Route sign for Ranch Road 1, September 2005. (Despite RR 1 not being a Ranch to Market Road, it is still signed with the Texas Ranch to Market Road 1 shield.)
RR 1 begins at US 290 on the west side of Stonewall, as a two-lane, paved road. The highway follows along the south bank of the Pedernales River around the town's north side and intersects RM 1623 on the town's east side. The route continues along the river briefly passing through a narrow southwestern portion of Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, before entering Lyndon B Johnson State Park and Historic Site.[2] The route crosses the length of the state park at its northern edge along the riverbank and exits the park before intersecting PR 49, which crosses the river accessing the national historic site. After crossing into Blanco County, the route turns away from the riverbank to the southeast returning to US 290 west of Hye.[2][3] Although the road is located in the Texas Hill Country, the road only encounters gentle grades within the channel of the Pedernales River.[4][5]
RR 1 is classified by TxDOT as a Ranch Road and is the only highway in the state currently categorized as such.[6] The route is not officially part of the state's Farm and Ranch to Market Road System, although it is considered similar to the Farm to Market Road system.[7] Nothwithstanding, RR 1 is signed with the Ranch to Market Road 1 shield.[8] (Ranch Road 1 should also not be confused with being part of the Recreational Roads, which also use the "RR" abbreviation.)
Ranch Road 1 was designated on December 19, 1963, 27 days after Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president, from its current western terminus at US 290 near Stonewall to a point 1.2 miles (1.9 km) west of the county line between Gillespie and Blanco counties. The following year, the road was extended 2.1 mi (3.4 km) eastward to its present terminus near Hye. The route was originally part of SH 20.[9] In 1935, US 290 was routed over the road,[10] and the SH 20 designation was dropped in the 1939 general redescription of the state highway system.[11] US 290 was rerouted south to its current location sometime between 1941[12][13] and 1961.[14][15]
^ abTransportation Planning and Programming Division (2018). Texas County Mapbook(PDF) (Map) (2018 ed.). 1:72,224. Texas Department of Transportation. p. 1586. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
^Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "U.S. Highway No. 290". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
^Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "State Highway No. 20". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
^Texas State Highway Department (February 1, 1941). General Highway Map, Blanco County, Texas (Map). 1:126,720. Austin: Texas State Highway Commission. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
^Texas State Highway Department (January 1, 1961). General Highway Map, Blanco County, Texas (Map). 1:126,720. Austin: Texas State Highway Commission. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
US 290inStonewall
RM 1623 in Stonewall
PR 52 south – State Park parking lot, US 290
PR 49 north (Klein Road) – Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
U.S. Roads portal
Texas portal
Media related to Ranch Road 1 at Wikimedia Commons
