We made it through Memorial Day weekend and as a result we left Fort Richardson State Park to move on to a place we hadn't been before. A few hours later after heading northwest we pulled into Caprock Canyon State Park. What most surprised us as we were driving to the park was how the landscape suddenly changed from flat and boring to hilling and quite interesting.
By the time we pulled into our site we knew we had pulled into a special place. Not only is the landscape remarkably different but there are buffalo seen everywhere. They are there as a result of a rancher’s wife who decided to gift a head of pure strained buffalo to the state park. There were less than 40 in the 70’s and are now more than 100 today ( we saw lots of babies). One day they actually grazed all around our RV within 10 feet of our windows (the header photo was out of my RV windshield one early morning)!!!
Lots of wildlife is in this park as we have seen prairie dogs, coyote, road runners, painted bunting and many other species but what makes this place extra special is the fact that it looks like a slice of Utah made its way into the northern part of the state of Texas. We hiked several morning hikes as the temperatures were in the 100’s so we took advantage of the early cooler morning temperatures. I won’t say any more as I will simply let the photos below tell the rest of the story…
NOTE: We left Caprock Canyons State Park in the panhandle of Texas and stopped in Muleshoe Texas but are now heading on to New Mexico for a few nights at Fort Sumner State Park…
Texas has so many different topographic changes. It's like having four states in one.
ReplyDeleteKaren and I are starting to play the guess which domicile game. We/I have been considering each and every options between the big three. Leaning towards Florida or Texas. Might just come down to where do we expect to spend the most time and I'd think right now that would be Texas.
Found an interesting YouTube post from 2017 that highlights all the differences. Real informative. There is a good list at the bottom of the comments sections if one does not want to watch the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0zpGH0rXWo
Domiciling is always a tricky thing to deal with as different people might come up with different places based on their circumstances/needs... since we were originally from Texas it was a no brainer for us.
DeleteA geologist’s dream. Too red and brown for my taste, as the greener hues of FL are more to my liking. Remember driving across the panhandle many moons ago. No buffalo then. Enjoy your foray into even browner NM.
ReplyDeleteahhhh... but we will!
DeleteWhat an interesting find!! How far is this from Fort Richardson State Park?
ReplyDeleteThe buffalo are amazing and so close!!
Pretty much right outside of town...
DeleteWhat a lovely area , and colorful scenery. continue exploring and travel safely.
ReplyDeleteBuffalo out your windshield. WOW! This looks like a great place. I haven’t spent much time in Texas for a lot of reasons but I’d sure like to visit Caprock thanks to you. Definitely looks like Utah but temperatures in the 100’s. Oh my!! Don't think I can do that.
ReplyDeleteYou would love Caprock but remember these were abnormally high temps for this time of year!
DeleteThink we might have to check Caprocks out as we head to TX this winter.
ReplyDelete