To escape the fires and high winds of New Mexico, I headed east to the Texas panhandle. Well, at least I escaped the fires…
Palo Duro Canyon State Park
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I made my reservation here a few months ago, snagging a site that someone had just canceled out of. The general description of this place is “the Grand Canyon of Texas.” Yes, I get that it’s the second largest canyon in North America, but there’s a big gap (pun intended) between the Grand Canyon of the Colorado and Palo Duro. Maybe you have to hike deeper into the canyon to get to the really good parts, but given that it was over 90F every day I was there, hiking wasn’t going to happen.
Ice cream happened instead. My campsite was in the Sagebrush loop, which is about two minutes walk to a little camp store that served up scoops of Blue Bell ice cream, a Texas standard.
I did visit the visitor center and learned about the history of the area, from dinosaurs and ancient bison (who were MUCH bigger than modern bison, in case you were wondering) to cowboys and settlements that displaced the natives. And I drove the whole road loop to see what I could from the comfort of my air-conditioned vehicle. I know my limits, I can’t handle 90F heat for all that long, so I was pacing myself and trying to see what I could without putting myself into heat overload.
This would be a great place to visit when it’s not hot as hell, there are a plethora of good hiking trails that probably have great views of the canyon. It’s on my “maybe sometime later” list for now.
The Road Between
It’s only about 90 miles from Palo Duro to Caprock Canyons, but it was a wicked windy day (aren’t they all in this part of Texas?!) so I went slow and mostly took the frontage road that paralleled the I-70 interstate highway. It was perfect – I could go 45-55 and not see another car for miles. And see typically Texas scenes like this.
I stopped for gas at one point and almost got the door blown off my pickup. Jeez, why do people live where it’s this windy? I can’t figure that out. Then I proceeded to the small town of Quitaque, where they provide a helpful pronunciation guide at the town line.
Caprock Canyons State Park
This was way more fun, for two reasons, one big and one small. Big bison, little prairie dogs. Honestly, those two things made my visit, despite a severe thunderstorm watch one evening and yet more endless wind every damn day. The park’s web page says the bison can be anywhere, so you may not see them. As soon as I turned into the park road, there they were, about a hundred of them!
After setting up camp (which was so minimal since anything outside was destined to blow away), I decided to explore the closest hiking trail. It was a short-lived expedition once I got to the trailhead. Did you know bison can run up to 35 miles an hour? Way faster than me…
It’s spring here, and the bison have the babies to prove it. So many babies! One day, the herd was munching in the field behind the campground and I counted at least a dozen babies. They looked so cute but I bet they get big fast. They can outrun a human for sure, so I mostly took these photos while I was sitting inside my pickup, with the window rolled down.
The little prairie dogs co-exist with the bison, which just goes to show how creatures adapt to their environments. The prairie dogs usually hang out in that field behind the campground, making for some easy photo ops. But the day the bison herd showed up? Not a peep out of the prairie dogs. They obviously found somewhere else to go or perhaps they decided it was a great day to hibernate underground.
Prairie dogs use high-pitched chatter as an early warning system which apparently humans set off when getting within 20 yards of them. But the hilarious part is that they don’t dive into their holes. Instead, they freeze in place as if to say “you can’t see me if I don’t move.” Uh, OK. It made it really easy to take pictures of them.
There’s a nice loop road through the park, with pullouts for taking photos. Which I did, and quite enjoyed the views. This park has more accessible, more gorgeous panoramas than Palo Duro, at least from the seat of an air-conditioned vehicle.
Just so you don’t think I’m a total loser at hiking, I did walk along the rim across the road from the campground and caught this view my first afternoon. It was a promise of things to come, and it wasn’t wrong.
This is a beautiful place and I’d love to come back, if only the weather gods would guarantee the wind wouldn’t come along for the duration.
Related Links
- Palo Duro Canyon State Park
- Caprock Canyons State Park
- Texas state bison herd at Caprock Canyons
- Texas prairie dogs
- Beating the Heat (trying to keep cool in an Alto)
To most human beings, wind is an irritation. To most trees, wind is a song.
Prairie dogs have their own language! Con Slobodchikoff and his students did a lot of work understanding this.
https://www.animalcognition.org/2015/03/11/the-linguistic-genius-of-prairie-dogs/
Good question, Anne! If it’s in the 80s, the AC can usually take care of things, although you won’t get an icy 72F inside (!). 90 and above, it’s a struggle, and I wrote a post about that a few years ago: https://wynnworlds.com/2019/08/fighting-the-heat/
I didn’t know the bison code! They were all pretty mellow and obviously used to ignoring us tourists, though, so that helped. And I just read the description of The Wind – I might have to wait a while before I can deal with that plot 🙂
When I hit eastern OK last week, I suddenly was in the verdant South, with leafed-out oaks and Virginia Creeper (and poison ivy) and humidity. Oh, such a balm to the soul after so much desert (even the humidity!). I like your contention about that area being appreciated only if you’re born there, I’d agree! Love that you have a spring on your property!
Driving through the TX panhandle with my dad maybe 25 or 30 yrs ago, we stopped for gas at a little place off I-40, heading east in what seemed like to us a heavy gale, even though the sky was clear. I asked the guy at the counter, when I went to pay, how long it had been blowing like this. He said, “Well, ever since I can remember, and I’m 35 yrs old….” So I resolved to stay away from then on. Of course, I haven’t, as we’ve made 2 or 3 trips along that same stretch of road on our way out farther west. The countryside IS interesting, but I contend that it’s sort of like colonizing another planet: no one will find it truly beautiful unless they’re born there. I think for me, it’s the lack of water. Middle Tennessee has SO much of it that it’s free: our cabin’s water supply is from a 130+ yr old spring. Still, your photos are really good, as usual, and you also write SO well about it!
I love your images of Texas! We learned the code of the bison tail position when we were in Utah – Gregg definitely pushed the limit while taking a bison-selfie. Your bison had the tail-down safe position.
Maybe you should listen to The Wind by Dorothy Scarborough as you drive?!
How do you keep the camper somewhat cool? Looks like not much shade. I’ll take the Panhandle off my list for May next year!