A great first impression
We made the long 8 hour drive up to Palo Duro Canyon and after the many hours in West Texas with little landscaptual company except scrub brush and windmills, we were actually shocked when it suddenly appeared before us. One minute it’s the cotton fields of Lubbock until you enter the state park’s front gate, and all of a sudden you are afraid of falling off the mind-boggling cliff running beside the road. A good first impression to say the least. We drove into the canyon after a couple moderately steep switchbacks to where the campsites and the meat of the park lay within. There are a few cabins up on the top of the canyon to rent and a couple overlooks and trailheads, but the rest of the trails, campsites, and excitement is within the canyon.
There is a pavilion, a general store, and a horseback riding post before the first camping area where we were staying, Hackberry Camp, which has hookups for water and electricity at every site along with bathrooms and showers. The general store has hot food like burgers and sandwiches, along with ice-cream, camping necessities, and gift-store knick-knacks ranging from t-shirts, to wooden hand-carved figurines, to local jam. Past this first campsite are many trailheads, a few other campsites gradually getting more rugged (including horse ones), and great views all around.
Tip 1: Bring a bike!
When my dad and I drove into the park there was a quick storm, that lucky for us, dropped the temperature about 20 degrees and made the canyon walls vividly saturated in color. The red especially popped out with the added moisture. Once we had our camp settled at about 5 pm, we went on a long bike ride through the park to get the lay of the land. We biked on the main road with only a few cars passing on the way (more traffic is in the morning, but still bikable) all the way to the end of the state park. There were many trails running parallel to the road that would be good mountain biking trails as well. Even from the road however, the views were spectacular and the inclines were doable. I would highly recommend to anyone visiting this park to bring their bike because the distances were perfect and a few trails were easy enough for even a novice bike rider (with more difficult ones as well for the more experienced).
Tip 2: Try out a couple different trails
The next morning we casually had breakfast before heading to the most popular trail of the park, the Lighthouse trail at about 9 AM. . It is popular because it ends at a large, unique rock formation named the Lighthouse and has become a symbol of the park. It is about 5 miles round trip at the shortest or can go up to 8 miles if you take the Givens, Spicer, Lowry Trail. We biked to the Lighthouse trailhead about a mile from our campsite and tried to see how far we could bike on the trail to minimize the miles on my dad’s joints, but we didn’t make it very far. More experienced bikers were seen flying along on the trail, but it was a little above my level. The hike was surprising for how the views of the canyon changed quickly. Every time we marched up another ridge, there was more to see in another direction, a very good feature of a desert landscape trail where usually you can see the entire next mile coming. Alas, we only went about a mile deep, but even that was very worth it.
Tip 3: Sunscreen and sno-cones
Once we got back to the trailhead the sun had started to come out in full force which made it the perfect time to buy some sno-cones from a shack in the trailhead parking lot, a brilliant idea from the park. Another ingenious feature here was that at the beginning of trailheads all across the park there was always a map with some helpful info and a squirt your own container of sunscreen attached (though sometimes out of course, so don’t necessarily count on it). After the sno-cones revived my dad and I and got lathered with the free sunscreen, we biked down the road some more to the trailhead of the Rock Garden trail.
I had read that this trail was a bit of a doosey, climbing up to the top of the canyon over its 2.5 mile expanse (one-way). Again, we had no expectations of going that far on the trail and the beginning is what enticed us. It is called the Rock Garden because at the beginning there are giant boulders smacked all over the ground. The trail swerves, sweeps, and steeps around them with bits of incline and decline repeatedly. However, in the first 100 steps there are some impressively huge rocks that also make for a great photo-op with background views of the canyon. After a few ups and downs and many photos we decided to head back (especially because it was nearing 1 PM and heating up).
After lunch at our campsite, I braved the heat by taking the Kiowa trail until I reached the general store. The Kiowa trail went from our campsite towards the general direction of the store, so I figured could somehow make it work. The trail was alright, not as astounding after the two in the morning, but very flat with lots of shade. The best points was getting up close with some of the bright red canyon walls and a couple neat bridges above a creek. After a refreshing air-conditioned stop at the store to check it out, the walk back was a tad stifling hot if I’m honest.
Tip 4: If too hot to move, don’t
For the rest of the afternoon I curled up with a book in my chair that I moved to follow the shade, occasionally hosing myself with a garden hose we connected to the waterspout to create a make-shift outdoor shower.
Tip 5: Take photos on way in or out
The next morning we headed out early, stopping at an outlook at the top of the canyon on the way to get some stunning sunrise panorama shots. For a quick detour in a Texas State Park there isn’t a better way to do it. Palo Duro has some great hikes, views, and convenient amenities within its accessible size and easy to navigate grounds.
To check out the rest of my roadtrip click here or to see other guides click here.
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