How far is Baytown from Houston, Galveston, the airports

Baytown is close to Houston on a map, but water, bridges, traffic and the ship channel shape every drive. Use the mileage as a baseline and the route as the real answer.

The fuller answer

Baytown is about thirty miles east of Houston on I-10, roughly 35 to 45 minutes to downtown outside rush hour, and closer to more things than the map suggests: Mont Belvieu is 10 minutes up 146, the nearest sand at Sylvan Beach is about 25 minutes, Galveston is 50 minutes to an hour, and both Houston airports are under an hour. Add twenty minutes at shift change and an hour if the Fred Hartman Bridge is closed for wind. The times below are drive times outside rush hour.

The list

• Downtown Houston — 30 miles, 35 to 45 minutes. I-10 west; exit 792 is Garth, 793 is Main and 146, 789 is Thompson.
• Hobby Airport — about 35 to 55 minutes depending on the Beltway.
• Bush Intercontinental (IAH) — about 40 to 45 minutes, up the Beltway or 90.
• Galveston — about 50 minutes to an hour: 146 south over the Fred Hartman Bridge, then I-45. The beach day.
• Kemah Boardwalk — about 35 minutes down 146. The other beach day, without the sand.
• NASA / Space Center Houston — about 40 minutes; Clear Lake is on the way to Kemah.
• Sylvan Beach, La Porte — 25 minutes over the bridge; the nearest sand.
• The San Jacinto Monument — 20 minutes with the ferry wait, at One Monument Circle in La Porte. The crossing itself takes under three minutes by the county historical commission's count, plus a few minutes to load, and seven to ten in wind and traffic by the Chronicle's. If you would rather skip the water, it is 146 to 225 to 134.
• Mont Belvieu — 10 minutes up 146, where Mont Belvieu City Hall is at 1 Town Center Boulevard. Highlands — 15. Crosby — 25, where Crosby Library is at 135 Hare Road.
• Anahuac and the wildlife refuge — 35 minutes east on I-10 for the alligators.
• Beaumont and Port Arthur — an hour and a quarter east; the crews know the road.
• Lake Houston — 30 minutes north through Crosby for the boat.
• Austin — three hours. San Antonio, three and a half. Dallas, four and a half. The rest of Texas is a decision.

The two things that change every number

Shift change at the plants, early morning and late afternoon, puts everyone on 146 and Garth at once; the side streets and the U-turns are the workaround. And the bridge: the Fred Hartman is an eight-lane cable-stayed span that opened in 1995, and high wind can close it. When it does, the choices south are the Lynchburg Ferry, which does not run all night, or the long way around through Houston, which means a line either way. Check the Living Here page before a Galveston run in a norther.

The ferry, in practice

The Lynchburg Ferry is free, run by Harris County, and has crossed the ship channel since Nathaniel Lynch started it in 1822. The north landing is at 1001 South Independence Parkway North next to Burnet Park. It runs weekdays from about 4:30 in the morning to 8 at night and on weekends from about 11 in the morning to 6:30, and it closes on major holidays, so a Sunday-morning plan built around it needs a later start. Walk-ons and bicycles are fine, and the wait is part of the trip: tankers go by. Fog or a passing ship can hold it, so look at the county's ferry page before you drive out. The Lynchburg Ferry page on this site has the rest, and the ferry guide has the history.

Transit

Harris County Transit runs a park-and-ride at the northern corner of Garth and Independence. The route is East Corridor 236 to the Houston central business district, operated by METRO under contract to the county, and it links to the METRO park-and-ride at Maxey Road and I-10. Fares and the timetable are on the county transit site. Rideshare works from the hotel row and downtown and thins out after ten, and the getting-around page has the rest. It's a car town; plan accordingly.

Before you go

Leave a Galveston run for the middle of the day and add twenty minutes at shift change, since 146 and Garth fill at the same hours as the plant gates. Check whether the Fred Hartman is open in high wind, and look at the ferry's hours before you count on it. If you plan to take the free Galveston-to-Bolivar ferry, expect about an 18-minute crossing and, in peak season, waits that TxDOT says can top two hours; TxDOT points drivers to the Houston TranStar site for the live wait.

Questions people ask

• Is Baytown a suburb of Houston? Geographically, an exurb; culturally, its own town with its own economy.
• Can I commute to downtown Houston? Forty-five minutes on a good day, an hour and a quarter on a bad one; the park-and-ride exists.
• Which airport? Hobby for Southwest, IAH for everything else; the times are close enough to pick by fare.

The one distance that matters most isn't on the list: the ferry landing is ten minutes from anywhere in town, and the far side of it's where Texas began. Start there before you drive anywhere else.

En español

¿Qué tan lejos está Baytown? Houston, 35 a 45 minutos por la I-10; el aeropuerto Hobby, 35 a 55; Bush (IAH), 40 a 45; Galveston, de 50 minutos a una hora por la 146 y el puente; Kemah, 35; NASA, 40; Sylvan Beach en La Porte (la playa más cercana), 25; Mont Belvieu, 10; el monumento de San Jacinto, 20 con la espera del ferry. Sume veinte minutos en el cambio de turno y una hora si el puente Fred Hartman está cerrado por viento. El ferry de Lynchburg es gratis pero no funciona toda la noche. Hay un park-and-ride en Garth e Independence hacia el centro de Houston. Es una ciudad de carro.