Caprock Canyons State Park Hike
Caprock Canyon State Park lies just an hour and a half south of Amarillo near Quitaque (pronounced \”kitty quay\”), TX. It was opened in 1982 consisting of a little over 15,000 acres. One of the unique aspects of this state park is that it is home to dozen of bison. Charles Goodnight and his family saw fit to ensure the survival of the remaining bison of the South Plains Herd. In fact, the herd that now resides in the canyon are direct descendants that were brought by Goodnight. The bison are often seen traversing the park and while people and bison often come close to one another, giving these magnificent creatures a respectable wide berth is very recommended.
Per the parks advice, \”Bison are wild. Stay at least 50 yards away. Never surround, crowd, approach, or follow bison or any other park wildlife\”. Another unique trail which lies just south of park is Clarity tunnel. This tunnel is home to a large colony of Mexican free-tailed bats which number close to 500k. Unfortunately, I did not have enough time in the day to go exploring that area. So it looks like I\’ll be making another trip down there.
After paying the $4 entrance fee, I drove all the way down to the South Prong camping area which is the beginning of the Upper Prong trail. This trail is 2.6 miles and takes about 2 hours to cover. It was on this trail I was able to capture some stunning pics. I did have my camera with me but while exploring the Eagle trail before arriving at this trail, I quickly realized I needed to shed some weight before embarking on this one.
Thankfully, the skies were bright and clear with the clouds overhead clearing away as the day progressed. And my iPhone was more than up to the task in capturing the beautiful scenery which lay before me. It was breathtaking coming up against such towering majestic formations left over by years of weathering. Whatever cares or worries I had, all melted away the further along I got. It was a stark reminder of how much hiking had been lacking in my life and the need to include it more in my weekend activities.
