I wanted to love this location, I really honestly did and it was beautiful. The drive into Palo Duro canyon was beautiful. At the front gate area off to the left were several long horn cattle. Those from TX might not be in awe about this, but for this Yankee girl, I was in shock.

The roads were well maintained, there were several pull off areas and hiking trail heads. They offer campsites for those with horses as well.

We ended up in Mesquite campground which offers water, electricity/plug in, and clean bath houses that were maintained and well stocked.

The sites are a decent size so you are not stacked upon each other. They have a pergola covering your picnic table. So yes supplies a bit of shade. Sadly ours was in disrepair, had several broken beams and being held together with tie wraps.

Quite a few wildlife sightings. My first view of a Roadrunner. Again maybe not exciting for those that see them often but I was thrilled. Wild Turkey that strolled through the campground as well.

Now on to the biggest issue and one that was a deal breaker for many campers. Like many pulled in, stayed about 20 mins and packed up and left. Others were spraying down their campers with bug spray. What was the issue? swarms and swarms of black flies. Now I'm not a sissy when it comes to bugs and flies. But this was beyond stupid. It was literally insane! You couldn't take a bite of your meal or take a sip of your drink without fanning them away. If you didn't you were guaranteed to ingest several black flies. I don't know if it was the time of year (Oct) or if this is an issue year round but it is a deal breaker of me going back to visit. Yes, we toughed it out and fanned each other while we tried to eat. Built a fire and by night time it seemed the swarms went to bed as well. But bright and early in the AM they were back. I honestly think we picked those black flies out of our vehicle all the way back to SC. Hell, there might still be some of those dead flying critters in my pack :P