Palo Duro Canyon

Palo Duro Canyon, on the Texas Panhandle plain, was cut into the high plains by the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River. It is up to about 240 m (800 ft) deep; sources differ on its length: the park authority gives about 190 km (120 miles), other sources about 72 km (45 miles). On the CCC Trail you descend roughly 150 m (500 ft) through four rock layers: the red lower slopes are Permian Quartermaster rock, above them come the Triassic Tecovas and Trujillo formations, and at the top the Ogallala Formation. A landmark is the rock pillar called Lighthouse Rock. Georgia O’Keeffe painted the canyon from 1916 to 1918, and in 1976 it became a National Natural Landmark.

The park is home to wild turkeys, white-tailed and mule deer, coyotes, roadrunners and members of the official State Longhorn Herd of Texas. Threatened species include the Palo Duro mouse and the Texas horned lizard. The trail to the Lighthouse is about 4.5 km (2.8 miles) one way.