Cycling Inside the Loop in Houston, Texas
route maps
These routes cover sights inside the entire inner loop and nearby. Memorial Day and Labor Day rides cover sights specific to those holidays. The remaining rides each cover a different area inside the loop.
Maps can be accessed and followed using a smart phone. Green lines show optional or alternative routes. Red lines indicate off-road sections. Pips or markers indicate points of interest. Pips can be opened by clicking on them. When opened, each pip includes a brief description of the sight. The text in the pips also appears in the sidebar on the left side of the map.
Primary Route Maps
Route Map...............mileage...Route Photo Album
Bayou to Bayou east 23-26 Bayou to Bayou east
Bayou to Bayou west 20 Bayou to Bayou west
Buffalo North 20 Buffalo North
Montrose and Red Dots 25 Montrose and Red Dots
Universities & colleges 24 Universities and Colleges
Willow Water Hole 24 Willow Waterhole
Hip Hip and Peacocks 25 Hip Hop and Peacocks
Metrorail Purple&Green line 16 Metrorail Purple&Green line
3rd Ward historic tour 14 3rd Ward Historic tour and
Additional route maps and photos
Cemeteries
site route maps and photo links are here, as well as some background information, for the following cemeteries:
Beth Israel Cemetery
College Park Memorial Cemetery
Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery
Glendale Cemetery
Glenwood and Washington Cemeteries
Hollywood Cemetery
Holy Cross Cemetery
Old City Cemetery
Earliest Europeans and Africans in Texas, from 1528, and Earliest European Settlement in Houston, 1632-1650 - 13 mile ride
In 1528, Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca, and Estevanico, a slave from his expedition, landed in Texas after a shipwreck in Florida and were enslaved by Texas indians. Trading for the indians, Cabeza De Vaca penetrated into the Texas interior and both later escaped on bare feet to reach the Mexican Pacific Ocean in a fascinating tale of survival.
From 1632 to 1650, French Huguenots, refugees from religious persecution in France, were settled by the English in Houston on the site of the Old City Cemetery near the intersection of Dart Street and Elder Street. Route map here. Read about it all here. Photos here .
The Texas Revolution and Earliest Houston - near downtown - 6 mile ride
Sites and sights associated with the Texas revolution and independence from Mexico, and earliest Houston, near downtown. Related sights and a bike route in East Houston can be seen here. Photos are here.
A historic district with historic sights marked on the map. Photos here. Included are two buildings in Sam Houston Park that came from this district. Also included are some downtown sites: historic Antioch Baptist Church, and former sites of Colored High School and Colored Carnegie Library , which all supported the historic 4th Ward community. Here is a fascinating background paper. The corporate attorney responsible for submitting the historical designation application altered the boundaries without the knowledge or consent of the Freedmenstown Association, omitting parts of the actual historic Freedmenstown area north of West Dallas, and the application was approved as submitted.
Sites in central Houston from just before, during and just after the Civil War in central Houston, photo album here
University of Houston main campus outdoor art tour
https://uhsystem.edu/public-art/color-field/
tour of quirky, historical, architectural, and other interesting sights, all in the Rice photo album and Houston Medical Center album
Historic Sights along Buffalo Bayou from Memorial Park to Lockwood, as told by Louis Aulbach, including the Camp Logan riot. Photos east of Sabine Street here . Photos west of Sabine street here .
Holiday routes
Labor Day map / Labor Day photos - a few day labor sites, several murals including labor themes, and lots of other stuff - 23 mile ride
Memorial Day map / Memorial Day photos - 17 miles/26 mile ride
Not a sightseeing ride, but a popular 32 mile road route inside the loop, with a regular group ride on Sunday mornings, Contact West End Bikes for schedule.
Bayou Bikers - typically about 20 mile ride
Meets at 8 a.m. the first Sunday of every month at Market Square Park and rides along the city's bayou trails. Rides are usually 20 miles or so. Mountain bikes or bikes with fat tires are recommended. A B-Cycle station at Market Square Park offers bikes for rental.
A concept ride visiting sites associated with the names of more than 30 countries, the solar system and the universe. Photos are here.
Space program and space theme related sights
These include
the original NASA headquarters in Houston, before the Johnson Space Flight Center was built, now with Russian and American astronaut sculptures in front
the locations where President Kennedy spoke about the space program, including the night before his assassination
memorials to the two space shuttle disasters