Palo Duro Canyon State Park was a beautiful surprise we stumbled upon on our way north to Custer, South Dakota. Who knew that the little town of Canyon, Texas held this gorgeous gem.
Palo Duro Canyon is our countries second largest canyon. The first being The Grand Canyon, of course. In fact, Palo Duro Canyon is considered the Grand Canyon of Texas. And in my opinion, it sure lives up to its name.
We didn’t even know about the canyon until we pulled into the town of Canyon, TX on our way to our campground for the night. We saw a sign alongside the road. We couldn’t help but look it up as soon as we got settled. I was still recovering from a nasty head cold, and really didn’t feel like going out and about. But thanks to Jon’s persistence, we ended up witnessing the most beautiful and humbling view of a sunset that night.
Palo Duro Canyon spans a some 28,000 acres; making it the second-largest park in the state park system. Horseback riding and hiking and biking trails offer about 30 miles of things to do. The park even has several camping areas scattered throughout the park. I wish I would have noticed there was a state park close by before we booked our campground outside the park. We were both bummed about the missed opportunity.
By the time we got to the park, we had about an hour before sunset. There’s a road system throughout the park that made it really easy for us to tour the canyon as we waited for the sun to set. Turns out, sunset is definitely a popular time of day for visitors of the state park. As large as the park is, there are definitely favorite spots for viewing sunsets. There were plenty of people around waiting to snag a snapshot.
I don’t know how we did it, but we found this amazing ledge of the canyon that was completely empty. We parked at the top and walked down to the ledge to enjoy the show all to ourselves. It was absolutely incredible. Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it. It was one of those moments that have a way of making you feel so incredibly small.
