SCROSS DOWN TO BOTTOM FOR PHOTOS.

On the way in into Texas, back in January, I went out of my way to stop at Caprock Canyon State Park. It’s near a town called Quitaque, which is apparantley pronounced “kit-uh-kay”. But that pronunciation could be wrong.

Regardless, I was impressed. The red rocks there remind me of the rocks around Kanab, Utah. Although, the canyons are bigger in Utah.

The Park is so named after the Caprock Escarpment which rises several hundred to almost one thousand feet above the Great Planes of West Texas. ‘Escarpment’ and ‘cliff’ are essentially synonymous terms.

On top of the Caprock Escarpment is the Llano Estacado, or High Planes, which extend westward into New Mexico. It’s unbelievably flat atop the Llano Estacado. As you proceeed westward across it, you eventually run into the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico, where the Great Planes end.

Now, on the eastern edge of the Escarpment are carved canyons from streams flowing eastward. Though the Brazos and Texas Colorado Rivers are born from this Escarpment, the beginning of their drainage basins are not impressive canyons. You barely notice them.

However, the Red River – the river that’s the border between Texas and Oklahoma – is born from the Escarpment, and has produced impressive canyons.

Palo Duro Canyon – the second largest canyon in terms of volume after Grand Canyon – is the most famous one, and it has been created by the drainage of the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River.

The Canyons of the Little Red River, at Caprock Canyons State Park, however, I find equally impressive. If you like Palo Duro Canyon State Park, you should go to Caprock Canyons.

(The Little Red and Prairie Dog Town Forks come together to become the main Red River just west of where the Red becomes the border between Texas and Oklahoma.)

Buffalo roam wild at Caprock Canyons SP. They killed an Amarillo man last month apparently.

I spent a mere two hours there. Wanted to get to my destination. But I was fortunate to see bison, even right in front of me on a hiking trail, which prompted me to turn right around.