When It Rains It Pours
We quickly made sure our valuables were stowed away, but as it started heavily raining, we discovered that we didn’t need to take refuge in our cars. The shade shelter that sits over the picnic table covered us enough to where we could sit outside and enjoy views of the storm without freezing from getting wet. The dirt around our campsite became a muddy flood, but what was awesome about viewing Palo Duro Canyon in the rain was that the rainwater saturated the colors that layered the canyon walls. So even though we could no longer hike, we were still able to behold wonderful views of the area.
We spent the rest of the night drinking hot tea and learning more about our new friends. They shared the adventures they experienced coming from the Northeast and told us fascinating stories of when they traveled to Asia for six months, visiting Nepal, Thailand, and the Philippines. The storm raged on throughout the night and morning until it was time for us to leave. Even though the rain calmed down for a second, the park still unfortunately closed down all the trails because of the flooding. The rain followed us home as we left the Texas panhandle, but even though we didn’t get to see everything we thought we would, it didn’t feel like we missed out on anything.
Frequently Asked Questions About Palo Duro Canyon State Park
What is the best time of year to visit Palo Duro Canyon State Park?
The best time to visit Palo Duro Canyon State Park is in the summertime when the “Texas! Outdoor Musical” performs. Generally, the show runs almost daily from May to September. Start your visit with the chuckwagon barbecue dinner.
What is the climate of Palo Duro Canyon State Park?
Palo Duro Canyon State Park has hot, dry summers and short winters. The wind is usually more robust than in other places in the United States. The hottest periods occur between mid-July and mid-August when daytime temperatures exceed 95 degrees.
What kind of wildlife can be found in Palo Duro Canyon State Park?
Palo Duro Canyon State Park is home to many animals, including mule and white-tailed deer, bobcats, coyotes and wild turkeys. A pastime of many visitors is watching the roadrunners. The park is home to endangered Palo Duro Canyon mice.
Are there designated RV camping spots in Palo Duro Canyon State Park?
There are camping spots for RVs up to 60 feet long at Palo Duro Canyon State Park. The campsites are in five different locations. The largest one is the Sagebrush Campground, which has 47 sites.
Are pets allowed at Palo Duro Canyon State Park?
Pets are allowed at Palo Duro Canyon State Park, but they are not permitted at the “Texas! Outdoor Musical” unless they are licensed service animals. Pets must be kept on a leash and always attended to.
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Do Not Miss While At Palo Duro Canyon State Park:
We still have a lot of the park left to explore, but after our first visit our recommendations of “Must See/Do” while you’re at Palo Duro Canyon State Park include: the El Coronado Lodge for information on the park as well as its local art gallery and museum, the scenic overlooks , the Cowboy Dugout offers an interesting peek into life in the canyon during the 1800s, and the Trading Post is a nice place to eat when you don’t feel like cooking or need to pick up a few supplies. We really enjoyed our hike on the Paseo del Rio trail. It was an easy trail with ever changing plant life and views, and interesting finds along the way . As a bonus: quite a bit of the trail was shaded. And don’t forget to check out the park’s iconic rock structure: the Lighthouse! Even if you choose not to explore the trail, you can get a glimpse of the Lighthouse from the trail head parking lot.
The Lighthouse
View from the El Coronado Lodge
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Inside Palo Duro Canyon State Park
You can find many adventures inside Palo Duro Canyon State Park, like hiking to see the towering rock formations. You can also ride a horse into the canyon or explore the trails on mountain bikes. The sky gets very dark at night, making it a great place to get out your telescope. You may also want to take the scenic drive through the canyon. Be sure to bring your camera to capture unique images of the wildlife and the desert flowers.
Amarillo Ranch Rv Park
This spacious campground is 20 miles north of Palo Duro Canyon State Park, near Amarillo. It has 140 full-service campsites, of which 65 are pull-throughs. The park offers cable TV and wireless Internet service and has a wealth of other amenities, including a 40-foot heated pool, Finnish steam sauna and hot tub spa. The campground features restrooms with showers, a laundry, large club house with fireplace and full kitchen, a gift shop and large pavilion with barbecue grills.
Amarillo Ranch RV Park 1414 Sunrise Drive Amarillo, Texas 79104 806-373-4962? amarillorvranch
References
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Camping Near You Find A Free Campsite
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Our community provides the best free camping information available. Free campgrounds can be hard to find. Freecampsites.net makes it easy. We give you a simple, map based search engine to find free and cheap camping areas. Community reviews and ratings provide you with up to date information and help you select the best camp site for your next camping trip.
This is a platform for sharing campgrounds and camp sites you have discovered. We are community driven, and while we will be adding many free camping spots, we hope that you will add some of your favorite camping places as well. By sharing camping information freely, we can all spend less time researching campgrounds, spend less money, and more time camping. If everyone contributes a few campsites, we’ll all have more places to go camping.
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Best Hikes And Trails
Hiking is one of the best ways to get the lay of the land and experience the unique flora and fauna of Palo Duro. Here are some of the trails to check out, ranging in order from shortest to longest :
- This flat, moderate, 2.2-mile trail winds along the river watch for the colorful Spanish Skirts rock formation along the way.
- Civilian Conservation Corps Trail: Cross four historic CCC bridges as you descend hundreds of feet from the canyon rim to the floor on this difficult 2.8-mile trail.
- Rock Garden Trail: On this challenging 5-mile, you’ll climb 600 feet from a field of boulders at the bottom of the canyon to the Rylander Fortress Trail along the canyons rim.
- Lighthouse Trail: Of the parks many unique, million-year-old geological features, the 310-foot-tall Lighthouse is the most popular, and you can reach it via a 5.7-mile trail that affords stunning views of the colorful, eroded cliff faces along the way.
- Givens, Spicer, and Lowry Trail: This 6.2-mile trail is definitely a workout, but the viewswondrous rock formations, blazing red sandstone, scenic canyon overlooksare worth it.
- Upper/Lower Comanche Trails: If youre up for a longer trek, both the Upper and Lower Comanche Trails offer marvelous scenery and a look at the heart of the territory of the Comanches. The Upper Comanche is 6.6 miles the Lower is 8.8 miles.
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Visiting Palo Duro Canyon State Park For A Day:
Day Use Areas
Picnic Areas and Day Use parking are spread throughout this expansive park. Many of these are near trail heads. If you are visiting during the Summer, be sure to see the outdoor musical, Texas. The El Coronado Lodge houses a museum and local art gallery and is absolutely worth a visit. This is a very popular park and summers can be both extremely hot and crowded. Please plan accordingly and always take plenty of water and sunscreen on your hikes.
Camping Near Palo Duro Canyon Texas
Camping Near Palo Duro Canyon, Texas
Palo Duro Canyon is considered the \”Grand Canyon of Texas.\” The massive, colorful canyon, south of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle, is 120 miles long, up to 20 miles wide and as much as 800 feet deep. It ranks as the second-largest canyon in the United States, behind the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Palo Duro was formed by erosion from a fork of the Red River. Early Spanish explorers named the canyon after the hard wood trees and shrubs in the area. Today, it is a popular recreational area, with several campgrounds around the canyon rim and in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, which encompasses much of the scenic northern portion of the canyon.
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Palo Duro Location And Entrance Fees
Palo Duro Canyon State Park is located southeast of Amarillo, Texas, in the Panhandle.
The daily entrance fee for Palo Duro Canyon State Park is $8 per person and free for children 12 and under. You can also get an annual pass for $70, which covers your day use fees for all 80+ Texas parks. You can purchase it online.
How To Get Topalo Duro Canyon State Park
If you are coming to Palo Duro Canyon State Park from Amarillo and other northern areas, then take Interstate 27 and get off at Exit 106. Get on the service road, and turn right on TX 217E. Continue for 10.8 miles, and the park will be on your right.
If you are coming to Palo Duro Canyon State Park from Lubbock and other southern areas, then take Exit 103 off the interstate, and turn right on TX 217 E. The park will be on your right in about 10.8 miles.
To get to the park from Canyon, TX, simply follow TX 217 E.
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Our Visit To Palo Duro Canyon State Park:
Palo Duro Canyon State Park Tour
They say “Everything is Bigger in Texas”! At 120 miles long, an average of 6 miles wide and 800 feet deep, the “Grand Canyon of Texas”, Palo Duro Canyon, is the second largest canyon in the United States ! The second largest state park in Texas, Palo Duro Canyon State Park, sits on 28,000 acres toward the northern end of the canyon. Only Big Bend Ranch State Park is larger.
With miles of territory to explore, Palo Duro Canyon State Park is truly a gem of the Texas Parks and Wildlife system. If you haven’t visited this park yet, absolutely put it on your bucketlist of places to visit in the Lone Star State!
Even though we spent several days at Palo Duro Canyon State Park, we feel like we’ve only scratched the surface of what this park has to offer. There is so much to see and do in this vast park, especially if you enjoy hiking, geocaching, birding or wildlife watching. This park was named a Registered National Landmark in 1976.
Our Campsite at Palo Duro Canyon State Park
Trail Head Temperature Gauge
The only other issue we had was with biting flies! These pesky buggers were ruthless during our visit. They drove us and our dog, Star, absolutely nuts. Be sure to bring a good insect repellent with you so you don’t become their lunch!
Palo Duro Canyon State Park Camping
There are several campgrounds if you want to camp in Palo Duro Canyon State Park.
Campsites with Electricity:
All four campgrounds have sites that include picnic tables, water hookups, both 30 and 50 amp hookups, restrooms with showers nearby, and a fire ring or a grill.
Palu Duro Canyon State Park camping fees are $26 for sites with electricity, plus the entrance fee to the park.
There are also primitive sites, which are $12 for the night, and campsites with water only for $16.
Make reservations at Reserve America.
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Entering Palo Duro Canyon State Park
Palo Duro Canyon State Park Per person: $5.0
Many activities, such as the amphitheater, come with an additional cost. The park is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
If you have ever gasped in astonishment as you drove the steep road into this canyon, went hiking on the trails or attended the show, then please share your thoughts on social media and tag RVshare in them. RVshare would also love it if you send your memories and photos to When you share your firsthand knowledge, everyone can benefit from your experience.
Group Camping At Palo Duro Canyon State Park:
Wolfberry Group Camping Loop
Restrooms with Showers located across the road at Mesquite Camping Loop
Park at Cabin
Each cabin includes air conditioning, heater, table, chairs, beds, electricity, water, microwave, refrigerator. Canyon Rim Cabins have a view down into the canyon. Cow Camp Cabins sit on the canyon floor.
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Car Camping At Palo Duro Canyon State Park
Reserving camping at Palo Duro Canyon State Park is pretty easy, and we met a couple digital nomads who had arrived at the same time we did for first-come, first-serve camping. I made our reservation on theTexas State Park website just a month prior to our trip, and there were a decent amount of openings that ranged from cabins, campsites with electric hookups and/or water hookups, group campsites, group halls, and even a pavilion that can hold up to 54 people in a group. My friend and I stayed at the Fortress Cliff Camp Area, a campsite with a water hookup that lies deep in the middle of the canyon in between campgrounds near the entrance such as the Sagebrush and Hackberry Camp Areas and campgrounds near the end of the park such as the Cactus, Mesquite, and Juniper Multi-Use Camp Areas.
We picked the Fortress Cliff Camp Area because we only needed a water hookup since we planned to sleep in the car, wanted to camp deep in the canyon, and be near the biggest cluster of hiking trails. Palo Duro Canyon also offers mountain biking, equestrian, and other multi-use trails, but we were only interested in hiking. Our camp area had reasonably spaced campsites, two big trash bins, and two porta potties. The canyon wall is a nice backdrop, so we were able to enjoy our meals and downtime while admiring the red rocks that overlooked us.
Image by Lauren Pineda
Image by Lauren Pineda
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Best Things To Do In Palo Duro Canyon State Park
Palo Duro Canyon is one of the most popular Texas State Parks, and for good reason. The Grand Canyon of Texas is a beautiful collection of diverse habitats that attracts deer, wild turkeys , coyotes, bobcats, roadrunners, and more.
The Civilian Conservation Corps built the Canyon Gallery and Visitor Center, located a short half-mile inside the park entrance near the top of the canyon. Youll drive past the parking lot for the Overlook to get to the historic structure.
Exhibits tell the story of the canyon, and theres a gift shop offering Southwest art and pottery and jewelry made by Native Americans.
Hiking is one of the most popular things to do in Palo Duro Canyon State Park. There are more than thirty miles of trails, and some are available for biking.
Some of the easier hikes are Paseo Del Rio and Sunflower Trail. Rylander Fortress Cliff is an easy hike along the top of the canyon walls. The most popular is Lighthouse Trail, a moderate 2.8 mile walk to a unique hoodoo formation. Youll definitely want to take lots of water on this trail its where the majority of heat-related injuries happen.
For those looking for a real workout, Givens, Spicer, Lowry Trail is a difficult 3.1 mile challenging trek featuring beautiful scenery.
If youre into mountain biking, Capitol Peak has three levels of difficulty, so its suitable for various skill levels.
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Palo Duro Canyon State Park
Palo Duro Canyon State Park, under the jurisdiction of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, encompasses nearly 30,000 acres of the northern part of the canyon. The park offers 80 campsites, not counting backpacking sites, on the canyon floor. The main campground has campsites with water and 50-amp electrical hookups for RVs, trailers or tents. These sites, located in the Mesquite and Sagebrush camp loops, include a picnic table, fire ring and a paved parking area. Each loop has a restroom with showers. About a half- mile from the main campground are two primitive camping areas: Cactus and Fortress Cliff. Each of these sites, chiefly for tents, has a table, shade shelter, fire ring and water. No restrooms or showers are available here. There’s also an equestrian camp with a corral, just south of the turnaround. A 2-mile trail leads to backpacking sites with no accommodations campers must bring in water.
Palo Duro Canyon State Park 11450 Park Road 5 Canyon, Texas 79015 800-792-1112 512-389-8900 palodurocanyon.com