Road Trip Day 2-3

Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Amarillo, Texas 

After two more days of driving cross country without much of any kind of landmark, we arrived at Palo Duro Canyon, which is in the middle of vast flat farmlands near Amarillo. Suddenly next to the road, a deep and narrow canyon appears, and pretty soon, you enter the main part of the canyon which is a state park. 

The view from the visitor center.

  

We took a very brief walk on a trail almost at the end of the park road, which winds steeply down into the canyon. The rock formations and the dried flowers that have overwintered were beautiful. It was a very pleasant day, around 65ºF, though a bit windy.

In the visitor center are a number of rooms presenting the area’s natural history, geological history, and most interesting, a room of memorabilia of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) which built park roads, buildings, and trails during the Depression.

The park attracts many species of birds, which we looked for. Unfortunately the bird feeders were empty. Normally, the feeders are the best location for birding, but they had not been filled since morning. We are told that the deer eat up the seeds and other bird food. Len found at least one bird that he had hoped to see: a beautiful woodpecker.

Golden-Fronted Woodpecker

On our previous visit in 2017 we saw more birds (see this post).

Amarillo Tex-Mex Dinner

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