Palo Duro Canyon

Why should it be a National Park?

Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas Panhandle is the second largest canyon in America after the Grand Canyon, but few people have ever even heard of it, let alone know what it looks like. This canyon is located southeast of Amarillo and stretches 120 miles long and 18 miles wide. While dropping only 800 feet at its greatest depth, the terrain is made up of buttes and formations that extend throughout the massive canyon. The northern end of the canyon is maintained as Palo Duro Canyon State Park, while the southern end is Caprock Canyon State Park.

The entirety of Palo Duro Canyon and its interconnected ravines and formations make up over 800,000 acres of red desert. State parks only protect roughly 5.5% of the canyon, leaving America's second largest canyon unprotected. Most of the Texas Panhandle consists of flat grassland and ranches, making the red desert canyon a unique environment for the region.

The appearance of Palo Duro is both familiar and unusual. The orange and red earth is reminiscent of Arizona and Utah, while additional colors not typically associated with red rock environments provide a unique juxtaposition. These colorful elements mix with a combination of badlands like the ones found in the Dakota's as well as the buttes and mesas of New Mexico.

The first human habitation within the canyon boundary dates back over 10,000 years because of the reliable water source of the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River. The Coronado Expedition brought the first Europeans to the region in 1541 during their exploration of the south central United States.

The Comanche and Kiowa tribes lived in and around the canyon at this time, but westward expansion became a threat on their land and their lives. The Red River War is a little-known military campaign to remove the native peoples from the plains and on September 28, 1874 the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon occurred. During the battle, Ranald S. Mackenzie led several U.S. Army regiments into the canyon and overturned the tribal camps. Many horses were killed and winter food supplies were decimated, driving the native peoples from their land. The canyon's largely untouched natural environment and the dark legacy of the Indian Wars gives Palo Duro Canyon an important story to tell in American history, making it all the more worthy of National Park status.