Grand Canyon of Texas
Written: Dec 12 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: trails, rock formations, views
Cons: No swimming, fishing
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| tmarvin's Full Review: Palo Duro Canyon State Park |
Palo Duro Canyon has been called The Grand Canyon of Texas.
It is a 600-foot drop from the light red caliche of the rimrock down through layers of sandstone and shale laced with white gypsum to the canyon floor, where the seemingly harmless trickle of the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River continues to etch its way through the rock of the otherwise flat Texas high plains. However, there is one notable exception to the comparison between Palo Duro Canyon and the Grand Canyon.
Palo Duro Canyon is a drive-in geological wonder. Palo Duro Canyon State Park, the largest state park in Texas at 16,400 acres, has all of its camp sites on the canyon floor. Campers can sit back in the late afternoon next to their RVs while watching as the sun turns the canyon walls into palette of changing red hues. Or campers may choose to explore the 15 miles of trails that wind through the canyon. Perhaps they will see one of the juniper trees for whose hard wood, or palo duro, the canyon is named.
"We come here for the peace and quiet," Gordon Allsop said, sitting beside his Pace Arrow and enjoying the warm fall afternoon. A slight breeze rustles through the leaves near the wooded campsite. There are enough cottonwood and mesquite trees to provide shade without blocking Allsop's view of the colorful canyon walls. He can also catch a glimpse of the quail, wild turnkeys, rabbits, deer and the numerous wildlife that roams through the canyon.
If Allsop listens carefully, he can hear the trickle of the river. Allsop also notes that the park has many large campsites with water and electricity, while the 16 miles of paved roads in the canyon make getting his RV down into the canyon easy.
The crisp fall air whispers through the yucca plants, carrying the aroma of a fellow camper's coffee through our campsite, where the kids are already exploring the rock formations that begin yards away from the picnic table shelter and end hundreds of feet above, at the canyon's rim. While the kids are content with these rocks for now, they will be begging to explore some of the canyon's trails and attractions later.
"I like the trails," said Allsop, a nurse from nearby Amarillo, Texas. There are well-marked trails for hiking, biking, running and horseback riding.One of the best trails to explore is the five-mile round-trip hike to Lighthouse Rock. The formation towers several hundred feet above the rim of the canyon, standing like a beacon to hikers below. The rock is the best known formation in the park.
Campers who decide to hike in the park, should remember to take along plenty of water. Like most of the other areas of Texas, the canyon can get very hot in the afternoon, even in the spring and fall months. If a hike is planned in the summer, try to finish the four-hour walk before noon.
Standing next to Lighthouse Rock while looking down to the canyon floor makes a hiker forgot the long walk it took to get there. It is also easy to imagine Indians hiding out there, maybe beyond the cliffs to the right. Native Americans ruled the High Plains for 12,000 years. It was 1874 when Texas Rangers routed the Comanche living in Palo Duro, forcing them onto reservations.
Two years later, cattleman Charles Goodnight became the first Anglo to settle in the canyon. The park now includes a copy of his dugout, a line shack used by the first commercial cattle ranch in the Texas Panhandle.
The Texas way to explore the trails is to rent a horse at the stables on the canyon floor. The Goodnight Trading Post, which serves lunch and dinner every day of the year, also rents bicycles that can be used on the trails.
Not far from the trading post is the half-mile trail from the road to the Spanish Skirts, a red formation veined with white gypsum that looks like the ruffles on a skirt. Spanish conquistador Francisco Coronado named the formation when he camped in the canyon in 1541.
On the canyon wall along the trail next to where the Sad Monkey railroad used to be is a small cave. While the cave may not be exciting to serious spelunkers, the dark, damp hole, which winds about 50 yards into the face of the canyon, is enough to keep the kids talking about the exploration for weeks.
The yellow and purple layers in the canyon walls are from the Jurassic Period, the era of the dinosaurs. Bones from the mammoth and saber tooth tiger have been found in the area.
The canyon even has something for those who are not inclined to hike. Pioneer Amphitheater, a 1,742 seat outdoor theater, is the site of the summer performances of the musical drama Texas. The musical pageant about the settling of Texas' Panhandle has a cast of 80 and uses the sheer red canyon wall as a backdrop.
The show has been performed in Palo Duro Canyon for 30 years. During that time, more than 2.5 million people have seen the show, making it the best-attended outdoor drama in the United States. Spectators have come from every state and more than 100 foreign countries.
For more of my opinions about camping, visit http://igocamping.com
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
tmarvin
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Member: Tom Marvin
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Tom is a journalist with experience as a writer, editor, photographer and designer.
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