What a surprise this place is! The land around Amarillo is flat as a pancake. But head a few miles south and Palo Duro Canyon opens up vistas that rival the Grand Canyon in Arizona. There are many foot and horse trails that offer a close look at the multicolored canyon walls.

There are several campgrounds on the canyon floor. I stayed at Fortress Cliff Camp Area. Each site has a paved picnic table space with an awning - very important here. It gets hot and the sun is relentless. The spaces are of generous size. I could have easily pitched four or five more tents. The ground is great for driving stakes, too. They go in easy but they hold fast.

There are water spigots at Fortress Cliff, but only porta potties (reasonably clean when I visited). For a real bathroom with flushing toilets, showers, and hot and cold running water that can run continuously, head down the road to Mesquite Camp Area. This campground is geared for RVs, which typically have their own bathroom facilities. Wonder why they built a nice bathroom here and not at Fortress Cliff? Hmmm.

Aside from the heat (about 104 °F when I arrived in June), the main downside here is the flies. They bite. Through clothing. Hard to stay in one place very long when the flies are after you.