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April 8th, 2013: Palo Duro Canyon, Texas
From Quanah we drove mostly West to Palo Duro Canyon State Park, a Texas state park that is located about 20 miles south of Amarillo. Just like the Grand Canyon, however, we didn't see any sign that we were approaching a scenic landmark until we were pretty much right at the entrance gate!
Palo Duro Canyon is a magnificent canyon cut over the eons by Palo Duro Creek, a small but energetic rivulet, especially in flash flood season! The canyon drive descended past a Visitor Center and then followed Palo Duro Creek along the bottom of the canyon. Perforce we had to cross the river at several river fords where the river crossed the drive. Understandably, that drive is not recommended during heavy rains!
The canyon resembled a miniature version of the Grand Canyon combined with the Painted Dessert! It was large enough to still be quite scenic, yet small enough to be more human scale and approachable than the Grand Canyon. We were fortunate to have be able to drive to see the canyon's features as we didn't have enough time left in the day to do any hiking.
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