Great Road Trips: Twisted Sisters

Great Road Trips: Twisted Sisters

by Michael Satterfield - 08/30/2021

In the second installment of our great road trip series powered by Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Premium Gasoline, we take on the legendary Twisted Sisters in Central Texas. These remote country roads in the Texas Hill Country have been a draw for automotive and motorcycle enthusiasts for decades and are unlike any other place in the Lone Star State. For this amazing road trip, I have borrowed a McLaren720S Spider from McLaren Dallas, a 710-horsepower supercar that will make use of all the performance Shell V-Power NiTRO+ has to offer. 

Great Road Trips: Twisted Sisters

Our trip starts in Fredericksburg, a once small town that has become the hub of Texas wine country drawing thousands of tourists from around the world. While there are countless great wineries to choose from in Fredericksburg, no true car enthusiast would miss the opportunity to visit the Wine Garage. Founded by car collector Gail McCulloch, Wine Garage is a tribute to American car culture and Texas wines. Each variety of wine is named after one of the cars in Gail’s collection and their dryness is rated via a stick shift logo on the back. 

Great Road Trips: Twisted Sisters

The wines are great, but the cars are the real stars, and the eclectic collection features everything from a 1969 Shelby GT500 to a 1975 Cadillac Convertible with long horns on the hood. In addition to all the cars, the garage features collectibles from racers, vintage gas stations, and vintage tools. Each tasting at the Wine Garage consists of a curated collection of five Texas wines, you get to keep your souvenir glass and tour the best car collection around. Each tasting is $15. I took my wine for the road since, I had to drive down to Leakey, the hometown of the Twisted Sisters.

Leakey has a population of just over 400 people and in addition to the bikers and car enthusiasts that come to enjoy the roads, the town attracts thousands of visitors each year to enjoy the Frio River. The town comes to life on the weekends, but if you really want to enjoy the drive, do what I did and come in the middle of the week. Avoiding the weekend crowds does come with its challenges as many of the restaurants and other shops in town are only open on the weekends. My cameraman and I found ourselves buying microwave dinners as there weren’t any restaurants in town that were open on a Wednesday after 6pm.

Great Road Trips: Twisted Sisters

The town has one hotel, the HistoricLeakey Inn which is an eclectic collection of cabins that has been in the community since the 1920s. According to the owner, we were the first people with a McLaren to ever check into the hotel, but after a good night’s sleep we got up bright and early to take on the three roads that make up the Twisted Sisters. On a trip like this, I use Shell V-Power NiTRO+ because I believe in its performance benefits and that it helps me get the most out of my road trip and car.

Ranch Road 337, 335, and 336 make up the route with a short transit section on Highway 41. The entire loop is around 100 miles, so be sure to fill up with Shell before you hit the road and grab some water and snacks while you are at the station, because there is nowhere to stop along the way. But the long drive to this remote part of Texas is worth it once you experience the first few turns. The road follows the canyons and hills through a series of tight twisty turns. Coming around a corner at the top of a hill and the views are incredible but stay focused on the road as it is one of the most technical drives you’ll find in Texas. 

Great Road Trips: Twisted Sisters

With the top down, the McLaren’s exhaust note echoing off the canyon walls, and a perfect cool Hill Country morning, it is hard to imagine a better way to spend a Thursday morning. But eventually, I make the last turn back towards Leakey, Ranch Road 337 brings you by the Bent Rim Grill, one of the most popular stops for bikers and according to the locals the best burger in town. I end my time in Leakey visiting with a local car collector who keeps some of his vehicles in a building in downtown Leakey across from the church where you can play bingo. It seems no matter where I go, I find car people, he shows me the collection of classic American and Japanese cars and I take him for a ride in the McLaren. One of the best things about road trips is the places you discover and the people you meet.

Be sure to watch the video from my trip to Leakey below:

YouTube Video Twisted Sisters, Texas