Palo Duro Canyon State Park

 

Palo Duro Canyon State Park

We had a short trip in May to visit some friends who moved a couple of years ago.  On the way to their place, we stopped overnight at Palo Duro Canyon State Park, just outside of Amarillo, Texas.  A friend recommended this as a stop, and what a pleasant surprise it was!

As we drove down the entrance road to the park, I was a tad confused, as I didn’t see any sort of canyon.  In fact, the ground looked quilt flat.  However, once we got inside the park, we started down the curvy road that would lead to the campground at the bottom of the canyon.  These views are of the canyon from the top of it.

The views on the drive down to our campground were quite spectacular.  I really love what I think of as the “Christmas colors” of the landscape – the red clay earth and the green trees growing.

As we neared the bottom of the canyon, we came around a curve and saw our campground.  You can see the road as it makes its way to the campground, and the light colored “dots” which are other campers!

Once we set up camp, we decided to take a quick drive around before returning to our camp for the evening.   There’s a lovely loop drive through the park.  There are a number of trails throughout the park, and here are some photos of the Paseo del Rio Trail, and the river is the Red River.  As you can see, it’s appropriately named.  I’m guessing the red color of the water is due to the red clay ground that it cuts through.

Another trail leads to Lighthouse Rock.  I managed to get this image from the trailhead.  The trail is 6 miles long, so there was no thought to even attempt it.  They warn folks to bring about a gallon of water per person or dog if you plan to hike this trail.  The floor of the canyon is a lot warmer than the canyon rim.

Here was another trail that led to a cave – appropriately called Cave Trail!  As you can see from the photo on the right, people do climb up and in the cave.  We didn’t get a chance to chat with anyone who had been in the cave, to find out the depth of the cave.

And, finally, here’s a view of our campsite, with Max in the Jeep, ready and willing for any adventure that comes up!!  I thought the views from the campsite were wonderful!!

Enjoy!