Palo Duro Canyon State Park – Texas State Park 10/89

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The Deets

Palo Duro Canyon State Park is located a short 30-minute drive south of Amarillo, TX. It is known as Texas’ Grand Canyon and is the second-largest canyon in the country, being bested by the Grand Canyon itself. The park covers roughly 28,000 acres and offers an array of things to keep you busy. You can enjoy the park on foot, bike, horseback, or car. There are over 30 miles of hike, bike, and equestrian trails, and the drive through the canyon is beautiful. You can also camp, glamp (which looks awesome), geocache, and enjoy observing the wildlife. During the summer months, you can catch the TEXAS Outdoor Musical at the Pioneer Amphitheater.

Don’t worry about driving back into town if you forgot something because the Trading Post will probably save the day. They offer plenty of the basics, hot meals, and a killer gift shop. The visitor’s center offers you a glimpse into the past and is also well worth a visit. The cost of admission into the park is $8 per adult and free for children aged 12 and under (or free for everyone if using a Park Pass).

The History

Known history of peoples inhabiting the canyon stretch back 12,000 years. From Clovis and Folsom people to the much more recent inhabitants of the Apache, Comanche, and Kiowa tribes, Palo Duro Canyon has always provided. While it has provided in peaceful times, it has also seen battles. The most notable battle here is known as the Battle of Palo Duro. In short, the 4th US Calvary led a surprise attack on a camp of Comanches, Kiowas, and Cheyennes. They were driven from the canyon, leaving everything behind, never to return.

A few years later, Charles Goodnight drove cattle to the canyon. The next year, he and John Adair founded the JA Ranch. When the company was at its height, they ran 100,000 head of cattle, and the ranch covered 1,325,000 acres of the Texas panhandle. The ranch owned the majority of the canyon until the late 1800s. Coincidentally, Billy and I visited another estate owned by John Adair. John Adair built Glenveagh Castle in Ireland, and he and his wife still actively lived there when he died unexpectedly in the United States. You can read about our visit to Glenveagh Castle here.

The state purchased the land for the park in 1933. The CCC arrived and spent 5 years creating the parks, including the incredible road down into the canyon. Until the road was finished, they hiked in and out of the canyon using the CCC Trail (I wish we’d have known that when we were there!). They also built the visitor’s center (known then as the El Coronado Lodge), the cabins in the park (on the canyon floor and on the rim), and the trails. Palo Duro Canyon State Park opened on 4 July 1934 before it was fully completed.

Our Experience

From the first glimpse of Palo Duro Canyon, we were speechless. The panhandle of Texas is FLAT. Flat for days. The roads go on in endless straight lines with not so much as an anthill of an incline. Then, out of nowhere, the bottom drops out. Seriously. Speechless.

Every single facility we used was spotless. Every person we spoke to that worked there was kind and helpful. They were more than happy to share their advice, and it was easy to see that they love this park.

The Trading Post became a daily stop for use during our three days at the park. They have a great gift shop and tons of necessities should you have forgotten something. They also have hot meals and Blue Bell Ice Cream! The food that we brought for lunch was left back in the hotel after our first lunch there. How can you beat a homecooked burger and fries with ice cream for dessert? Again, the ladies in the Trading Post were incredibly nice, and we enjoyed chatting with them while we were there. There is plenty of outdoor seating with picnic tables, so we ate lunch out in the sunshine every day.

The Trails

We hiked a total of about 25 miles during our visit, and we thoroughly enjoyed every trail we took. The most challenging trail we hiked was the Rock Garden Trail. It takes you up to the rim of the canyon and is a steep climb. The other challenging trail we took was the CCC Trail. The middle of the trail is fairly easy, but getting there is a climb. We started the CCC Trail from the Amphitheater parking lot and would definitely recommend taking it that way. It’s a steep climb up, full of switchbacks and narrow paths, but it was incredibly fun, and the views are stunning.

We also hiked the Goodnight Peak Scenic Loop, part of the Upper Comanche Trail, part of the Kiowa Trail, the Givens, Spicer, Lowry Trail, the Lighthouse Trail, the Paseo Del Rio Trail, the Juniper Cliffside Trail, and the Rojo Grande Trail. None of these were particularly challenging, and I’d go as far as to say that they were easy walking. I think some are rated challenging by the park because they are quite long (Givens, Spicer, Lowry will be a minimum of 4.5 miles if you take the Lighthouse Trail back). The Lighthouse Trail is easy until the very end. If you want to get over to actually see the lighthouse rock up close, it is a mad scramble up a steep gully wash and it’s not easy.

The trails could all do to be better signposted in certain areas, especially down on the canyon floor. There are mile markers at every 10th of a mile, so definitely keep an eye out for those. They are lifesavers in some areas where it’s easy to wander off on a game trail and veer from the path.

Our Takeaway

Do it. Go. Make time. It’s an incredible place and one that everybody needs to add to their bucket list. Even if you don’t want to hike it, I’d still tell you to go. The drive alone is gorgeous and the views are simply stunning. However many synonyms there are for incredible or beautiful or mindblowing, they still wouldn’t be enough to describe this location. We can’t recommend it enough.

Prefer to see the park in action? Check out our vlogs for Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3.
Cheers,
Lydia and Billy