Killeen, Texas map
31.12° N · 97.73° W · Bell County · elev. ~850 ft · Central Time
Killeen is the 19th-largest city in Texas and the largest city in Bell County, but the thing that dominates its map is not the city: Fort Hood, the Army post that carried the name Fort Cavazos between 2023 and 2025, occupies more than 200,000 acres immediately west and north of the built-up area and blocks the city from growing in either direction.
The empty land filling the northwest of the frame is the post's training area. US-190/I-14 runs east–west along the bottom of the city.
Where Killeen is in Texas
Killeen sits in western Bell County, about 65 miles north of Austin and 55 miles southwest of Waco. It is off I-35 — the interstate runs through Belton and Temple, 20 to 25 miles east — so the city's main artery is the east–west US-190 corridor, now being signed as Interstate 14.
The Bell–Coryell county line runs across the top of the map. Killeen itself is entirely in Bell County, but Fort Hood spans both counties, and Copperas Cove, the city on Killeen's western side, is mostly in Coryell County. Gatesville, the Coryell seat, is 30 miles northwest.
The land here is the eastern edge of the Lampasas Cut Plain, where the Edwards Plateau breaks up into flat-topped limestone hills. That broken ground with almost no farming on it is exactly why the Army chose the site in 1942 for what was then Camp Hood, a tank destroyer training center. The town of Killeen, a Santa Fe railroad stop platted in 1882 and named for a railway official, had a few thousand people before the camp arrived.
Roads in and around the post
- I-14 / US-190 – the east–west spine, running from Copperas Cove through Killeen and Harker Heights to Belton and I-35.
- SH-195 – southeast to Florence and Georgetown, the shortest route to Austin and the I-35 corridor south.
- I-35 – 20 miles east at Belton; north to Waco and Dallas, south to Round Rock and Austin.
- SH-201 / Clear Creek Road – north from US-190 into the post's main cantonment and the Clear Creek gate.
- FM-2410 (Knights Way) – east through Harker Heights toward Belton Lake and Nolanville.
- Stan Schlueter Loop – the southern arc through the newer subdivisions, linking Fort Hood Street to Trimmier Road.
- US-190 west – beyond Copperas Cove the route runs on to Lampasas, where it meets US-281 for the Hill Country.
Areas and neighborhoods
| Area | What's there |
|---|---|
| Fort Hood cantonment | Barracks, headquarters and motor pools north of the Clear Creek and East gates |
| Downtown Killeen | The original grid by the Santa Fe tracks around Avenue D and Gray Street |
| Fort Hood Street | The north–south commercial strip running from the main gate down through the city |
| Rancier Avenue (FM-439) | Older east–west commercial corridor north of US-190 |
| South Killeen / Stan Schlueter | The newest subdivisions, schools and shopping south of the loop |
| Skylark Field | The city's general-aviation airport on the east side |
| Harker Heights (east) | Separate city along US-190, retail and housing between Killeen and Nolanville |
| Copperas Cove (west) | Separate city on the far side of the post, mostly in Coryell County |
The post, the airport and the lakes
Fort Hood is one of the largest military installations in the United States by area and by assigned personnel, and its footprint explains the whole shape of the region: Killeen, Harker Heights, Nolanville and Copperas Cove form a chain along the post's southern fence because that is the only side open to development. The post carries its own airfield, Robert Gray Army Airfield, which doubles as Killeen–Fort Hood Regional Airport — the region's commercial airport sits inside the military reservation, southwest of the city.
Two Corps of Engineers reservoirs bracket the area. Belton Lake, on the Leon River, lies north and east of Killeen; its western arms run along the post boundary and include the Army's own recreation area. Stillhouse Hollow Lake, on the Lampasas River, is south of Harker Heights off FM-1670. Both are within a 20-minute drive of the city, and together they are the reason the Killeen–Temple area has more shoreline than most of Central Texas.
Distances from Killeen
| City | Road miles | Route |
|---|---|---|
| Temple | 25 | US-190 / I-14 E |
| Georgetown | 40 | SH-195 SE |
| Round Rock | 50 | SH-195 SE / I-35 S |
| Waco | 55 | I-14 E / I-35 N |
| Austin | 65 | SH-195 SE / I-35 S |
| Dallas | 155 | I-14 E / I-35 N |
| San Antonio | 150 | SH-195 SE / I-35 S |