Texas Highways – September 2019

SEPTEMBER 2019 33

PacificWarMuseum.org | Fredericksburg, Texas

the right is the 76-turbine Callahan Divide
wind farm. FM 89 winds about 10 miles
to a ridge top loaded with more wind tur-
bines, part of the Buffalo Gap Wind Farm.
Turn right at FM 126 before dropping into
Mulberry Canyon for 6 miles. Turn left on
FM 1085 for a mile, and then left again on
FM 2035 for 8 miles, with the Trent Mesa
and South Trent Mesa wind farms on both
sides, and then on to Lake Sweetwater,
I-20, and US 84.

The Wingate to Sweetwater
Sci-Fi Wind Trail
Coming from Austin, San Antonio, and Ball-
inger, head up to Wingate and take SH 153
to the SH 70 turnoff toward Sweetwa-
ter almost 13 miles north. The viewshed
boils down to the abstract of sky, land, and
turbines, and there are towers and mov-
ing propellers in all directions as you pass
through the Turkey Track and Horse Hollow

wind farms. Add the occasional metal-grid

transmission-line tower built to carry that

wind power to cities, and the setting is sur-

real enough that you might expect to see

Spock hitchhiking along the road.

The Roscoe to Fluvanna

Bank Shot Trail

From I-20 in Roscoe, take US 84 north-

west for 31 miles through Scurry County

toward Lubbock. The turbines punctuating

the farmland west and east of US 84 are

the Roscoe Wind Farm, one of the 10 big-

gest in the world. From Snyder, it’s 12 miles

up US 84 to the FM 612 turnoff. To the east

is Amazon Wind Farm Texas, the inter-

net giant’s 110-turbine project. Head west

up a quick 300-foot rise on to the Llano

Estacado. Several lines of towers border

the two-lane blacktop. That’s the 2-year-

old Fluvanna Wind Farm, which continues

after the right turn onto FM 1269 north,

before giving way to the Brazos Wind

Ranch and the Red Canyon Wind Energy

Project. The road makes a curvy, dramatic

drop off the Llano Estacado to reconnect

with US 84, 8 miles from Fluvanna.

The Big Spring to Robert Lee

Big Country End-Around Curve

Coming from the west on I-20, exit at Big

Spring, take US 87 south for 43 miles to

Sterling City, through one of the dens-

est stretches of wind farms in Texas. The

Big Spring, Ocotillo, Elbow Creek, Panther

Creek, and Forest Creek projects extend

to Sterling City, where Capricorn Ridge—

thought to be one of the 10 biggest in the

world with 407 turbines—and Goat Phase

wind farms are clustered on a windy ridge

top along State Highway 158 toward Rob-

ert Lee. Straight ahead: sweeping long-

distance views from several ridges lead to

a dramatic canyon.