Luci Johnson to Lead Bike Tour of the LBJ Ranch

Luci Johnson stands with cyclists from the 2007 Bike Tour of the LBJ Ranch

News Release Date: February 15, 2008

Contact: Sherry Justus, [phone], ext. 245

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park announces the opportunity for a bicycle tour of the LBJ Ranch with Luci Baines Johnson, President Johnson’s younger daughter, as guide. The tour will be given on Saturday, March 8 (the rain date is Sunday, March 9) at 9:00 a.m. Reservations are required in advance and the last date for registration is Thursday, March, 6, 2008. The cost for this nine-mile tour is $15.00 for adults and $7.00 for children under the age of 12. Helmets are required for every bicycle rider.

The tours will begin at LBJ State Park and Historic Site, just off U.S. Highway 290, one mile east of Stonewall or 14 miles west of Johnson City. The tour route includes a scenic ride on the south side of the Pedernales River adjacent to the LBJ Ranch via Ranch Road 1 and then entry to the ranch on Park Road 49. Sights along the tour route include the Junction School, where LBJ received his first formal education in 1912 and whose restoration Ms. Johnson helped dedicate in 2004. Also included along the route are the Reconstructed Birthplace (the only presidential birthplace reconstructed by a sitting president), the Johnson Family Cemetery, where President and Mrs. Johnson are buried, President Johnson’s grandparents’ home, and the “Texas White House”. The tour continues to the airplane hangar, where several of the ranch’s vehicles are on display, and then through the working ranch lands up to the highest point on the ranch, where President Johnson had his Show Barn built in 1966 and where he often went at sunset to enjoy the view. The tour then winds through the LBJ Ranch along the Bailey Road, a good location to spot wildlife, and back down across the river to the state park.

Pre-Registration is required by February 29th and can be done on line at www.friendsoflbjnationalpark.org via Pay Pal. A t-shirt is included in the pre-registration price. Late registrations will be accepted through March 6, but t-shirts will not be provided after the pre-registration deadline. Space is limited and last year this event was sold out so please register early. This is a fund raising event and the proceeds will go to the Friends of LBJ National Historical Park in support of the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park and its mission.