Texas White House, Texas, United States

5TouringTwoTimers 5:00 PM Oct 5, 2015

Rising From His Roots
After spending a day at the Lyndon Johnson Library, we decided to take the hour drive, the following day, to Johnson City to tour his ranch and the Texas White House. We stopped at the National Park building in Johnson City first, where it was suggested that we proceed to the ranch 14 miles to the West. The ranch, like the man, himself, is big, bold and "in your face" with acres of pasture land, Johnson's stable of cars, his private plane and the large ranch house. As we drove through the ranch on our tour we were able to see where Johnson's roots began -- stopping at his birthplace, his grandparents' home and the school thathe attended at age 4. We were fortunate to have only one other couple with us on our tour of the Texas White House. The Ranger, giving the tour, was well-versed, not only on each of the rooms but on the Johnsons, themselves, sharing interesting anecdotes on their lives and activities while occupying the house. We drove back to the National Park building in Johnson City and had an informative tour of Johnson's boyhood home after which we took a walking tour of the "Johnson Settlement" shere we learned of Johnson's ancestors and their early life in the Hill Country. We left Johnson City with admiration for this man who came from a dirt-poor background and became our 36th President. Touring the ranch is free. There is a small ($3.00 per person) fee to tour the Texas White House.

5SLRNewOrleans 5:00 PM Jul 4, 2014

Worth the Visit
The ranch is located near Stonewall, TX , which is between Austin and Fredricksburg, and is worth the short trip from either city. In order to tour the ranch, you must first stop at the LBJ State Park and Historic Site Visitor Center on US Highway 290 to obtain a driving pass (free). At the visitor center there are exhibits, a dogtrot cabin, and a nice gift shop. The staff is friendly and helpful. Make sure you receive a map along with your driving pass. When you leave the visitor center, there is a driveway to the back of the parking lot. Take that one and it is a short drive to the road that leads to the ranch. Turn right onto the road and if you look to the right, there are fields with whitetail deer, bison, and longhorn cattle. It does take a few minutes to reach the road that enters the ranch. You will turn left, cross a small bridge, and immediately turn left to enter the grounds (there are signs). You must drive the grounds' tour to reach the house, so leave enough time to do this. It takes about 20 - 30 minutes from the visitor center to the ranch house with no stops. There are several places to stop along the way (when you first enter the grounds), but these can be visited before or after the tour of the house. They include LBJ's boyhood home and the family cemetery where the President and his wife are buried. Take the tour of the house. It is only $3.00 per adult; children 17 and younger are free. The tours start at 10:00, and the last one is at 4:30. While you are waiting, there are exhibits, a collection of LBJ's cars, the plane he used, and a gift shop. The tour was very interesting and the young ranger (David, I think) was entertaining and knowledgeable. He encouraged us to ask questions about anything in the house or anything we wanted to know about LBJ and Ladybird. He answered every question and gave great insight into lives of the President and his family. We all enjoyed it.