The Texas play in the amphitheater is incredible. Our family has been to the play twice. Well worth the money. Hard to believe they can get ~50 actors/dancers to go to the middle of nowhere and perform night after night thru the summer. Go see it!
Glad you found our park. It's a good one. In the early part of the 1900's there was a big movement to make it a national park. The national park would likely have been much bigger. There are so many hidden gems in the canyon!
We have plans to visit again because we know we missed a lot of hidden gems. It's definitely national-park worthy but it's nice it's still a state park, too. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Right?! The stereotypes of Texas taught across the nation and via Hollywood are really misleading and unfair. Yes, some areas are flat or desert or ranch land, but Texas is HUGE and has many different ecologies. Thanks for watching!
Palo Duro Canyon exemplifies the ultimate TX cattle ranch. Charles Goodnight made it the winter pasture for the JA Ranch he ran for the colorful, real life character John Adair. The canyon is a natural heat trap, and required little fencing to shelter herds from frigid winter winds. I live in the region and have visited the park from the time it was opened to the public. We had to blaze our own trails back in the early days. No hiking trails existed for years and years. The only part that was enjoyed by visitors in those days were picnic spots along the water crossings. Our family picnicked there at least once every summer on a weekend afternoon. I hope you found the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, TX. Its a first class operation that once housed much of Goodnight's personal items. As a child I was most impressed by a huge display of 1800's era saddles. The iconic TV movie, "Lonesome Dove" was loosely based on the life and death story of the Goodnight - Loving Trail, blazed across prairies of E NM to move TX cattle that had gone feral during the Civil War to railheads with the ultimate goal of shipping from KC KS to the stockyards in Chicago. Their early cattle drives were bought before they made it to the railhead. The US Military was short of protein and bought the first drives as Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving sought to loop to the west into NM attempting to find a trail whereby they could avoid Comanches. There were several different branches of the trail from the Pecos River crossing, but the best scheme that Goodnight devised was a hard, fast push past Comanche territory rather than the normal leisurely drive whereupon cattle graze their way across the prairie and become sitting ducks. After John Adair's death Goodnight continued his business agreement for a few years with the widow. Goodnight devised a plan for the JA to purchase every other section of land across a huge swath of the Panhandle and rolling plains. He eventually asked Mrs Adair to separate their partnership. He ended up on property out east of Amarillo, where his modest home still stands at Goodnight, TX.
Thanks for sharing all of this great history! We did not make it to the museum but we will put that on our list for when we're back in Texas in 2024. I have read tales about the cattle drives Goodnight and Loving made. True early entrepreneurs and tough cowboys for sure! -Ari
This is one State Park in Texas that we have not been to during our many years escaping the northern winters for 3 months - January to March - due to the colder temperatures. Maybe next winter we will stay longer. We have always purchased the State Park Pass - GREAT VALUE. And have stayed at every state park south of Dallas. Thanks for showing the scenery & trails.
Palo Duro State Park was a lot of fun. And yes, the Texas state parks annual pass is a good investment that you can recoup the cost of in a relatively short time. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Ari & Jessi, Thank you for uncovering so many hidden gems through your many explorations and adventures. Even if your viewers don't have the ability to visit these places themselves, they can experience it through your awesome channel. Keep on Treking...
Thought I responded but now it has disappeared, so you may see this twice. But thanks Steve, we really appreciate hearing this. We always like when people can use our videos for planning or just to check out something they may not be able to get to. Keep on trekin'! -Ari
Once again guys a really neat place I would like to get to. The good thing is it looks like I'll be getting in the rig full time by the fall. Keep the good stuff coming.
We have found so many places in Texas that don't meet the standard definition that most people have of that beautiful state! Thanks for watching and commenting.
For those just now seeing this July and August can be very miserable and even somewhat dangerous because of heat in that hole. Water, lots of water if you’re walking very far at all. I have lived like 20 minutes from there all my life and have experienced the worst heat there. If it rains hard up in the drainage areas about 10-15 miles away there can be flash floods. If camping further down in the canyon after crossing 2 or 3 low water crossings you may be stuck there for couple days. Till the water goes down. Beautiful country. Rattlesnakes can be anywhere so be careful. Shoes or boots- DONT WEAR FLIPFLOPS OR SANDALS HIKING. Cactus and other sticking you plants are there.
Was just there in April. Didn’t get to hike much off the road, but did drive through with on our Can Am’s. Didn’t like the history of the humans,tho. Texas has a very bloody history.😢 This Park was on my list. Actually did take your recommendation on other Texas state Parks, San Anglo’s, Guadalupe.
Yes, as a resident of the area I'm aware this was one of the last frontiers of the USA, which makes it seem quite raw - however I am no less offended by all the National parks glorifying Civil War battlegrounds, even though many find them fascinating.
Thanks for another great video. If I don't get there in person due to "advances maturity", going with you folks is the next best thing. I looked in your playlist & did not find a video that explained how you ended up with an Airstream, is there one? Thanks again.
Thanks for watching - we appreciate hearing from you and knowing our videos are helping you see new places. We ended up buying our Airstream after our travel style changed due to work, and we found ourselves settling into places for months at a time. We miss the flexibility and quicker travel style of our Roadtrek, but having extra living space and a built-in office has been really nice! Here is the short video we did announcing the change: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nOgxWmiDlT0.html. And here's our video with the tour of the new rig: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bAG_PMcaSSU.html. -Ari
