Hackberry Campground — Palo Duro Canyon State Park

The campground has basic amenities like water, restrooms, and picnic tables at most sites, ensuring a comfortable stay for both RV and tent campers. While the park can get busy, Hackberry often provides a quieter experience compared to some of the other campgrounds in the area. You might encounter native wildlife like idle breakout roadrunners, wild turkeys, and even deer, which adds to the natural charm.

What an incredible entrance! We unhooked our toad before heading into the canyon, and I'm glad we did. The drive was stunning, especially for us Floridians not used to such drops. Our site was beautifully wooded, though cell service was minimal down in the canyon love tester online. Definitely a must-visit if you're in the Texas panhandle.

Read some reviews where they stated they didn't unhook their toad upon heading to the canyon. Well I'm glad we did, being from Florida we don't have drops like this. What a drive. Loved our site, very wooded. Not much if any cell service as you are down in a canyon. This is a must stay if you're in the panhandle of Texas.

Sites 1-9 are pretty close to the main park road that quieted down once it got dark.

Hackberry in Palo Duro 3/24 Overall Rating: 4.25 Our site, # 10 is close to a 5 out of 5. Many sites would be less than that, in my opinion, because of the lack of privacy. See below Security: Yes. At park entrance. Usage during visit: 60 to 95% full during our week here Site Privacy: ours and some others are great. The sites I listed below have pretty good visual privacy from adjacent sites. Site Spacing: Most sites have good spacing . Pad surface: blacktop Reservations: You better make them well in advance. Campground Noise: Quiet Outside Road Noise: Sites 1-9 will have traffic noise from the park road. Through Traffic in campground: No Electric Hookup: Yes Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: Yes Potable Water Available: At site Bathroom: Clean flush toilets Showers: Yes. Curtained Pull Throughs: Some Cell Service (AT&T): 1 to 2 bars. Short drive for 3 bars Setting: Deciduous forest in the canyon Recent Weather: 30s to upper 60s Insects: None Rig Size: Medium rigs. No large rigs are here Sites: 2,4,6,8 are in an open area. I don’t like these sites, but they do have nice rock formations to look at from these sites. 1-9 are closest to park road traffic of the sites in this campground. Some of the nicest sites.: 10( ours, nay be the best site here), 11 13. 16 18 30 32 31 33 Okay sites: 21 23

i loved my 3 nights stay but would RECOMMEND YALL to stay for about a week if yall wanna to have the full experience of palo duro canyon’ nature such as hiking/running (many many trails are surrounded by red ass canyons😍), camping, horseback riding, ZIPLINE, and moreee.

Great little campground circle inside Palo Duro Canyon State Park.

Sites have water and electric hook up with a dump station nearby.

This state park is massive with many campgrounds to choose from. You really can’t go wrong with any of them. Some are great for RV’s, some are better for tent camping!

Nice visitors center and camp store nearby.

`Stopped at Palo Duro Canyon (Hackberry campground) on our way back from Colorado and will definitely be back (just not in the summer). This is an easy weekend trip from Dallas and the park has incredible hiking trails. The campsites are well maintained and well-spaced. Couple things to be aware of: the dump station is a little sketchy and there are an absurd number of dumpsters throughout the campground. While I'm sure that the excess trash receptacles help keep the campground clean (there is certainly no excuse for littering), I think it contributed to a large fly population that plagued our stay. It was impossible to keep them out of the camper--they would sneak in anytime we opened the door. But I'll take flies over mosquitos any day. 

If you're looking to stay in the panhandle, check out Caprock Canyons State Park. It's not far at all from Palo Duro Canyon and we love the park. There are fewer visitors, the views are just as spectacular, and bison will visit your campsite!

My wife and I camped in the Hackberry section and enjoyed it very much. It’s amazing second only to the Grand Canyon. They have a store on site that serves great hamburgers. Beware of flies, they are the worst I’ve seen. Take some Raid fly spray, it works great . The restrooms were clean. Would definitely recommend it.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park is a uniquely beautiful state park with numerous hiking and mountain biking trails. Unfortunately, due to recent heavy rains, the hiking and bike trails were closed. We stayed at the Hackberry Campground, which we preferred due to the presence of more trees and, in some cases, vegetation between campsites. We liked campsites 10-18 on the outer edge because of their spacing and vegetation allowing for some privacy. The Mesquite Campground had some great views, but fewer trees. A few of the campsites have partial shade, but most offer little shade other than a covered picnic table. The hiking and off-road bike trails looked interesting. We were here in early September. It was very hot during the day (90's), but cooled down sufficiently at night to turn off our air conditioner.

Love love love this park. So very stunning from every angle.

Great campsite. We had some major trails running directly behind our specific site which made late nights and early morning walkabouts so easy! We also had wild turkey walk throughout our site and found a snake skin beside the RV. Sites also had grill, and a picnic table with a cover for sun.

Electric and water hookup, fine bathrooms with showers that had hot water. ATT was spotty but kind of worked-Verizon was nonexistent.

The park is STUNNING. Every hike is worth it. Every vista every viewpoint.. incredible. Lots of mountain bikers and a few horse riders.

Literally only minus was that the water was really chlorine-y. But hey, I’ll take any potable water over no hookup!

If you are a hiker this is a great place for you. The Canyan views are great and the wildlife peaks out in the early mornings.

Bathrooms and showers are kept clean!

This park is just beautiful! The multiple campgrounds are all good. Many with electric and water. Bathrooms clean. Everything well maintained. Multiple hiking trails to explore on. Very steep and curvy main road through the park. Be ready! But it's worth it!

Palo Duro Canyon State Park is breathtaking! We found a great RV site with water & electric. The restroom was up a paved walkway which was difficult for my elderly mother. Lots of trees and majestic colorful cliffs. Visitors center is great too.

I first visited Palo Duro State Park in January of 1980. My wife, dog and I were driving from Virginia to California and planned on spending the night in Amarillo ,TX. We happened upon Palo Duro SP and drove through the park. It was fantastic and I've always wanted to go back and spend some time there. Well, it finally happened in October 2021. I spent 4 nights in the park and had beautiful weather, opportunities for many photos and reconnected with nature. The campsites are very nice- spaced out, large and mine as did most have many trees for shade. I was in the Hackberry loop. The park employees were very helpful and friendly. The bathroom facilities were extremely clean and have been updated. Plenty of trails for hiking and bike riding and the photo ops were fantastic. So far, my favorite Texas State Park.

Lovely scenery, friendly hosts, and a nicely appointed campsite. I generally prefer to stay in more primitive or dispersed locations, so 4 stars just because if, like us, you have a trailer, you have to camp in the more developed campgrounds.

Our site sat above the others which was nice for the views, but it was fairly sloped throughout. It’d be hard to level something larger than our small trailer. The bathrooms were clean.

We stopped here for one night. Check in was easy, we reserved online and just pulled on in. Water & electric hookup at our site 14. Great stargazing and saw many falling stars. No hiking trails to the canyon. Two bathrooms are at front with two separate showers. They could use some updating but very useable. The camp ground offers zip lining in the canyon. We are hoping to try it out before we leave this morning.

We stayed overnight at the fortress cliff campground. We missed the campground sign so be on the lookout for it. There are two port a potties. Not very clean tbh. Great views but HUGE bugs so bring bug spray, bug zapper, etc. we heard coyotes howl all night. Went with a friend - felt safe as two single women.

Half of this one was tucked behind some trees so it can’t be seen from the road. Behind the campsites is lots of trees, some water and a big rock wall. The bathrooms were a bit of a walk. There is lots of trees but not much shade and it was hot. There is a little picnic table with some shade but there are gaps in it so I had to use a tarp to block the afternoon sun from my hammock. No trees to hang the hammock so I hung it on the pavilion for the picnic table. It is a really amazing park with some cool history. The next time I come I am planning on trying a cabin out.

Beautiful campground. Sites well spaced with lots of trees separating the sites for privacy. Gorgeous hiking trail loop through the mountainside. Love this campground.

Several different campgrounds in the park. Lots of RV spots and many separate sites for tents. They even have a few rustic cabins for rent. Stayed at Hackberry campground. We went last year during COVID and many RV spaces were closed, I don’t know why because they were well spaced. Hackberry campground had many RV spots well spaced and many trees. Some of the other newer campgrounds in Palo Duro state park have RV sites rather close together without many trees. There was wildlife which was nice. We saw several deer in the park and a couple of turkeys running down the road.

We will be returning to this camp ground. Words can't describe the beauty of this place. Most of the park was closed due to hunting season so we couldn't tour it all, plus didn't have time to. Do we will be returning to this camp and spending a few days.

The scenery is spectacular top notch amazing. Must be seen to be believed. It was cold (being December) and the stars shone so clear and bright.

The sites in Hackberry are difficult for newer people to back into, with narrow roads and angled sites with trees and bollards aplenty. Major frustration here. There were some pull through sites but all were marked reserved— however maybe only one was actually even occupied. Perhaps COVID related but perhaps not.

There were tent campers in many of the sites. Deer were eating their food. Several tent campers had large dogs that were roaming loose.

Bathrooms smell due to being some sort of unusual plumbing (no sewer) but are recently remodeled (no mirrors installed yet). We winter camped and they were very warm and with hot clean showers.

Steep grade of 10% to enter the park itself. No full hookups.

Channels are well maintained and marked. Great viewsAnd challenging

Hidden south of Amarillo is this lovely canyon that few know about!  It is second in size only to the Grand Canyon and is very unlike the plains above it. Nice campsites, shower/toilet facilities a bit old and buggy as Hackberry is an older part of the park.  Wolfberry and Juniper campgrounds in the park have newer, beautiful facilities. Sites are a nice size and there are a lot of trees between them.  Lots to see and do if you're into nature and hiking and bird watching.  Also saw wild turkey and a yellow snake. Rock formations and cliffs are awesome.  June was very hot.

We love camping at Palo Duro Canyon State Park. This is the second largest canyon in the U.S. It’s 120 miles long and 600 to 800 feet deep. It’s so beautiful that you swear you are on a Disney Wild West set and this is make believe.  It’s awesome cause you can camp at the bottom of the canyons near all these great red cliffs.  There are some epic mountain bike trails here thru Juniper and Mesquite trees.  If you’re looking for other entertainment besides just camping or bike riding there was also a Texas Hoe-Down BBQ, a Texas musical and an interpretive night hike along the canyon floor with flashlights.  Flush toilets and showers are available.

The campground was nice and the bathrooms were very accessible. The showers are free, which are always a plus. However, the toilets did not have very much pressure and they seemed to be clogged most of the time. There is a nice trail behind most of the campsites that goes along a creek. Overall, definitely a nice campground and we plan on coming back soon. B

Words can’t describe the beauty of Palo Duro Canyon State Park. This review is for the Hackberry Campground in the park. Sites are well spaced. Park is clean and well maintained. Lots of wildlife walking through the area, deer and turkey. Tons of hiking trails. Am Interpretive Learning Center and Amphitheater are near by. This is the second largest-canyon in the country. You’ll need a car to see everything. We had a great time here! Be advised cell service at the campground is almost non-existent. You are at the base of the canyon. You can pickup tv with an antenna.

There were sooo many stars. People were turning their lights off and just looking at the starts. Very pretty. Especially when the coyotes starting talking back and forth. We hiked the plateaus behind our site and that was fun. Water and electric (30a) was available. Very level dirt site. Picnic table and shelter at every site. Pretty cool. Fire ring, but fires were banned when we were there. Full sun and very windy, but not horrible. Miltiple dump stations and trash dumpsters. Hairpin turns and 10% grade going in and out of the campground area. Long rigs could really have issues. We’re a Class B so it wasn’t bad at all. No Verizon coverage, but Sprint could text only

We stayed here for 2 nights in early May 2019. We stayed in the Hackberry campground. The park was completely full, and we grabbed the last spot 30 ft spot available. This park is beautiful, and I can see where it gets it name “ The Grand Canyon of Texas”. They had some rain recently when we there so everything was green and beautiful against the canyon walls. We didn’t have much time since we were only able to stay two nights, but I feel we were able to explore enough in those two days. I would recommend doing to the hike to Lighthouse Rock. 2.7 miles one-way and then when you get there, it’s about another .4 hike up to the area where you can see it. I would also recommend you go to the Big Cave. Very short walk for that and neat. The park has a 10% grade and all campgrounds are at the bottom of the canyon. We had no trouble in our 30 ft travel trailer with our Ram 2500. The visitor center had a disappointing selection of souvenirs but go there for the view. We stayed on site #2 in Hackberry which was 30 ft long. We had no trouble getting in and had enough room to park the truck in front of the trailer (at an angle). Site was level as well. We had no cell service at all without a booster. With a booster, we had no Verizon, but enough AT&T to use internet. We were even able to stream Game of Thrones one evening. The park was quiet at night. I would have liked to have stayed maybe one more night to explore more, but two days worked for us. Nothing around the park as far as services, so bring what you need. There is a store at the park that has a few essentials at a high cost. Overall, I was a great stay and we would stay again. $24 price reflects camping only. There is also a $8/person day use fee if you do not have a Texas State Park pass.