Baytown to Katy, Cypress, Sugar Land, The Woodlands, Galveston: the cross-town drives

Baytown looks close to everything on a Houston map until traffic chooses the route for you. The practical decision is usually whether to pay for a toll road, cross the city on I-10 or go south over the bridge.

Use this guide well

- Check the route at the actual hour you plan to leave. - Keep an EZ TAG ready if the fastest route uses toll roads. - Use the Grand Parkway when going around Houston makes more sense than through it. - Add margin for shift traffic near Highway 146. - Do not treat weekend beach traffic like weekday commuting. - For airports, build in terminal and parking time beyond the drive. - The ferry is useful for San Jacinto, but it is not a universal bridge substitute. - On the return, the Fred Hartman Bridge at dusk is part of the trip.

The fuller guide

For the plant family with relatives on the other side of Houston, the job interview in Katy, the game in The Woodlands or the beach day. Times are outside rush hour and approximate. Add thirty to sixty minutes for the Loop at five.

West and north — through or around the city

- Katy — about an hour: I-10 straight west through downtown. Fifty miles of the same highway; at rush hour, ninety minutes and the Katy Freeway earns its reputation. - Cypress — about an hour: I-10 to the Beltway or 610, then 290 north-west. The Beltway route dodges downtown. - Sugar Land — about an hour: I-10, then the Beltway south to 59/69, or 610 to 59. Bring a toll tag. - The Woodlands — about an hour: the Beltway or 610 north to 45, or the Grand Parkway, which avoids the city entirely and is the plant families' route. Take I-10 east to Mont Belvieu, go north on SH 99 to US 59 at New Caney, and stay on SH 99 west to I-45. - Humble, Kingwood, IAH — 40 to 45 minutes: the Beltway north for Humble and the airport, the Grand Parkway to US 59 for Kingwood. - Downtown Houston — 35 to 45 minutes: I-10 west.

South — over the bridge

- Pasadena, Deer Park, La Porte — 15 to 25 minutes over the Fred Hartman Bridge on Highway 146; the union halls, the other plants, Sylvan Beach. The bridge is free and has no toll booth, so it is the cheap way south. - Clear Lake, League City, Kemah — 30 to 40 minutes: 146 south. The easy side. - Pearland — 45 minutes: 146 south, then 225 or the Beltway. - Hobby Airport — 40 to 50 minutes: 146 to 225 to the Loop, or the Beltway. - Galveston — about an hour: 146 south all the way to the causeway, or 146 to 45 at League City. The beach, the Strand and the region's B&Bs.

The Grand Parkway is the way around the city from Baytown to anything north or west, and it's the route nobody from Houston thinks to tell you.

East — the other direction

- Anahuac — 25 to 40 minutes: I-10 east to 61 or 563. The Chambers County seat, and just beyond it the Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge, which used to be called Anahuac. Admission is free, the gates keep daylight hours, and the Shoveler Pond loop is 2.64 miles. Alligators are out year-round and the best times are early and around sunset. - Winnie and Bolivar — Winnie is 40 minutes on I-10; Bolivar is another 40 down 124 to the beach, or the Galveston ferry from the other end. - Beaumont — an hour and a quarter on I-10 east; the other refinery town.

For the smaller towns on this side of the county, see worth the drive.

The tools

A toll tag — EZ TAG from HCTRA, the county's toll-road authority — is the simplest way through the Beltway and the Grand Parkway. Harris County's roads are cashless, and the Grand Parkway takes EZ TAG, TxTag and TollTag alike. Pay-by-mail exists on the segments TxDOT runs, though not at every plaza, so get the tag if you drive west or north more than once. The Grand Parkway is the way around the city from Baytown to anything north or west, and it's the route nobody from Houston thinks to tell you.

The Fred Hartman Bridge is free, and so is the Lynchburg Ferry, a crossing older than the state, now run by HCTRA, the same authority that sells the toll tag. The Lynchburg Ferry runs weekdays from 4:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and weekends from 11 to 6:30, from a north landing at 1001 S Independence Parkway N, and it is the way to San Jacinto Monument at One Monument Circle if you would rather cross by water than drive around. Shift change on 146 adds twenty minutes to any of these at the Baytown end, and a turnaround week adds it twice a day.

Questions people ask

How far is Baytown from Katy? About fifty miles, an hour, I-10 the whole way. Ninety at rush hour. Baytown to The Woodlands? About an hour by the Grand Parkway, which avoids the city. Baytown to Sugar Land? About an hour, Beltway south with a toll tag. Baytown to Galveston? About an hour down 146. Baytown to Hobby Airport? 40 to 50 minutes. To IAH, 40 to 45.

If you're going west on a Saturday, leave at seven, take the Grand Parkway when it applies, and stop at Buc-ee's, 4080 East Freeway, on the way out rather than the way back, when the line is the whole county. Coming home, the bridge at dusk is the reward for the drive.

Before you go

- Add thirty to sixty minutes for the Beltway and I-10 between 4 and 7 p.m., and the same for the morning on the way into Houston. - Get an EZ TAG before a trip on the Beltway or the Grand Parkway, because these roads are cashless. - The ferry does not run at night and starts at 11 a.m. on weekends, so it is not a reliable backup for an early trip. - Highway 146 slows at shift change and in turnaround weeks, so leave earlier if the drive ends at a plant gate. - Bring water and a hat for the refuge, and keep your distance from the alligators.

En español

Los trayectos de Baytown al otro lado de Houston: Katy, una hora por la I-10 (hora y media en hora pico); Cypress, una hora por el Beltway y la 290; Sugar Land, una hora por el Beltway sur (con tag de peaje); The Woodlands, una hora por el Grand Parkway, que rodea la ciudad; Pearland, 45 minutos; Clear Lake y Kemah, 30 a 40; Pasadena, Deer Park y La Porte, 15 a 25 por el puente; Galveston, una hora por la 146; Anahuac, 25 a 40 al este; Beaumont, hora y cuarto. El tag EZ TAG de HCTRA es lo más sencillo para las autopistas de peaje. El puente Fred Hartman y el ferry de Lynchburg son gratis.