Texas Wheeling

Location - West of Austin, about 45 minutes into Hill Country. The Slabs is about 1 mile from Kingsland, 15 from Marble Falls and about an hour west northwest of Austin. River bottom with lots of sand and big granite formations. Lots of hard lines but you can also drive around anything.

Rating - A Rating of 8 is given, which stands for 'Heavy rock and/or severe ruts. Rocks exceeding hub height frequent. Shelves to 12". Deep mud or uphill mud sections. Steep grades to 25 degrees and can be loose or rocky. Water crossings may exceed 30" in depth. Side hill to 30 degrees. One vehicle wide. Body damage possible. Experience needed. Vehicle Modifications helpful.' - 4x4trails.net

What others have said - "The Slabs is legal if you follow the rules. I think it is something weird like two feet elevation above top waterline on the banks begins private property. Also any purple posts designate private property. Don't joke around with it because the landowners are also gun owners there. The sheriff is a joke. He'll come out and scare the crap out of you but if you can read between the lines while he is lording it over you and being important you can see that he or anyone else cannot do a damn thing if you stay in the riverbed and follow the law. There is phenomenal 'mini-Moab' rock slabs interspersed all over the place. Pick your lines and choose anything from easy to impossible.
The problem with the Slabs is the the fun rocks/stuff IS rising out of the riverbeds in the legal areas. To run the Slabs involves a multitude of river crossings and any week is different from the week before because of rain runoff and shifting of the sand around all the slab formations. Hydro locks are common. Unless it is is very dry with low river flow, do not attempt it without a lot of lift and/or snorkel setup.
My last two trips witnessed hydro locked vehicles in mid river with water up to their hoods. Once stopped, the sand (white fine beach sand) engulfs the vehicle. The last stuck required two huge 4x4 pickups with 40-something inch Swampers strapped in line to a third winch-equipped Explorer pulling the front pickups, and it still took the better part of an hour to pull the stuck out of the riverbed. It was quite a sight seeing huge swampers simply dig in and also bury themselves trying to strap out the stuck.
The Slabs offers the best rockcrawling I've seen in Texas and is smack-dab in the middle of one of the prettiest areas in the whole state. On one camping trip the Monarch butterflies were migrating and all of the mesquite trees growing out of the riverbed by our campsite were covered in millions of butterflies. Go when it's dry and you'll have the time of your life, but I'll never try there again unless there's been a long dry spell beforehand and the water level is passable." - GJarrett

"The slabs aren't a good idea from what I have heard. If you are in the waterway, you aren't on private property, but it is a city easement or something like that, and they still get you." - YellowCJ

"DON'T GOT TO THE SLAB NEAR KINGSLAND!!! ever since 4Wheel parts wholesale put their article out about it the cops have been giving out trespassing tickets left and right to the tune of $500.00 per person. Unless you know the people that own the land on the banks the sheriff will get you. Even then he'll still give you a hard time." - TheLakeRat

The Slab is located north of Kingsland, TX on 1431. Head West a little over a mile on RM3404. Once you get to the Slab you can see where to pull onto the river bottom. If you go left down the river it's all sand and water. The good stuff (rock crawling) is up river to the right. Lots of sand and water crossings (12" +), 4x4 required!!

The Slab is so far my favorite off-roading place in Texas, I go almost every if not every other weekend and have never been fined. The banks are clearly marked with what is trespassing and what inst . A stock jeep (tj) with some reasonable tires can make it all the way. Great for
camping, fishing, swimming, and wheeling - JWATSON

If you want to see some of the most beautiful Texas Hill there is, and have a little off road fun while doing it, the the slabs is the place to be. I am from Houston and I travelt to the Texas Hill country every chance I get, and I always wind up at the slabs. I have never been ticketed or harassed by he local law enforcement but I do understand that the dodge boys (TPWD) are putting an end to the fun come january, don't know any of the specifics on this rumor and quite frankly would love to hear about them. Be prepared though, good spare, jack, tire plugs, water, food, and plenty of extra beer, (and if you were there 4th of July this year) you know that "some of us" need to carry extra radiators... Hey, who would have thought it! Anyways, great place to spend the weekend even if your rig overheats, and the radiator blows up. I have seen stock trucks to extremely modified crawlers out there, I have seen 2wd trucks (With the tires almost flat) make it to Eagle Rock. Great people as well, IF you need some help someone will offer it, I promise. The local folk are first in line to help you out of a jam. But be prepared for some jokes if you drive a Chevy and someone in a Ford or Jeep pulls you back out to the highway... I learned that one the hard way too. Seriously though, if anyone has more info on the 'Closing' of the Slabs, Please email me at showard@whirlwindsteel.com. Thanks - Z71NTX

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