palo duro canyon state park

Well worth the 10 minute drive from Canyon to visit. The colors in the canyon are extraordinary, and if you are not up to a hike, you can drive through to enjoy the spectacular scenery. I would recommend this attraction to anyone.

It's the second largest canyon in North America. Mesquite trees and cactus abound. Drive in, hike or camp, all withing 20-30 minutes of Amarillo. Spring is lovely when things begin to get green and it's not yet too hot to hike mid-day! More photos on my blog at this address: https://kineticheart.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/palo-duro-canyon-lighthouse-trail/

We loved Palo Duro Canyon! So many great hiking trails and breathtaking scenery. We came in March and highly recommend a spring visit. We heard from locals that many hikers over commit in the summer and many suffer from dehydration or heat exhaustion. However, if you visit in the spring the temperatures are PERFECT and it makes the hikes perfect in both temperature and scenery!

This is a site not to be missed. A beautiful site to see. You can bribe down into the canyon, bring hiking shoes water, and a picnic lunch. Your camera is a must, although I am not sure you will be able to capture the beauty you will see

This is a great place to visit, there are so many things to do while you are there and it is one of the most beautiful places in Texas. They have amazing scenery with great places to hike or just drive around taking in the natural beauty. They have many bike and horse trails also to enjoy. Stop at the scenic outlook on top for a great view. The lighthouse trail is an amazing hike or bike ride, it is the formation in the picture for this attraction. Take plenty of water and plan on at least half a day for the hike, you will be glad you did. Bring your camera, there are so many thing to shoot.

Palo Duro Canyon is the 2nd largest canyon in the United States, second to the Grand Canyon. It is a great place to visit for a day, or for a month. We spent Thanksgiving 2014 camping in our RV in the canyon, and it was so much fun. Wild turkeys were all over the campground. Deer and wild sheep were plentiful. Beautiful birds. So much to see and do in the canyon! One of our favorite destinations!

First off, this park is unique from many of the other parks in Texas all that make is an overall great park. Some things that make it great: dogs are allowed, several mountain bike trails, back-country camping, and several rivers you can drive across along the main road. This park offers some great desert landscapes although I would not say as great as Big Bend National park, nor is it as nice as some other parks in New Mexico. Another downside is it is so far away for most people. Overall, I gave this park a 4 out of 5 stars, so if you have dogs or if you want to mountain bike this should be a high priority, however, I would rather go to Big Bend. BTW we spend Thanksgiving out here and while the nights did get cold, the day temps were perfect.

This is definitely a must see if you're driving in the area. The place comes out of nowhere you're in the middle of flat land Texas more or less when you come across is beautiful looking Canyon would definitely take the time to go see

While travelling across country we had some car trouble in Amarillo, TX. The fine folks at Brown Subaru gave us a loaner car and recommended that we drive on over to Palo Duro Canyon. Who knew there was another canyon in the US other than the Grand??? What a pleasant surprise and what a great distraction from our car troubles. Absolutely breath taking. Visitor center employees were very friendly and informative and we walked away with treasures and one more part of America explored.

We are driving there and my husband and kids are sceptacle that on the last leg of our trip back from Colorado the flat baron land before them has anything to see. Yet low and behold all of the sudden a massive beautiful canyon that seems endless appears. Great hiking, nature, and sights. Totally recommend!!

I think we were fortunate to explore this canyon in February...I imagine it gets smokin' hot during the summer. We spent two nights in one of the canyon floor stone cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) in the early 1930's; private, fun, rustic and a slice of history. Enjoyed our sunset fire and the evening quietude of the canyon. However, I agree with a previous post...there is a brightly lit telephone type pole that somewhat spoils the night sky. As for exploring the canyon...there are a plethora of well maintained trails throughout the park of varying length that are mostly easy to slightly moderate. We would have liked to have our mountain bikes there as you could easily cover a lot of ground on wheels. Coming from the Pacific Northwest and currently living in Okalohoma, for me, this was a sweet geographical reprieve in the midst of the flat panhandle.

Hiking is a ton of fun, we went after it rained and it made some of the trails nearly unclimable. 2nd biggest canyon is worth it

Can't wait to bring the family. So worth the drive. Nicer than I could of imagined. Clean trails. Great staff except for the trading post cashier. He looked like he hated his job.

A giant hole in the middle of panhandle flatness! We had a great day of exploring with my four children. We found a cave (hollow place in the rock wall) that we followed people into for some shade and nice views. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and marveled at the variety of colors and shapes of stone in the park.

I wanted to take the kids to Arizona one day, but not anymore. Discovering this place was like finding hidden treasure. I had no idea whatsoever that Texas even has canyons, yet alone the 2nd largest in the country! We loaded up friends and family and made the road trip on the spur of the moment, and it was fun for us. It was so scenic and peaceful that even the 5 year-old didn't notice that we had hiked 6 whole miles with backpacks. Get there early because it seems to be a favorite for biking, too. Everybody wore plenty of sunscreen, hats, shades and brought lots of water and snacks. Be sure to take "just in case" stuff. As the mom who preps for such scenarios, I insisted on closed toes shoes, pants, included a small first aid kit including ibuprofen and tweezers in case of a bee sting, a couple of those ice packs that activate when you twist it in case of heat exhaustion or a sprain, and I wore a bandana in my ponytail in case I needed to immobilize an arm or something if a little one took a tumble. We didn't need any of it, but there was a group of rambunctious college kids who decided to climb a formation and then horseplay. It didn't end so fun for one of them who came sliding down. Anyway, there are trails and markers, but it is difficult in some spots to discern so when the teens start running ahead, demand that younger kids stay in view. Everybody with me had his own mirror and whistle if we somehow got separated. There are no restrooms, so stop at one of the buildings on the way. It was awesome overall, and we plan to go again. One last thing though, there are cacti EVERYWHERE. And of course, the moment I told one of the kids to be careful of the cactus patch he was near, he went flying head first in that very direction. The best I had in that moment was a fervent Jesus prayer because the hand sanitizer and tweezers I had wouldn't have been enough. Prayer answered! Thank goodness it wasn't a snake.