Houston to Amarillo road trip: Distance, drive time & best stops

The best road trip stops on the Houston to Amarillo drive are Huntsville TX, Fort Worth and Wichita Falls. The distance from Houston to Amarillo is 600 miles, with an 8h52m driving time.

Planning a Houston to Amarillo road trip itinerary

The Houston to Amarillo drive takes you from the biggest city in Texas to Route 66.

The top Houston attraction is unquestionably the NASA Space Center, which takes you behind the scenes of the Johnson Space Center. This includes the Mission Briefing Center, and a vast array of high tech exhibitions.

Other attractions include the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Children’s Museum,

For more Houston experiences, try hip hop party bike tours, foodie walks in the Montrose neighbourhood and quirky tours of Houston’s tunnel system.

Top Houston accommodation options include the superb value Club Quarters Houston Downtown and the upscale but boutique Magnolia.

Amarillo is a classic stop on Route 66. Highlights include Cadillac Ranch, an art installation featuring 10 brightly-painted Cadillacs buried nose-first in the ground. You’ll also find the Texas Air and Space Museum here, and the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame. For the great outdoors, Palo Duro Canyon State Park is just to the south-east of the city.

Interesting Amarillo activities include Route 66 walking tours and scavenger hunts.

Houston to Amarillo distance and driving time

By car, the distance from Houston to Amarillo is 600 miles. That makes for a driving time of around eight hours and 52 minutes. The quickest route is along the I-45 and US-287.

The best stops to add to a Houston to Amarillo road trip itinerary are Huntsville TX, Fort Worth and Wichita Falls.

Best stops between Houston and Amarillo: Huntsville, TX

On the edge of both the Sam Houston National Forest and Huntsville State Park, Huntsville also has a couple of cultural attractions worth considering.

This is where Sam Houston, first president of the Republic of Texas, died. The Sam Houston Memorial Museum on the family homestead tells his story and, with it, that of Texas.

The other key attraction in Huntsville is the Texas Prison Museum, which looks at prison life and the criminal justice system.

Houston to Amarillo road trip attractions: Fort Worth

Fort Worth fully embraces its status as a cow town, with the Stockyards district full of cowboy heritage. And cowgirl heritage, as the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame shows off.

It’s also a place that knows how to have a shamelessly good time, with Billy Bob’s Texas Honky Tonk famously big on the yee-has and line dancing.

Other good Fort Worth experiences include a Stockyards food tour, electric bike BBQ tours, historic pub crawls and ghost tours.

Houston to Amarillo drive: Wichita Falls

The ‘falls’ in Wichita Falls is a man-made waterfall in Lucy Park. Artificial or not, it still looks pretty cool. But there’s more to see in this North Texas city.

If you want serious, there’s the Museum of North Texas History. If you want fun, there’s the Castaway Cove Water Park. And, for a touch of nature, plump for the River Bend Nature Center.

Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo TX. Photo by BrittanyU/ Pixabay.

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Houston to Amarillo road trip: Distance, drive time & best stops

Planning a Houston to Amarillo road trip itinerary

Houston to Amarillo distance and driving time

Best stops between Houston and Amarillo: Huntsville, TX

Houston to Amarillo road trip attractions: Fort Worth

Houston to Amarillo drive: Wichita Falls

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