Is Palo Duro Canyon worth visiting? (Houston, Amarillo: live, getaway, horse)

[joqua]

A good way to get a feel for what Palo Duro Canyon is like is to simply use the GOOGLE IMAGES search feature. There is a ton of photos of the canyon available there.

https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi

[TrapperL]

I'm from Texas. I had heard a lot about Palo Duro Canyon over the years and always wanted to visit. The wife and I stopped by the Park on our way back from the Colorado mountains a few years back. Frankly, I wouldn't drive 10 miles to see it. We were extremely disappointed. It's just a hole in the ground that's long and narrow. It's nothing like the Grand Canyon or even close to it. I've seen older trash dumps that were more intriguing. If you like flys and coons getting into everything you own, it's a great place. Otherwise, I wouldn't waste the gas. Now Big Bend, that's worth seeing if you haven't but do not go during the summer. The heat is incredible and I'd strongly suggest a 4x4 to get to see some of the ranches and other sites in Big Ben.
If you're looking for something different, take a look at Kerrville and the surrounding areas like Fredricksburg. The Texas Hill Country is great right now with the recent rains.

[wxf848]

Each person will have a different answer, so you should consider different factors. I find Palo Duro Canyon to be a worthy destination, but there's a limit to how much it's worth traveling to see. A weekend trip with a drive that long doesn't leave a whole lot of time. I enjoy long drives and see the trip as an added bonus. If you don't like long drives, that makes it harder to justify going so far away.

Consider how much time you would have. Would it be a long weekend? Consider your route and what else you'd get to see. If it's just a weekend there wouldn't be time to do much else. If you like scenic drives, there are some very nice scenic roads that might fit into the trip. The answer to your question is different for each person. I've made a day trip to the canyon, with the drive about 7 hours each way. I don't think most people would like to do that, but I enjoy long drives, so the drive is a part of the enjoyment. As soon as I get away from the city I enjoy the drive almost as much as the destination, so things factor differently for me. You've asked the question and will get insight from multiple people and can use that to decide based on your own preferences.

[joqua]

Palo Duro canyon is definitely worth a visit if one is in the panhandle for ANY reason. But as a destination from afar, I'd choose to visit the same sort of terrain in various areas of New Mexico, Arizona or Utah before I'd consider a long trip to Palo Duro. In fact my FIRST choice would be southern Utah's several National Parks and Monuments - Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, etc. All of these are in an area where one can travel easily by car from one to the other during a week-long stay.

[thisguysa]

After seeing some canyons in Wyoming, Palo Duro just doesn't seem to match up despite its claims about it being the second biggest in the country. Maybe I saw the wrong part, but the sides didn't seem very steep to me and lots of places just kinda dropped off like hills.

Now granted it is worth seeing and is awesome in its own right, but I wouldn't drive 9 hours for it alone.

[cobolt]

Depends on what you want. If you're one of those people who are more entertained by size or compare places based on the wow factor, then you'll probably be disappointed. If you're someone who likes the beauty of nature and who can find unique factors regardless of where you are, you'll probably enjoy it. For most who live in the Panhandle, it is a huge difference from the surrounding topography, so it is unique in that sense. No, it isn't as grand as the Grand Canyon, but for the Texas Panhandle, it's pretty incredible.

Just went last weekend and drove 5 hours to get there, spent two full days hiking. The first day was on the side trails and we hiked through at least 3 different eco systems, which I found fascinating. The second day we hiked the Lighthouse trail and I felt it was worth it, especially when you climb up to the outcropping formations. You're only 15 minutes or miles away from hotels in the town of Canyon, and if you don't like what the little town of 13K has to offer in the way of food, Amarillo is another 15 miles north up the road.

There are other things to see in the area too, but most catogorize them as "hick" or "cowboy" and the region as "ugly" or "flat" so, go with what YOU think you would like. I used to live there and loved it. Your mileage may vary.

[LordyLordy]

Originally Posted by cobolt

Depends on what you want. If you're one of those people who are more entertained by size or compare places based on the wow factor, then you'll probably be disappointed. If you're someone who likes the beauty of nature and who can find unique factors regardless of where you are, you'll probably enjoy it. For most who live in the Panhandle, it is a huge difference from the surrounding topography, so it is unique in that sense. No, it isn't as grand as the Grand Canyon, but for the Texas Panhandle, it's pretty incredible.

Just went last weekend and drove 5 hours to get there, spent two full days hiking. The first day was on the side trails and we hiked through at least 3 different eco systems, which I found fascinating. The second day we hiked the Lighthouse trail and I felt it was worth it, especially when you climb up to the outcropping formations. You're only 15 minutes or miles away from hotels in the town of Canyon, and if you don't like what the little town of 13K has to offer in the way of food, Amarillo is another 15 miles north up the road.

There are other things to see in the area too, but most catogorize them as "hick" or "cowboy" and the region as "ugly" or "flat" so, go with what YOU think you would like. I used to live there and loved it. Your mileage may vary.

Did you run into any snakes? Many, none, a few?

I agree with you. I personally plan on visiting and riding my horse around there.

[joqua]

Originally Posted by cobolt

There are other things to see in the area too, but most catogorize them as "hick" or "cowboy" ...

Well, in that vein, I am a windmill aficionado. As an artist, it has long been a favorite subject when I'm rendering Texas landscapes. Stick in a windmill and it guarantees a sale! Amazing how many people love them. So here's a "must see" museum for those with an interest when in the panhandle area:

http://www.windmill.com/

[PanTerra]

The first time I went to Palo Duro Canyon, it was ok and we did the touristy things, went to the Texas show, looked around a bit but wasn't impressed by it. At the time I was in my 20s. Even being a geologist I didn't really have a chance to get out and explore anywhere other than the main tourist area, gift shop, the Texas play, probably was there for about 3 hours. Then I come back 10 - 15 years later with a pretty good sized group for the entire weekend of hiking and mountain biking. A few of us flew in and some others drove and picked us up at the airport. The ones that drove brought all the mount bikes in a trailer with the rests of the camping gear and food. What an incredible weekend! I loved it, we hiked all over, and mtb-ed as well, even at night through the canyon. We had good lights. But a drive from houston and back will eat up a lot of the weekend.

[madrone2k]

I visited Palo Duro Canyon decades ago and haven't been back, which I guess says something. I wanted to like it (and still do), but was underwhelmed by the scenery and didn't enjoy the heat and biting flies. So, I would say it wouldn't be worth making a long weekend drive from Houston to see it.

OTOH, if I were passing through the area, I would definitely stop by to do a hike there again. I agree with the earlier poster who said something along the lines of enjoying places w/o needing them to be spectacular. Big Bend isn't as spectacular as Yosemite, but it is still special and has its charms.