Palo Duro Canyon
We drove from Santa Fe to Amarillo rather than follow a more direct route back to Austin because we wanted to spend time at Palo Duro Canyon State Park, which we hadn’t visited for at least 20 years.
My impression is that most people outside Texas have never heard of Palo Duro, even though it’s the second largest canyon in the United States. The largest is obviously the Grand Canyon, and some people have even called Palo Duro the Grand Canyon of Texas. On October 20th we spent about four-and-a-half hours going around the state park, with me of course taking many photographs.
The pictures in this post are all from Capitol Peak, perhaps the most scenic place in the park.
Could you tell that the second and fourth photographs show the same formation from different angles?
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You may be aware that by the early 20th century a blight had wiped out most of America’s billions of chestnut trees. With that in mind, you may want to read the article titled “Technology Puts American Chestnut Trees on the Comeback Trail,” whose subtitle is “U.S. considers releasing a genetically modified version tolerant of blight, as some people warn of environmental risks.”
© 2023 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Texas is so diverse.
Outstanding photographs of a truly scenic location! Would love to be there at sunrise, sunset, at night. My mind reels at the photo potential.
Wally Jones
January 4, 2023 at 9:40 AM
With Texas’s large size comes diversity of terrain, some of it spectacularly scenic. Palo Duro looked great on the sunny day when we visited, and I reveled in the opportunities for pictures of various kinds. At home I do largely botanical portraits; at Palo Duro I understandably went almost entirely for geological formations.
Steve Schwartzman
January 4, 2023 at 10:53 AM
You’re right, I’d never heard of this state park! The rock formations remind me of Arches NP. No, I couldn’t tell it was the same formation until you told me. Cool!!
circadianreflections
January 4, 2023 at 10:37 AM
Now that you know about Palo Duro, you’ll have to put it on your to-visit list. I’m sure glad we went back after so many years. Speaking of which, it’s been about as long since our one visit to Arches, which I’d also happily revisit, along with the other national parks in Utah.
Steve Schwartzman
January 4, 2023 at 10:56 AM
I’d go back to Arches and other parks there too. Arches is in my top 5.
circadianreflections
January 4, 2023 at 11:28 AM
Maybe we’ll run into each other there.
Steve Schwartzman
January 4, 2023 at 11:50 AM
That would be a cool meetup!
circadianreflections
January 5, 2023 at 10:56 AM
Sure thing.
Steve Schwartzman
January 5, 2023 at 1:44 PM
The formations are beautiful!
The WSJ article is behind a paywall, but I think I remember reading about this in Science News or another magazine some time ago.
Lavinia Ross
January 4, 2023 at 10:59 AM
Yes, the formations sure are great—even better than I remember them from many years earlier.
I’m sorry the link didn’t work. As a WSJ subscriber I e-mailed myself the story and posted that URL, which I thought would do the trick.
Steve Schwartzman
January 4, 2023 at 11:29 AM
Thanks for the article, I read it this morning. Yes, the various camps and their views. I see both sides of the issue.
Lavinia Ross
January 5, 2023 at 11:43 AM
You’re welcome. Yes, each side has its good points.
Steve Schwartzman
January 5, 2023 at 12:32 PM
These structures in the rocks, these layers in different colours, are really something, aren’t they? And also the rock formations themselves.
We spent a few great days at Palo Duro in 2019. We had rented a cabin directly on the rim. Fantastic views:
And we also watched the performance of the musical “Texas”. We really enjoyed that show.
Pit
January 4, 2023 at 11:24 AM
I’ve heard about that musical but haven’t ever seen it. I gather it’s only put on in the tourist season.
By renting a cabin on the rim and spending a few days at Palo Duro you were fortunate in getting to see a lot more than we did. This post must bring back fond memories of the canyon.
Steve Schwartzman
January 4, 2023 at 11:32 AM
You’re right, Steve: that musical is only being performed during the tourist season. And yes: your post brings back fond memories of a gorgeous scenery.
Pit
January 4, 2023 at 12:01 PM
What we saw lots of during our visit was people in various kinds of RVs renting the many campsites on the floor of the canyon.
Steve Schwartzman
January 4, 2023 at 12:24 PM
👍
Pit
January 4, 2023 at 1:06 PM
I hadn’t looked at my photos from the area for a good while; it really is beautiful. The red rock against a pure blue sky is glorious. I didn’t visit the park, though. All of my photos are from a variety of ranch roads. When I go back, I’d like to visit the park, as well as exploring some of the historic ranches, too.
Your fourth photo reminds me of the Cadillac Ranch, while the second suggests Camel Rock a couple of states back.
shoreacres
January 4, 2023 at 9:53 PM
Now you’re fortunate in having a great new landscape waiting for you. Caprock Canyons State Park, not as dramatic, is also still worth a visit once you’re in the panhandle.
The second picture reminded me of Camel Rock, too, which I’d seen two days earlier. I didn’t, however, connect the last view to Cadillac Ranch, which I’d been to just the previous afternoon.
Steve Schwartzman
January 5, 2023 at 6:39 AM
Yes, I did think they were the same. Even from a different angle the structure is notable.
I always have mixed feelings about our messing with nature. More often than not there are unintended consequences that are hard or impossible to anticipate. I suppose bringing back chestnuts is worth the effort but one never knows a what cost.
Steve Gingold
January 7, 2023 at 10:41 AM
Must be your decades of taking pictures that alerted you to the identity of the structure even from angles 90° apart.
Regarding the genetically modified version of the chestnut, at least people are trying it out on a very limited scale to see if any problems develop. I think that’s the right approach to take with most proposed changes in life. During my many years in teaching it was common for an educational approach to be imposed widely, only to get abandoned when results years down the road showed it wasn’t effective. By then the next fad would have come and later gotten abandoned, replaced by the next fad, and so on.
Steve Schwartzman
January 7, 2023 at 1:49 PM
I’m one of those who had never heard of Palo Duro before reading about it on your blog. It looks and sounds quite impressive.
I happened to catch a segment on the radio about the attempts to bring back chestnuts and the controversy surrounding it. It’s not as straightforward a process as one might assume, and genetically modified organisms are always controversial.
tanjabrittonwriter
January 17, 2023 at 8:44 PM
It’s one more place to add to your Texas list, along with the birders’ paradise of the Rio Grande Valley at the southern tip of the state.
Steve Schwartzman
January 17, 2023 at 10:09 PM
That list keeps getting longer…
tanjabrittonwriter
January 17, 2023 at 11:04 PM
In trying to find a rhyme for German länger
I learned the word for ‘daredevil’ is Draufgänger.
Steve Schwartzman
January 18, 2023 at 5:52 AM