Destination

~Palo Duro Canyon

I have written about The Palo Duro canyon before but it is a place I plan on visiting many times and I always experience something new when I go. If you missed my last letter on the canyon specifically about Merus Adventure park which is apart of the canyon I will provide a quick summary about the area. Merus compromises 5500 acres of canyon land to explore, full of off-road trails from easy to insane and has in my opinion the best campsites in Texas. One note to keep in mind is all of the trails and campsites have to be reserved in advance. You can do that here https://merusadventure.com/

Campsite Location on the Rim

~ The first day in the canyon we camped along the rim. This spot provided some amazing views and was surprisingly not too windy. This spot is my favorite camp spot In Texas so far. If you are looking for an easily accessible and epic view filled camp spot I would definitely recommend camping on top of the canyon.

Campsite coordinates: 34.92735 N, 101.45377 W

Campsite accessibility

~ The trail to this campsite is accessible by any stock four wheel drive vehicle. This is not a free dispersed campsite and has to be booked in advance. The trail and camp markers were not so good in the past but I believe that everything has been updated as of now.

Trails and Route

~ As mentioned before this trail is easily accomplished by any four wheel drive vehicle. we were camped at site 322 east rise camp the first night which is on top of the canyon.

~ The route starts at the top left of the map below, at the Merus Adventure entrance.

After checking into the park you take the green trail straight down and then take a left to the East Rise campsites. Some pictures of the trail drive are below to get an idea what the trail is like.

Campsite Location on the Canyon Floor

~ The second day we went down into the Canyon. The views are not as epic but it does provide protection from the wind and easy access to most of the trails in the park.

Campsite coordinates: 34.9158 N, 101.43747 W

Campsite accessibility

~ The trail to this site is accessible by any four wheel drive and even two wheel drive vehicles with good clearance can probably make it. Just make sure to not accidentally turn onto a hard trail cause that could be a long day.

Trails and Route

~ The route to the boots off camps is easy but long. we were camped at boots off site 609.

~ The second day we started from our camp at East Rise 322. Referencing the map below we got back onto the Merus 101 and entered the drop in.

The drop-in is a steep decent into the canyon and can be a little intimidating, however just go slow in four low and there’s nothing to it.

From the drop-in we continued on the Merus 101 which is the green trail all the way to the boots off campsites in the bottom right section of the map. This is a pretty easy drive with some cool views of the bottom of the canyon.

Points of interest

~ The main points of interest here for me are the trails. We didn’t even scratch the surface of the trail network but they have easy to insane trails. With my full-size truck I stick to the blue trails, but if you have a more capable vehicle you can definitely find a challenge here. I completed one blue trail on this trip called sidewinder. The beginning is a little rough and my bumper was saved from major damage by my hitch mounted d-ring.

After a good little hill climb though the trail was manageable with some great views.

There are other things to do in the park such as mountain biking, hiking, and I have heard there are caves to explore too.

Gear notes

~The gear that I have really enjoyed using recently is my Devos LightRanger. It is a big help when doing anything at night such as cooking or setting up camp. Definitely recommend trying one out.

Amazon link = https://amzn.to/4i4jwar