Palo Duro Canyon

[BrightKnight]

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This CCC State park is very sad. The Texas neocons let it rot. At least half of the camp sites and day use areas are overgrown and permanently closed.

[F.Gordon]

1. Texas??!!!

I had to google it.... not that I didn't believe ya' or anything. ;-)

Beautiful photos you've taken. Am I reading the info correctly? The park isn't part of the US Park Service. Looks like it is privatized :eyes:... volunteer "hosts" and such. Shit... for the cost of one repuke Texas Oil BBQ Party they could probably keep this park going for decades. Closed till March of 2007? Bummer.

Thanks for sharing these. I had no idea such a beautiful place existed in Texas. All nice but my faves are the first and last pics.
:hi:

[BrightKnight]

3. It's the 2nd largest Texas state park and it is closed.

It is "managed" by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

The staff is 99.9% volunteers and a lot of the money to run it comes from private foundations. They do a miraculous job of holding the park together with nothing.

All of the Texas State parks are running on vapor.

Colorado Bend state park for example is located at the end of 6 miles of dirt road. It is a beautiful an popular park but the state cannot find the funds to pave the road.

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The park was built with federal money. Everyone would be better off if US Park Service were to take over.

[Blue_In_AK]

2. Beautiful!

I especially love the layered effect in the first one. This is in West Texas, I presume? I used to live around Houston, but it didn't look anything like this. :)

[BrightKnight]

4. Houston is lush

I actually planned to hike in the Big Thicket National Wildlife Preserve (near Houston) the week before I took these. As is often the case down there flooding changed my plans.

There is also a very long trail that the Sierra Club built just North of Houston. I hope to backpack part of that after hunting season ends in the spring.

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Palo Duro Canyon is about 20 miles south of Abilene in the panhandle. The canyon looks a lot like the Grand Canyon from the edge. It reminds me of a lot of places.

[Blue_In_AK]

6. Yes, I find that area north of Houston

to be really pretty, actually. My husband lived up there in Crockett which is about an hour and a half up the highway. He's an Alaskan now, though, in his fourth winter. :)

[priller]

5. Very nice photos!

I have been wanting to get up there myself but haven't taken the time to do it. It would be a weekend trip for me, as it's a pretty far from Austin. But now I'm inspired to do it.

Sorry to hear the park is in such a bad state. I have a couple of friends who work for the state parks department here in Austin, and they are great people who do the best they can, but their budgets have been getting scaled back year after year. Dubya's legacy of tax breaks for fat cats.

[Whoa_Nelly]

7. Went to Palo Duro in the '60s

and saw the play Texas!.

Thanks so much for posting these pics.

[ConsAreLiars]

8. It's nice to be reminded that "even" Texas has places of

great natural beauty. A suggestion would be to try a few more shots at each location, trying to hone in more closely, or abstract out, the visual essence of those places. Broad scenics are wonderful, but sometimes more intimate closeups tell more.