what is the best (and fastest by going the speed limits) route?

Going down HWY 77 is the easiest.

You can go the back way - past Lake Somerville, Round Top, etc...to La Grange, but you end up back on 77 and if you don't know the back way, it doesn't make it much faster.

Actually, the FASTEST route is to take 77 to La Grange, then cut off on the Scenic Route (don't remember the name) through Round Top as previously mentioned. Do not spit back out on 77, rather spit out at Somerville (you will go past Rocky Creek State Park, at least the route I take). That trip will save you another 10 minutes....but it can also hurt if you get lost.

Here's my usual trek:
Corpus to Gregory-Portland
take 136 through Bayside (over the Copano Bay)
to 77 in Refugio
Take 77 through Victoria, Halletsville, Schulenburg, La Grange, and Giddings
Turn right onto 21, through Caldwell
Right on 47 and bam you're there

I used to take a left turn in Refugio onto 77-Alternate when Victoria was having construction. This will take you through Goliad, Cuero, and Yoakum, and meet back up with 77 in Halletsville.

Both pretty standard routes.

My idiot SHSU Bearkat friend once had me take 59 to El Campo and all this mess to get to CS. I had to drive 90 mph and we still got to CS ten minutes late.

The scenic route is only faster if you know where you're going. And, there are still cops on that road, so that won't help you any.

What Greasen said.

Like I said..."it can hurt you if you get lost".

I was just elaborating...

the fastest way i have found (i can go from college station to kingsville in 4 1/2 hours going the speedlimit) is:

77 to 59.
59 to Wharton.
On the north side of wharton take Hwy 60...go left over the overpass and right at the stopsign...go to blinky light and turn left onto 60.
Follow 60 through East Bernard to Wallis.
Left on Hwy 36 in Wallis (dead-end)
Stay on 36 through Sealy.
On the other side of Sealy turn right on 331.
Follow to dead-end, turn right.
Make first left...back on 331.
Follow to dead-end.
turn right on 159.
Stay on 159 to Hempstead.
In Hempstead turn right at the stopsign then left at the light...
that is Hwy 6, follow it in to CS...

it sounds complicated, but its really much faster....

even going all the way to Bellville instead of Sealy and then hanging a right on 159 is, imo, faster than going down 77.

and i've been making the trip from CS to k-ville since 93..

I'm curious Cole, how long does that take you if you are driving around the speed limit?

I'm not sure how that's faster...

I'm from Port Lavaca and used to go that way to CS and that would take close to 3 hours. THen, add in the extra 1 1/2 hours to CC, and it's 4 1/2.

Going down 77 only takes 4 hours. It used to take 4 hours exactly to get from my house in CS to my BF's apt in CC.

going the way i posted and going the speed limit will get you there in 4 hours and 10 - 20 minutes

going to Corpus it takes me a little under 4 hours.

going to kingsville takes me about 4 1/2.

and that is going the speedlimit.

the main difference is only having to go through 4 towns versus the 10 going 77, so you dont have to slow down as much.

It takes just under 2 hours to get to Wharton, then about another 1 hour to get to Victoria, and from there 1 1/2 to get to Kingsville...

If going to Corpus, it depends on where in corpus, but its about 30-45 minutes less than going to kingsville.

I take the route through Round Top and such when coming from CS. When going around Victoria, I prefer to go east on the loop and hit 59 to 77. You can follow the sign and go west around town as well. Don't know which is faster though. Then cut through 136 to Bayside from Refugio and down to G-P. If you are going to Calallen though, it is faster to stay on 77, obviously. The fastest I ever made it was 3:45 in my faster days.
More importantly though is the music! Heading south, you can pick up 98.7 out of Victoria starting around Swiss Alp. It was even better when 94.7 in CC was still Texas Music.

CS to Calallen making one stop for bathroom/gas = 4 hrs exactly.

Take 21 to 77. That's it and that's all.

Be sure to look for the llama farm outside of La Grange. Pick up a Schulenburg Sticker (local newspaper) from the Hitchin Post and get a bite to eat next door. The Sonic and Dairy Queen in Schulenburg are the two worst places to eat ever. SLOOOOOOOOW and they get your order wrong. Stop at the gas station in Halletsville if you want to see the old men that sit in the back room drinking 24 hours a day/7 days a week.

You got to stop at the Hitching Post!

I almost died on 390 once (that's the scenic route). I had left Burton and had two cars in front of me. I passed the first car on the first straight away and pulled behind the second to get a good jump on the pass. When the straight away came I started to pass but the car behind me jumped out and raced past me before cutting back right in front of me. No biggie, I figured he was trying to pass both and ran out of room. He is going slower than I am so on the next straight away, I attempt to pass just to have him pull out in front of me and slam on his brakes! He comes to complete stop in the middle of the road blocking both lanes of traffic. He then gets out of his car and walks to my truck. He yells and cusses at me telling me to stay away from his sister! I say yes sir! I have no idea who he is or his sister but he didn't want me to pass her, that is for sure! He then gets back in his car and drives off. He waved as he turned off of 390 at Longpoint. Scary!
My favorite part about that road is, besides the fun curves, is the one lane underpass at the railroad crossing.

This brings back bad memories. Back in the '80's the drive from Corpus to CS sucked.

I hit a deer on the backroads between Burton and Somerville going back to CS from CC in the 80's. Speaking of 80's, that may have been the speed I was going too.

No other Schulenburg Sticker fans? Small towns have the best newspapers. I remember an article about 3 police officers trying to catch a loose buffalo. And another about the "Nice Legs" contest at one of the old folks homes...

Has anyone every seen a cop between refugio and goliad? I never have, but I know the one time I speed on that stretch I'll get my arse pulled over.

I know CDub has visited with the cops in Refugio. Twice I believe! I can't recall seeing the police on 77A much. They love to travel 77 though.

Someone earlier mentioned the cops on the backroads from La Grange to CS. Only once did I have a run in with the law. Luckily, he was more concerned about the trucker I was tailing than he was me! We came flying around a corner going 80 just in time to see the sheriff whip around in his Bronco after us.

There is ALWAYS a cop in Refugio. I got pulled over twice where the new gas station/Burger King is. Now I'm always careful to go under the speed limit and set my cruise control so I dont accidentally speed.

A fun fact for any Clearly Canadian lovers. That gas station is one of the few places I know of that carries the stuff. It's that flavored carbonated water that used to be so prevalent. My girlfriend loves the stuff, so I pick some up when I'm in the area.

The fastest I ever heard was 3 hrs...

The scenic can be fast, but if you get stuck behind some tractor and plow, it can be un-nerving to pass on those twisty roads.

A&M, we may have won our last MNC in 1939; but we are the only school to kidnap every mascot in the SWC

Whatever HMFIC, you aint from Corpus!

on 77 in refugio...take alt 77 so you skip victoria and this saves me about 20 minutes... meets back up in halletsville...77 to 21 and that's it

No Way DJ, that will take you Out of the way and add a lot of unecessary time to your trip. 77 barely goes through the edge of Victoria, so that's not going to slow you down.

yeah, 77 through Victoria is quicker than 77 alternate...77 goes basically straight North, where as 77 alternate swings you way wide to the West

have to disagree..... lot faster.....than going thru victoria

before they built the loop around victoria, it was MUCH faster to go alt-77.

but now with the loop, its quicker going straight up 77 if its between those 2 choices.