Spring Break 2006 in Palo Duro Canyon

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In April of 2006 I traveled to Palo Duro Canyon with my (now) fiancée, Katherine. We spent three days exploring this amazing canyon and both agreed that it is our new favorite place in Texas.

On the day we arrived, firefighters were still battling the wildfires ravaging the Panhandle some 100 miles to the northeast of the Canyon. Due to the winds that day, the canyon was a bit obscured by the smoke plume blowing down from that direction. As we looked down the canyon from the Visitor's Center overlook, the farthest reaches were a little hazy, and the sky had a decidedly gray cast.

In this region of Texas, everything is very flat. As we neared the Canyon, we really wondered whether something so decidedly...topographical could possibly be located in the middle of the seemingly endless plains. But, sure enough, about two miles from the park gates a big hole in the ground appeared to our right. After we arrived, we spent quite a bit of time up on the rim at the various overlooks established near the park entrance. Without even descending into the Canyon itself (where the camps and trails are) we were blown away by its beauty.

The view from there gave us just a hint of the fascinating geology that we would see up-close in the coming days. The whole Canyon is cast in beautiful hues of pink, brown, and white, each signifying a particular period in the geologic history of the place. I was particularly struck by the beauty that the layering of these colors created. Formations like the "Spanish Skirts" (below) showcased the layers particularly well.

Once we got to the bottom of the Canyon, we were pleasantly surprised by a clean, spacious campsite with a fantastic view. Despite our arrival in the middle of Spring Break, the area was not overly crowded, and each campsite was large enough to allow plenty of elbow room. We spent some of the evening exploring a network of trails that winds through all the major campsites and generally follows the creek at the Canyon's bottom.

We headed out early the next morning to explore the trademark of Palo Duro Canyon park--the Lighthouse Trail. It was surprisingly chilly, so broke out most of our warm layers, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the cold temperatures quicly gave way to very comfortable hiking weather. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to go hiking. Setting out early meant that we basically had the trail to ourselves for the hike out to the Lighthouse. Along the way we enjoyed the wonderful rock formations and dramatic colors that make the Canyon so distinctive in my opinion.

Early in the hike we naively mistook a small hoodoo (tall rock spire, below) for the Lighthouse itself. We quickly figured out that wasn't our goal and continued to follow the trail. Having hiked a good deal of poorly-signed, ambiguous, and nonexistent park "trails", Katherine and I appreciated how well-established and easy to follow this trail was.

At the end we were treated to a very rewarding climb, culminating in a breathtaking vista from the approach slope to the Lighthouse itself. We sat there enjoying the view for a while, and then I got up the courage to climb up on top of the Lighthouse table. It doesn't look very hard, and it wasn't, but getting up there did involve crawling a few feet along a 2-3 foot wide ledge that slopes toward the edge of a 30-40 foot drop. I thought I was doing pretty well to brave this, until a family of three rambunctious boys and their dad scurried past where I had gone and continued to climb all the way to the top of the peak in the background! Oh well. I was perfectly satisifed with the view from the table.

This was without a doubt the best hike I've done in Texas.

The next day, we spent some time hiking up on the Canyon rim, following a little-known path called the Triassic Trail. This hike offered a whole new perspective on the Canyon and was really quite exciting. Once again, the morning was rather chilly (and WINDY!). The park road wound along the wall beneath our feet, and we could see the cars heading down toward their campsites.

The end of this trail (not far from the spot I later proposed to Katherine) took us out to the very end of a ridge, which was capped by a small rock formation that looked a lot like a table. This is the same ridge we were looking across at from the Visitor's Center on our first day. We took turns standing on the top of this " table" and enjoying the 360 degree panorama that it afforded (see top of page). We really felt like we were on top of the world. Of course, as soon as we said that, we realized that we had actually just come back up to ground level, and everything we saw was below us, rather than us being above it. I think there's some kind of metaphor for excellence, mediocrity, and culture lurking in there someplace, but I'll let you figure it out :-)

Overall, this was an amazing trip. I highly recommend a visit to the Canyon to any Texas outdoorsperson. The park offers nice facilities, and a healthy trail system that's easy to cover in three to four days of leisurely hiking. The beauty of Palo Duro Canyon is difficult to describe in words or on film: not even Big Bend can compare with it in my book.