Palo Duro Canyon, July 5, 2021
Kristi and I had talked about visiting it for a very long time. We made plans on a few occasions but had to cancel or postpone due to various circumstances.
Frankly, I never made it a priority. Why? Well, just Google it. Click on Images. What do you see?
Nearly half or more of the images are of the same feature: the Lighthouse. Most of the rest of the shots are aerial images or wide-angle panoramas. Is it really a place that’s worth driving nearly 600 miles and over 8 hours to see just one interesting feature? Not in my opinion. Maybe it’s worth dropping by on the way to somewhere else more interesting, though?
But yes, it IS worth the trip as a destination in and of itself! Google search, online maps, and the vast majority of the media do not do justice to this spectacular place.
We arrived late in the afternoon after visiting several courthouses on our way to Amarillo. The land surrounding the park is flat and not very interesting–the canyon itself lies on the edge of the Llano Estacado, the “Staked Plains,” a vast tableland that covers the northwestern corner of Texas and beyond. The drive toward the park entrance gives no indication of the surreal landscape that suddenly opens up beneath.
Palo Duro Canyon, whose name means “hardwood,” lies at the headwaters of the Prairie Dog Town fork of the Red River. (If you’ve ever seen the Red River you will know where it gets its name.) A layer of hard sandstone sits under the plains above, protecting the softer material underneath from erosion. Over the eons, the river and its tributaries have slowly washed away the rock and soil to form the canyon along the edge of the Llano Estacado.
People have inhabited the region for at least 10,000 years. It served as a hideout for Comanche, Kiowa, and Cheyenne groups that would launch raids on Anglo settlements in the Panhandle region. Legendary rancher Charles Goodnight established a ranch there in 1876. In 1933 the State of Texas purchased the land to establish Palo Duro Canyon State Scenic Park.
The park has lodges, RV campsites, and primitive camping facilities. There are several hiking, horseback riding, and biking trails. A large portion of the park is accessible via paved park roads, too. The park also hosts the Texas Outdoor Musical every summer.
But enough talk: let’s get to the pictures!
We started our tour at the Observation Point, which is next to the visitor’s center. This area gives a wide view of the canyon and the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River.
From the Observation Point, we drove down into the canyon along Park Road 5. The descent is about 800 feet and is fairly steep, with a couple of switchbacks. It is best to keep your vehicle in low gear during the descent to avoid overheating the brakes.
Shortly after reaching the bottom, we came upon this beautiful scene:
And beyond that point, the scenic views never stopped!
There is a lot of wildlife in the canyon. We stopped at a campsite to take some pictures of the local geography when I spotted a Golden-fronted woodpecker:
A small flock of turkeys came by shortly after:
We saw many other types of birds, but due to time constraints (the sun was setting) we didn’t stop long enough to get any decent photos.
Another interesting sight was the tarantulas. Fairly often we would come up on one scurrying across the road. Sometimes they’d come up so fast that I wouldn’t have time to stop or swerve. I’m afraid that I may have run over one or two. For the arachnophobes out there, tarantulas are pretty harmless, despite their size and scary appearance–they tend to run away from people unless cornered, in which case they will raise up their front legs to make themselves look more menacing.
There is a parking lot at the trailhead that leads to the Lighthouse. The trail is about a mile long and we weren’t equipped for walking (plus, we didn’t have time), so we stopped in the lot and I got this shot while standing in the bed of the pickup:
Just past the Lighthouse Trailhead, Park Road 5 splits and makes a loop around the floor of the canyon. There are several campgrounds and other facilities along the way, and lots of interesting things to see.
I could keep posting pictures and never fully capture the beauty of this area. It must be experienced first-hand to be fully appreciated. I will end this post, then, with my favorite shot:
