Day Trips: Texas Ferry Rides
Texas ferries are the best free rides in the state
By Gerald E. McLeod, Fri., May 20, 2022
The best free rides in Texas are the state's three ferries: the Lynchburg Ferry, Port Aransas Ferry, and Galveston-Bolivar Ferry.
The Lynchburg Ferry is the oldest of the free ferries operating in Texas. Going back to pre-Republic of Texas, it was started in 1822 just below the confluence of the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou, now the Houston Ship Channel. The five-minute ride connects Independence Parkway a mile south of I-10 to the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site.
Operated by Harris County from 1888 to 2020, the two-boat system is now operated by the Harris County Toll Road Authority. Most traffic has shifted downstream to the Fred Hartman Bridge. The ferry runs Monday through Friday from 4:30am to 8pm, and Saturday through Sunday from 11am to 6:30pm.
The Port Aransas Ferry crossing the Corpus Christi Ship Channel began in 1911 at the end of a flatbed railcar system that brought vehicles from Aransas Pass to the landing where the six-car "Mitzi" waited. A toll road eventually replaced the train, and in 1968 the state highway department took over operation and abolished the tolls.
The Port Aransas Ferry runs 24 hours, seven days a week. The Texas Department of Transportation operates six boats that carry up to 20 cars on the quarter-mile, 10-minute ride.
The Galveston-Bolivar Ferry began in 1930 taking cars across the bay, from the city to the Bolivar Peninsula. During the 18-minute, 2.7-mile mini-cruise, passengers watch oceangoing vessels entering Galveston Harbor. Along the way are the scuttled remains of the SS Selma, a World War I tanker made of reinforced concrete when steel was in short supply.
TxDOT operates the free ferry system 24 hours every day, weather permitting.
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