Palo Duro Canyon

The Grand Canyon is the largest canyon in the United States; while the Palo Duro Canyon comes in second.  By any stretch it is big.  It runs for about half the length of the Grand Canyon at 120 miles but at its widest it is wider by two miles.  The main difference is the depth.  At over a mile deep the Grand Canyon is impressive, but the Palo Duro Canyon is still deep at about 800 feet.

The River that has carved its way down the canyon is the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River.  At this time of year it is more a creek at the end of the canyon we were in, but there were plenty of signs it regularly breaches the banks and flows into other areas of the canyon.  Eventually the Prairie Dog Town Fork joins the North Fork and becomes the Red River.  It is referred to as the Red River of the South to differentiate it from the Red River of the North - which is the river that runs north from North Dakota and Minnesota into Manitoba and eventually into Hudson Bay.

That would have been a lot of water.

I know things are bigger in Texas and Pat is short, but…….

The Red River that gets its source from the Palo Duro Canyon was presumably named as the dirt in this part of the United States is quite red.  The actual source of this branch is just across the border in New Mexico, but it doesn’t begin to resemble a river until it reaches south east end of the canyon.  By the time it has joined the main tributary of the Red River it is a fairly large river and drains a large part of Texas on its way to eventually joining the Mississippi River just north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The Palo Duro Canyon State Park is a fine example of how these types of areas encourage outdoor activity of all sorts.  From the town of Canyon the state road that leads to the park is two lane, straight as an arrow and has a 75mph speed limit.  We didn’t see anyone else on the road in front or behind but by the time we got to the park entrance we were about twenty cars back from the entrance gate.  Once past the entrance it was clear this is a park that is visited by a lot of people.  People were mostly hiking the various trails, but there were horse back tours, bike riding opportunities and three campgrounds we saw.

Unlike the Grand Canyon, the Palo Duro Canyon is an immersive experience from the bottom.  It is not a hard drive to the bottom but a 10% grade and a lot of switchbacks would make it very difficult if we were to take our RV down there.  I would not feel comfortable and we did not see any large rigs at the bottom.  I think the largest we saw was a fifth wheel with a 36 foot trailer.

Once at the bottom the road becomes less windy and undulates through the valley floor in a large loop with campgrounds off to the side and all kinds of pull-off spots to enter the various trails.  It was fairly windy at the top and 72 degrees before we descended the road to the bottom, but once we got to the bottom it was immediately evident the temperature was a lot higher.  The car thermometer said 85, so quite a large difference.  We were told to take lots of water if going any hiking and such because it is super dry here and the heat at the bottom will dehydrate you quickly.

The park has a great interpretive centre that explains the history of the native population of the area and their struggles as settlers and soldiers began to make their way west.  It also talks a lot about the CCC, which I had never heard about before.  In fact, while we were in the hall that explained about the CCC, a man and his wife came in who had made the trip from Illinois as his father had come out west when he was in his twenties to work on this specific park.  A sort of pilgrimage for him.

The CCC program was an amazing program in that it gave unemployed men and women the opportunity to earn some small wages, while developing the land into parks and recreation areas.  I don’t think you would get that kind of response today.

All in all it was a great day out.

Interpretive Center venue

Campground site with gazebo and electricity and water

Thank you for stopping by to read.