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Palo Duro Canyon State Park

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1934 established. 11450 Park Rd. 5

Palo Duro Canyon on the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River is the most distinctive natural feature of the Texas Panhandle. Carved nearly 800 feet deep into the flat landscape of the Panhandle by water and wind erosion, the canyon is second in size to the Grand Canyon. The park is the western 7 miles of the 120-mile-long canyon. The deep green of mesquite and juniper trees flecks against the brilliant reds, ochres, yellows, and whites of the raw geological layers carved into chimneys, prows, and mesas by the weather.

Probably traversed by Francesco Vázquez de Coronado in 1541, the site of Quanah Parker’s final encounter with the U.S. Cavalry in 1874, and the original site of Charles Goodnight’s JA Ranch (see PH12), Palo Duro Canyon assumes almost mystical significance in the history of the Panhandle. The park, which preserves Charles Goodnight’s original dugout shelter, was developed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). At that time, Guy A. Carlander designed the rustic El Coronado Lodge, which, although greatly modified, is preserved as the nucleus of the Visitor Center.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Gerald Moorhead et al.
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Data

Citation

Gerald Moorhead et al., "Palo Duro Canyon State Park", [Canyon, Texas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/TX-02-PH18.

Print Source

Buildings of Texas

Buildings of Texas: East, North Central, Panhandle and South Plains, and West, Gerald Moorhead and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2019, 368-369.

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