Day Trip to Palo Duro Canyon State Park

Thank you to everyone who replied, I appreciate all the info.

Gypsy

We've visited Palo Duro many times and for my money, it's really not a "drive through" kind of place. It's more about the ambiance and contrast from the Panhandle flat lands than anything else. We love it there and have made many day trips for hiking in the park. But just to drive in and back out - well, I wouldn't go out of my way to do that.

We live just about an hour from the canyon, and I would agree with the above posts. It doesn't take long to see the canyon and the visitor center. If you enjoy a good museum, there is a super museum just a few miles from Palo Duro in the city of Canyon. It is the Panhandle Plains Museum and it is part of the university there. If you really want to get a sense of the local ranching heritage it is a must, and you can easliy spend most of a day there. I highly reccommend it.

Panhandle Plains Historical Museum website here. Hope this helps.

All the above info is good but just remember you will have to pay the day use fees to get into the park - $5 per adult unless you have an annual pass.

If you just want to drive in, look at the visitor center, a couple hours. That even allows time to park and eat lunch. That would be equivalent to visiting the south rim of the Grand Canyon, or Yellowstone, in one day. Been there, done that, makes you want to go back when you have more time.

I would recamend after the canyon you go to the Capulin volcanoes in NM. Its not that far. Also you can see dinosaur footprints in that area. I hear they are getting snow right now in the entire TX panhandle region. Be careful.

You can just drive through in 45 min. or so with no stopping.

If you are just going to drive it then a couple of hours will do it. If you are not going to walk some trails, there's not much to see quite frankly, IMHO