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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This article appears in Best of Austin 2022 and Best of Austin 2022 (Insert).
