrats on the 1 year anniversary~What a cool big river crossing. I love what your doing, we started as a new couple 32 years ago. Really pretty place to wheel
Thank you so much!
Awesome production. Great guide. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
looks like a nice trail , thanks for the info, we might try it on the June 26
If you do you'll love it, I'm not sure how the water level is, I've heard it stays pretty constant though.
Just did this part of the trail 2 days ago. Water was a little lower than pictured here, but not by much. Don't expect swimming water, but nice water to relax by and get your feet, and your rig, wet. I did it in a stock 08 4Runner.
Do make sure to stop by the LLANO river which is about 30 minutes past this for some nice swimming. It's on very uneven, loose, Rocky terrain so be careful!
Looks like this should be a nice drive in any 4wd (exluding playing in the river). Might have to take the Taco down there next summer!@
Very nice. It’s low enough for cars to cross.
The bat cave is awsome.
We had no idea it was there when we went, but we’ve heard a lot of great things about it since putting this video out 😊
Awesome vids. We did that trip and stayed at the dos Rios camp ground on the Llano river outside of Mason TX Beautiful area
I went looking for the bat cave today would love to check it out if yaw want to go
We wanted to check it out when we were there!
So cool! Can't wait to go here when I get my Bronco!
@@jodygeistweidt4367 too late, I already drove all over it
Maybe you can help clear some confusion up. I got attacked by people on Facebook for driving through a river. Apparently super illegal. I didn't know. New to Texas. Secondly, that whole loop has private gates that say no trespassing. Also confusing. Am I a criminal?
The majority of this loop is going down ranch roads around private land. Well within your rights to travel these roads but it's best to be respectful of the private land and any gates or driveways that are marked private. The river crossing here is perfectly legal to make, a lot of times the keyboard warriors on Facebook will crucify you for anything they deem irresponsible. There are laws prohibiting motor vehicles in waterways etc but it doesn't apply to all of them and in some cases the county road goes right through the water.
@@RockSolidRig Ok that's what I thought. So how do you know which roads you can go on and are "public" and can ignore the private and no trespassing signs? I don't want to get shot or anything haha.
Plus are you supposed to just rip it and cross the river and not stop? Like what if I want to veer off James arriver road going through the river to take a cool pic in the water? I was having guys take photos of me and that freaked me out. I didn't want to get in trouble.
We are going this weekend
We are wanting to go again just to get away, hopefully have the new jeep finished soon so we can start our trips back up.
@6:08 in the video I was there yesterday again. I hiked to James River this time from that basin, bathtub, bowl terrain, creek bed, or whatever you wanna call it to the actual James River bed. Did y'all hike to James River from there too? It was only about 200 yards hike but totally worth it. It was VERY amazing, the view once you get to James River bed from there.
That sounds cool! We didn't hike anywhere since we had our dogs, but we will keep that in mind next time!
@@RockSolidRig ahh man!!! You'll definitely regret it!! Only took a few minutes hike to James River from where you were at. If you want to see some pics. I took there I can email you ;) The prettiest is at the opening of the James river.
@@prandomable I'm curious what you mean by "opening of james river?" I've been to this trail twice and usually just keep driving until I get to the Llano river. Never hiked up the james river tho.
@@DiscoPh3v3r @6:08 in the video where their Jeep was at. In the bathtub shape terrain. If you follow that creek bed downstream you'll get to/reach James River. I hope you understand what I meant. If not I can e-mail you a map if you still can't understand what I'm trying to say.
@@prandomable Ah, my bad I was thinking you meant from the river crossing! I totally get what you're talking about now. I'll definitely have to check it out from that perspective. Might even go this weekend!
Thanks for the video and the tips. For the few of us new to 4x4 driving it would be great if you could mention the driving settings and maneuvers when you were trying rocks and driving through the river. THX
Thanks for the feedback, for this one we weren't in any particular setting for this one but we will keep it in mind next time
Enjoyed the ride... awesome country !!!
Glad you enjoyed it
Hi. I have been in that area and was wondering if there are any places along the James river that you can camp for a night or two that is not an actual camp ground, or rv park.
Not that I'm aware of, everything right there is private land where we drove through. I'm not certain if there is anywhere up or downriver that might be available for camping.
That side angle!!! Great job looks so good. Liked the water crossing. Plus it’s kinda cool since y’all are in mason and my name is mason lol.
Also congrats you guys! Hope u can celebrate many more years together.
Thank you so much! We’ve been together for 8 years but only recently married, so I am hoping Josh doesn’t get sick of me anytime soon! Lol it was a fun place to be and we are playing around with as many angles as we can. It can be boring just seeing the same view and style over and over again. Bonus for matching names is always a win!
That river water drinkable?
With enough filtering? Potentially....lol, there's a ton of livestock and a bat sanctuary nearby, I'd be hesitant to drink any unless absolutely necessary and I had a great filter for it.
@@RockSolidRig livestock…yep not really safe
So you guys started in Fredericksburg and went north Westerly to the James River Crossing and then went east and ended up at Sandy Creek River Crossing correct? So I plan on trying to do some of this Thanksgiving because I’ll be up in Austin for Thanksgiving near Georgetown and I will probably enter that route at the Sandy Creek Crossing then head west towards James River and then back south east and end up in Fredericksburg. Can you tell me anything about if I start at the Sandy Creekside and head west how difficult is it from that to the James River Crossing?
Sorry we didn't get back to you sooner, there isn't anything difficult you should come across in the entire trip. Only headache for us was the amount of cattle my shepherd mix wanted to bark at and get out to chase lol.
@@RockSolidRig it’s cool lol. We ended up going to Hidden falls for time sake. But plan on going to the lake area sometime
I have family here and I live like 6 mins down the road not just some of the land Is private it all is private
Uhhh? That’s habitat destruction don’t you think? Stay on the trails next time! 🥺
We appreciate you’re concern for the habitat. This trail is one that many people travel. Many of the private property owners allow people on their land to travel this route. You may notice the fencing and barriers that have been put up and all that guides where we can and cannot go. We do our best to ensure we do not contribute to habitats destruction as that hinders our ability to enjoy being out there looking at places such as this. Thank you for the concern though and I hope that others will have this same mentality as well. It really gives overlanders and off-roaders a bad name when that happens.
@@RockSolidRig not really.. the roads you are on are public, anything to the left or right is private. Land owners can’t stop you from driving on the county roads. But.. they can get you for trespassing on their land if you pull off the road and get in their fields.
Now.. the river driving. Sb155 outlawed riding in creek or river beds in Texas. Once you got to the river, by law you can only cross in the shortest distance or marked crossing area. You did one of two things when you got off the county road and played on the rocks.
1. You were trespassing on private property if you were outside the classified “riverbed”
2. Or you were breaking the law with sb155 by riding in a river in a non approved vehicle... aka boat, kayaks, ect..
This is a crossing of the James River but not actually the "James River Crossing" which is located near Dos Rios camping ground closer to town.
Regardless how the locals want to call it. TECHNICALLY it IS still Llano River. And there's a sign on Ranch Road 2389 saying Llano River at Dos Rios. Locals might call it James River Crossing. But NO out of towners will know that...it just doesn't make any sense to call it James River crossing (in my opinion).
been waiting on this part lol
It’s here :D hope you enjoyed it!
is there a way to do this trail without doing the james river crossing? I just dont know if my baja bug could handle that
The water is under a 1’ deep.
@@KellyJernigan my bugs not lifted a foot tho :/
@@TheDrivingFool is the motor? I’ll be doing this trail tomorrow and will let you know how deep it is this trip. There are several water crossings, this is just the long one.
@@KellyJernigan I’m a little worried. Jed me updated.
@@TheDrivingFool it was 6” deep today. And the other crossings were less, but crazy dusty.
At your exit were you able to fill up on fuel? How much farther was that drive to get fuel?
Could you do this in a 2 wheel drive truck?
Absolutely, we don’t see why not. Especially since it hasn’t rained lately :)
Thank you!
I've seen a minivan cross.
@@jcriss82 here is a vid of low ground clearance sedan crossing it in 2WD with street tires. All the rivers are very low these days in the Texas Hill Country, as I was just there yesterday again.
th-cam.com/video/orlTIQzyaJQ/w-d-xo.html
About how many miles is the trail and how long would you say it would take?
It really depends on how much of the trail you want to do. There are many places to start and stop as it crosses bigger paved roads in quite a few areas. We started in Fredericksburg and followed it all the way past the James river crossing and a little further than the Llano crossing after it. We were on the trail for probably 6 hours but we stopped quite a bit for pictures and video and to let the dogs out to play.
Rock Solid Rig awesome! I saw y’all a comment on Jeeps of Texas Jeep club and came to watch yalls video! Awesome video btw! Me and the wife are planning a trip now!
@@stevencastaneda4808 you guys will enjoy it I hope, it's beautiful and peaceful down there. Check out enchanted rock state park online. You can get reservations to get in and check it out if you haven't seen it already. When we were down there we didn't realize they were doing reservations only so we didn't get into the park unfortunately.
That might actually be illegal. The James and Llano rivers are protected by the fish and wildlife commission. I would look it up before doing this and also make sure your vehicle isn't loosing any fluids, anywhere. Our planet is changing and the extended droughts are a symptom of those changes. I know for certain that the state of Texas releases Rainbow Trout once a year into the Llano River to help replenish the fish. Please respect and care for our rivers. One day we may not have them in their pristine state and the water could dry up. Take care of our planet.
This is actually a county road that passes through the river, it's not illegal to cross the waterway. Believe me when I say we share your outlook on taking care of nature.
@@RockSolidRig Yes I noticed that. I will be there soon to do astrophotography. The road crosses through the water near the bat cave. Texas has some amazing places.
It would be dope to see the Batmobile wheelin' the river... with the Batcave & all... 🤷🏼♂️
Is that going to be the name of the YJ?
Nah. Haven't picked a name for the YJ yet. Mother-in-law claims it's a girl Jeep, but she might have to have a sex change. 🤣
That bat cave is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in all of Texas. The people there take great care of those little suckers
The James River is a private river with privately owned land on both sides. Without permission this is illegal.
It is perfectly legal to drive across the James River at this location. It's a public road that travels through all this property and in the state of Texas any navigable river is property of the state.
Y’all should read the rules where y’all were at James River Road you’re supposed to only drive on the gravel bar and you’re not supposed to drive up and down the river like y’all were doing y’all really should familiarize yourself with the rules before they rescind permission and change it
@@rener5399 could you point me to those rules and the timestamp in the video where they were broken?