hot_rod_9384 said:

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It's on my list for camping with the boys

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I second that. Mine are 4 and 7 so we aren't quite ready.

Hike the lighthouse trail. It's nice that time of year.

Should definitely see mule deer and turkey
Hike the lighthouse trail as suggested and watch the rim for audads

AOUDAD sheep

We enjoy the Canyon a lot. Granted it's less than an hour away from us and we go fairly often. We skip the summer because of the heat, crowds, and with my customers irrigating, it's my busiest time of year. We will likely start hitting the Canyon a couple of times per month after the middle of September or so.

http://www.newschannel10.com/story/35624445/beating-the-heat-at-palo-duro-canyon

TLDR: recorded temps of 150 Fahrenheit on canyon floor.

I recently did the aerial mapping for Palo Duro and it will be inundated with subdivisions to the west of it 20 to 30 years. Amarillo is growing at a fast pace. There are subdivisions being built on the park road to the park. It used to be desolate but is getting busier.

A recent thread, where I linked some of the older threads.

https://texags.com/forums/39/topics/2933780

And an older thread

https://texags.com/forums/39/topics/2125220#r32210077

As far as scenic areas, the classic is the Lighthouse Trail. But I like the Givens-Spicer-Lowry Trail, which gets you to some nice views pretty quickly. This photo of my daughter and son-in-law is from that trail.



One trail that is not marked on park maps, but is pretty popular, starts at the point below and heads west.

Cave trail

It leads to some small erosional caves not too far away. I don't know why the park doesn't mark it, maybe they don't want the liability of people going in the caves when it rains, and the possibility of collapse.

The ideal place to stay at the park is one of the CCC cabins on the cabin rim. Sort of primitive, but a world-class view.

If luxury is more your style, there are a group of cabins in the Sunday Cabin area, just outside the NW corner of the park. The closest possible commercial place to stay to the park, and you are almost 100% sure to see Auodad (the sheep, not the mountain lion) because some idiot in the area feeds them.

https://www.dovesrestcabins.com/

CanyonAg77 said:

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The ideal place to stay at the park is one of the CCC cabins on the cabin rim. Sort of primitive, but a world-class view.

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Are these the more primitive cabins that run $60/night ?
Is "CCC" the Cow Camp Cabins ? I ask because on the map, they also show "Rim Cabins".

For some crazy reason, my 12 year old son thinks he wants to go to Amarillo. I'm planning some kind of long camping weekend in October and Palo Duro is an option. We'll see how this all works together.

CCC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Conservation_Corps

The cabins were built under the CCC program during the Depression of the 1930s.

The cabins you want are the Goodnight, Lighthouse, or Sorenson cabins on the rim. Still primitive, but they have bathrooms. They are on the north rim, past the entrance gate, but before the visitors center, and before the road drops into the canyon. Your view out your porch is an 800 foot drop into the canyon.

The Cow Camp Loop cabins are the same era, but do not have bathrooms in the cabin. They are on the floor of the canyon, on the far southeast end.

And hey, nothing wrong with Amarillo. Avoid: Cadillac Ranch. Big Texan Steak Ranch is adequate.

Worth doing: Palo Duro, Caprock Canyons, Buffalo Lake NWR, Panhandle Plains Museum.

Thanks.
The real Civil Conservation Corps was what I first thought of, but then I ran across the other possible CCC.

SunrayAg said:

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FAT SEXY said:

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Any decent spots to fish around there?

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About 6 hours any direction....

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Funny and true.

FAT SEXY said:

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Noted.. Any abundance of wildlife in the park? I'm sure there is.. but I'll ask anyways.

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I usually camp at the Cactus Campsite area when I am on my way to and returning from my annual elk hunt trip to Colorado. I got awakened one night by a big hog right outside my tent. It ignored my efforts to get it to go away. At the same time there was a very nice 10 point whitetail drinking from the puddle under one of the campsite water faucets.

The canyon is at its best when there have been some rains to green things up. The green is a sharp contrast to the reds of the canyon.

tx1c said:

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For some crazy reason, my 12 year old son thinks he wants to go to Amarillo. I'm planning some kind of long camping weekend in October and Palo Duro is an option. We'll see how this all works together.

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Nobody really WANTS to go to Amarillo. And sure as hell don't want to STAY there once they've seen it.