Palo Duro Canyon State Park

Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest canyon in the U.S.A.; and if you live east of Texas, I would recommend visiting Palo Duro State Park rather than heading up to the Grand Canyon Park. The canyon is 120 miles long and up to 20 miles wide according to the park website. You’ll be able to walk to the bottom of some of the caverns without a great deal of difficulty and, (especially if you arrive during the week) easily get a campsite. And, I found the Texas scenery just as stunningly beautiful as the Arizona scenery on the north slope of the Grand Canyon Park (after we were unable to get a camping site at the south slope when we arrived there a couple of years ago).

A view from a higher point.

 There were many other things to do at this park other than exploring the canyons. The first thing I did was stop at the El Coronado Lodge. Park volunteers run this store and interpretive area.  (I went through this lodge on a weekend and it was a little crowded in the building.) The visitor can buy anything from post cards, nice jewelry, books, etc.; things to help you recall your visit or find information about the history of the Palo Duro area by just walking around the displays or stopping to catch one of the documentaries on screen.  I stopped to watch a documentary about Charles Goodnight and John Adair. In 1876, they started the ranch credited with saving bison ancestors of the herds now found at Caprock Canyons State Park–which is less than a day’s drive from Palo Duro. The most interesting information to me was found in the Civilian Conservation Corps Room (CCC). I learned that the CCC workers, who did so much construction in the parks we can still enjoy, received a paycheck of $30.00 per month and $25.00 of the pay was sent to their families. These 1930’s wages sound unbelievably low today!

One of the CCC buildings still being used daily.

Getting back outside, there was a lot of room to roam around the park. I even managed to get information from a ranger about an event that would begin in about an hour at the Interpretive center: Native Indian dances. I made plans to make it over to watch the dancers. Before leaving, he informed me that Horny Toads (once on the endangered list) are making a comeback in this park and I found out the name of Interpreter Jeff Davis. Jeff gave me information about the performers who were just arriving and about the Aoudad Sheep found in the mountainous areas of Palo Duro. I saw no Horny Toads nor Aoudad Sheep at this park–the sheep live in both Palo Duro and Caprock Canyons Park.

Pioneer Days were going on during my visit. The dancers below were also part of this event.

I did see the dancers, who were Boy and Girl Scouts from about 6 years old to scouts in their late teens. Although they weren’t Native American Indians, they studied and practiced Indian dancing enough to look like professional dancers. It was a great show.

I found this trash right after a crowd left when Pioneer Days events ended.

I reluctantly left Palo Duro Park, knowing I left much of the park unexplored, as usual. I vowed to come back but also looked forward to seeing my next state park destination.