Whenever we’ve asked for readers’ favorites for wildflower roads, the 13-mile Willow City Loop never fails to make the favorites list, and for good reason. It’s a unique combination of small, rural back road with incredible scenery, and few cross roads or intersections. For riders out there who’ve not yet made this trip, and even those who have, this year’s wildflower show should be spectacular.
A little WCL advice…
- Avoid the loop on weekends. If you have a job, this may be impossible, but during prime time of weekend days, the traffic is literally stop and go, mostly stopped though, like IH 35 in Dallas at 5pm on Monday. Early morns or any weekday you’ll have a much better ride.
- Don’t pull over onto any private property and park. Someone will come out in a pickup truck to ask you kindly, but firmly to keep moving. You can make an argument about “right of way” all day. The residents there are well fed-up with wildflower gawkers, so cut them some slack.
- Do the speed limit. This is a not-quite-two-lane, hilly, twisty road, with poor surface quality in some spots, and plenty of low water crossings. People drop their bikes on these low water crossings all the time, so please pay heed to this warning.
- Watch out for Bambi and Elsie. There’s a lot of wildlife, as well as free range cattle all along the loop. The nearest hospital is a long way so don’t go down here.
