2024 Eclipse - Texas
 

Thinking of travelling to Dallas for the 2024 eclipse but would want to get to Hillsboro for better viewing (max. eclipse, totality).

Won't be driving so was wondering whether there will likely be day tours by reliable local companies to such spots? Or local astronomy groups that will do tours/transport for visitors? Not looking for a multi-day tour of the state. Flying in from overseas only for the eclipse.

Know these things can get booked quickly so would like to get things sorted soonest.

Any help/assist appreciated. Thanks.

I haven't heard of any special tours because of the eclipse, but it is still early so they might not be set up yet.

Hillsboro is close to the I-35 split, where it branches into I-35E and I-35W from the south as you approach Dallas and Fort Worth. I've stopped there a few times while driving; there's a Starbucks with easy access to I-35 north, and Hampton Inn. There are several Kolache shops in the area (central Texas is known for them). There is also an outlet mall, but I don't remember what shops are there.
Otherwise, I can't imagine spending any significant amount of time there.

There will be decent views of the eclipse from Waco, which does have Baylor University, the Wooly Mammoth National Monument, and if you're into Chip and Joanna (of HGTV fame) the Magnolia Market. Our local PBS station has a program called, "Texas Daytripper," which dedicated a full episode to Waco.

I would highly advise getting a rental car for any exploring in this area. You might be able to survive with a bus / coach, or even Amtrak, and using rideshare, but your own vehicle would give you much more flexibility.

Thanks for the info. There won't be any sightseeing. We'll be flying into DFW and just want to be there for the eclipse (except a day or two in Dallas to allow for flight delays). Self drive isn't a possibility unfortunately.

Perhaps Ennis is a better option, and it's closer to Dallas. Maybe a taxi?

if you are not driving there are better places too fly to and see it….

indy
Cleveland
buffalo
rochester

all those citues are close to peak line.

Thought that further south there might be less likelihood of cloud cover. We're flying 8,000+ miles for it so wanting to maximise totality and minimise cloud.

(Mexico is another logistics issue.)

At that time of year texas can get thunderstorms and thry can be severe.

on any given it’s about equal chances. You need to be flexible the few days before it so you can shift yo get to see it once you have better weather forecast asts

I'm quite biased, but out of this list, I'd definitely recommend Cleveland. There is a decent transit system, that connects the airport to the city, so there's no need to rent a car. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is there, and easily walkable from downtown. There's some great restaurants and bars in The Flats (since it won't be winter). And my brother lives there, so there's that for me ;)

I'm not quite sure about the other cities, but I've personally found that I can find places to explore and have fun almost anywhere. Even Boise, Idaho surprised me (an awesome memorial to Anne Frank).

As to cloud cover....yes, that could happen almost anywhere. We can get major storms in Texas almost anytime year-round, but especially late summer. The DFW area (and I'll include Hillsboro in that) seems to get them more severe. The storms travel along the I-10 and I-20 corridors, the latter leads them straight into the DFW area. At least in Austin, we have the Hill Country to the west, which sometimes breaks up storms a bit.

my hometown is buffalo. Two friends of mine live very close to the maximal line. One is in suburban buffalo and the other lives between buffalo and Rochester in one of the small towns.

2017 I was at grand Teton. Thr location I was at had a small group of about 25-30 peop,e. A couple people had their telescopes.
this time I’m going to have multiple flights booked between different locations depending on the closer weather forecast.

there is an annular one on Oct 14 this year that goes from central oregon to Corpus Christi thrn down into Brazil.

i have relative in Dallas and metro Houston I can meet up with to view it besides heading to buffalo.

i expect most schools to be closed. 2017 totality covered nashville so my nephews were out of school.

I have friends in Dallas, so that's my plan A for the eclipse. Totality in Dallas is around 1:42 pm. That should put it ahead of springtime pop-up late-afternoon thunderstorms. But of course, you're right, weather is not guaranteed, so I'll look to a plan B & C as well. Probably cancelable award tickets on different airlines to different cities...

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...069d6823cc.png
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...15eb2d96d7.jpg
The various colors indicate the average cloud coverage at 2 p.m. Eastern time between April 3 and 13 based on ERA-Interim data from 1979 to 2016 collected by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF).


YMMV of course... sigh.

Flights/hotels at such a peak time don't always offer the flexibility we might need.

Different approach - does anyone know a very reliable, professional car service (car/driver) that can 'ferry' us around the Dallas area for the day? Perhaps we can find a good spot (from Hillsboro up to Sulphur Springs) along the line, but would need car/driver. There may be coach tours, but nothing showing yet, although some RV places along the line are already booked.

I live in the Dallas area and I’m going to the Mexican desert 😊. Take a look at Astrotrails - an English company that specialises in eclipses. I did Anarctica Dec 2021 with them and am doing Australia this April with them as well as 2024.

im sure dallas metro area will have some buses to see the eclipse.

im certain there will be special aircraft flying through the eclipse when it occurs.

Dallas would be a place who could generate some flights to NE cities thst di the eclipse.

a few years ago there was one over the open pacific and alaska airlines did a flight to hit the eclipse and the pilot flew through the shadow for an extended time in the eclipse shadow

I would look into other cities with viable transit options, as others have suggested. Texas is so individualistic than I doubt any bus tours will be offered. It will be assumed that anyone who cares enough to get to the path of totality will do so on their own.

The University of Texas *might* offer some sort of programming, but it would be out of Austin. Their astronomy presence is mainly at Fort Davis observatory, which is 8 hours away in West Texas, and not in the path of totality.

I just booked an award ticket DAL-SFO departing April 8th evening. Still deciding whether to arrive Sat, Sun, or Mon morning. Arriving on the weekend have the advantage of being able to move around to catch the best weather, big downside having to pay for hotel, prices are already through the roof. :td:

Our local NBC station posted a story about the eclipse yesterday. I like the map at the bottom with dots of where you'll get the full effect:
https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/how-...last-in-texas/

You can also put in a city name in this link, and you'll find out how long it will last in different locations:
https://eclipse2024.org/eclipse_cities/total/tx

Note that in cities like Waco, that will get 4+ minutes of total eclipse, hotels and other places to stay (such as Airbnb) have extreme rates, if they even have availability. A Hampton Inn-type property is going for $2-3000/night.
If you want to experience the eclipse, but don't mind missing ~30 seconds, my suggestion would be to book something in Georgetown. The last I checked, rates were still mostly normal.

Perhaps we can convince wakesetter93 to take his boat out on one of the lakes during the totality :)

recently cnn had a story talking about hotel bookings along thr route.

because the total eclipse in the afternoon instead of early morning folks who want to see it could stay some where outside the totality zone and turn drive and enter it. For e ample a place like Memphis you can drive 55 north or 40 west to get into it or other routes in between.

thr other questions….what airlines intentionally schedules flights. You can fly out of Dallas on American or southwest to CLEVRLAND or Buffalo is fly inside totality.

I booked a hotel in the Addison area. Hotels east of the Metroplex are pricey, but in the city, there are still plenty of affordable options. We can decide later whether to watch near the hotel (3.5 minutes), or whether to try to drive east for an extra 30 seconds.

is it crazy to buy tickets to DFW now?

we have family in Arlington so don't need a hotel. right now roundtrip flights from PDX are about $450, leaving at 4:30 pm on 4/8. that doesn't seem terrible.

I might hold a rental car but doubt we'll need one.

My thought is to have family drop us off at DFW at about 7 am if not earlier. hopefully they can avoid traffic that way. And just watch from the DFW parking lots on the second floor. After the eclipse we can just hang out in the AC til our flight (or have lunch).

When we did the 2017 eclipse we could drive to it (about 1 hour, lucky us). The traffic before was medium bad. The traffic after was horrible. If you got on the road almost exactly as the eclipse ended you were ok, otherwise people spent 2-4 hours for what was normally a one hour drive.

Any other thoughts or tips?

No eclipse experience myself, but I'd assume the worst traffic happens when a major city is outside the totality band, but within ~100 miles or so of totality. That puts a ton of people on the road. That's what Oregon had in 2017.

This one, with the whole Metroplex getting 2+ minutes of totality, I'd expect most folks will just watch from their own part of town. (Assuming uniform weather in the area). Some diehards will journey east or south of town towards the max areas, so traffic from those spots back to the city will be heavy. I-20, I-35, I-45, US-80, US-175. But I wouldn't expect the traffic to be too bad for the interior of the metro, say, west of 635 north of 20.

Post-eclipse flights may be full, so allow extra time for security, etc.

The problem with eclipse chasing is clouds. It could be that Dallas in April 2024 is slightly cloudy and if you drive just 30 minutes south you will be able to see the sun. Sounds like you are coming from far away specially to see this eclipse, which I totally respect!. If I were coming from far away and did not know how to drive, for a place like Dallas, I would either learn to drive and get a driver license before coming to Texas, or I would hire a car and driver for the day.

I live in central Ohio, one of the most overcast places in the US. I have a flight to AUS and a hotel but no flight home yet and rental cars are $270 for 2 days. I'm hoping the forcast for Cleveland is clear so I can stay close to home.

I have witnessed two total eclipses of the sun. Perhaps these articles that I wrote for my blog might help to give some ideas on preparing to see a total eclipse of the sun:

• Everything You Do Not Want to Know About Trying to View a Total Solar Eclipse
• Photographs of the Total Eclipse of the Sun
• Chasing Another Total Solar Eclipse 2019
• The Total Eclipse of the Sun Chile July 2019: A Poor Video of a Great Celestial Event

I’ve done multiple eclipses…..

I went to grand Teton for 2017. I’ve done the park many times so I was there just to see it and knew where I would go.

I got in their the day before, did a night there, then fro e to SLC hotel for a flight home the next day.

the day before I got to Teton from sun valley, ID. Driving east from idaho falls I saw a bunch of people set up random camping spots Ive drive this route before. I stayed at the motel 6 just south of jackson core.

I left my hotel before sunrise. The traffic was a crawl out of jackson up to gros venture eherr it let up some. Police were controlling traffic. The place I wanted to go the ranger was about to not let me in there but I could go. Some peop,e were st schwahbacker landing for first sunlight and left. When I got there there was about 30 of us who were there to view the eclipse. A few had telescopes.

Shortly after the total eclipse ended, I headed out needingbto drive to SLC.

the main toad out was a crawl going the route of jackson to Evanston. Traffic was bad to Alpine then it started going a little faster but had a string of vehicles inn the one lane each way road. Other than stops for quick food/ gas I got to SLC about an hr before sunset.

a friend of mine snd his family travelled out to Portland. His wife has a brother there. They went to a location in the mountains for the eclipse but had to move due to the local wildfires away from the wildfire smoke/ haze.

traffic away from totality is going to be crazy all over. In the east, unlike western US you have just more road options you can take.

While that may have been arguably true for my experience with the 2017 total solar eclipse in the United States, that was not true for my experience with the 2019 total solar eclipse in Chile, as no other viable road options existed.

Lesson to be learned: expect at least triple the usual traffic time when driving away from totality — regardless of where you are...

...but my logic was that getting to the site of the total solar eclipse was far more important than leaving. I did not really care how much time leaving took — as long as my experience was successful.

my brother could stay at his house and see it. The issues see the areas just outside wanting to get inside.

you will be inside totality at DFW, DAL, IND, CLE, BUF, and ROC airports.

my hometown is BUF. Friends of mine live away from the lakes if you have more near lake clouds but interior clearing.

part of it…try to stay at the area for the nights around the eclipse.not have to drive on the day of. Traffic will be crazy from areas like Louisville/ Cincinnati/ Chicago where folks drive to get inside. Toronto is just outside but east of Hamilton us inside so that traffic will be bad.

Interesting. Cleveland is the opposite, fewer clouds near the lake. At least that what's the cloud/eclipse forecasters say. Crossing my fingers for home (I live on Lake Erie) but backup hotels in Arkansas and Texas.

it’s wind driven based on strength and direction.

Who are you renting from to get that rate? My corporate rate, which I can use for personal travel as well, is $29/day (plus tax) for a mid-size at Hertz. The all-in rate is usually $35-40/day, depending on airport fees (and the weekly rate is $180). There's a few exceptions, such as NYC, but that rate is even solid for Hawaii. I'd suggest you check some of the rental car forums and/or use Autoslash for something better.

Where is your hotel? The closer you get to Waco (peak) the more expensive the properties will be, if they even have rooms. There are several properties in Round Rock and Georgetown that still have mostly normal rates (possibly Temple as well).

I was home for the eclipse in October, and it was pretty wild. We weren't in the peak area (I think it was Waco for that one too), but it was enough to know what was happening.

I'm quoting a rate from April 7-9 thru Kayak. I sent to to Autoslash as always and heard nothing back yet. Costco Travel is sold out as is Economycarrentals.com.I'm booked at the HIX at AUS.More than likely I will stay within driving distance of home since I don't have a return flight yet and the cost is getting ridiculous.

Let me know if you end up coming. I might be able to help shuttle you around. Check the price to rent from the Round Rock HLE and return to AUS, perhaps that is better. It might even be less to fly to IAH, rent there, then drive over (or maybe SAT, or GRK).

I'll likely be home at the time. A few of us are planning to either be swimming or on a boat for the actual eclipse.

Which other airports should we consider besides dfw / DAL - i am checking AUS IAH SAT for nonstop to sfo. HOU (hobby Houston) and SAT don’t really have nonstops. Flying in a few earlier days in order to visit etc


ps do we have Boeing 737 Max concerns for April - cancelled flights due to the 737 will really impact our travels.

I flew AS AUS-SFO nonstop about 2 years ago and the equipment was Embraer, I can't remember which variant. Was a great ride, especially up in front. They had a hot meal.

Where are you eventually going/staying? I'd base the airport on that. If you haven't booked a place to stay (or rental car), I'd check those out first.

Thanks! As one can imagine, flights & awards are rightfully expensive for this ultra rare event.

we fly to Austin on 4/1 on AS and depart dfw on 4/9 with AA.

staying in WACO 4/7-4/9 for the eclipse using HH points. Baylor might have an event related to this the way Purdue has an event In Indianapolis.

definitely pondering backup W9 flights if our AS 737Max plane mega fails us…

ok so also… what should we do in Austin? I need to check this Texas Forum for Austin to do things.

I'd look around this forum, and other places online. The LBJ Library is well done. I go to Barton Springs about once a week.

What part of town will you stay in?

We could organize an Austin Do, if you'd be interested in meeting other local FT'ers. Check the link in my signature.

Check out this thread on Austin:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/texa...er-thread.html

Eclipse Viewing in San Antonio Area?
 

We are going to San Antonio for the solar eclipse in April (our second - saw 2017 eclipse in Jackson WY).
Any tips on viewing locations, especially northwest of San Antonio?
Anybody aware of any viewing events going on, maybe local planetariums or astronomy groups?

Get a viewing location that is as close to the center of the solar eclipse path as possible. As long as you get a parking spot, nothing else matters.

. San Antonio is mainly outside it. You need to go to Kerrville/Fredericksburg or head up 35 to Waco/ Dallas

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