The Trail to Hike Forever
Recently I had a friend ask me what my favorite trail that I have ever hiked was. I had to really think about this because I have hiked hundreds of different trails over the year. How does one simply narrow it down to just one? It took me a little while to reply to them because I didn’t want to be the person who said one trail then change my mind 2 minutes later to another trail. So I came to the conclusion that my favorite trail would be the Lighthouse Trail at Palo Duro Canyon SP.
Of course the follow up questions to that answer is, “Why that trail?” This answer was very easy but at the same time hard to explain. When I was in college at West Texas A&M University, I was a frequent visitor of Palo Duro Canyon SP. One year I visited the park over 30 times when I lived in Canyon, Texas. My goal that year was to bring as many people as I could down to the canyon. There was a few of the trips that I did go solo, but for the most part I always brought someone with me.
If you have ever been to Palo Duro Canyon SP you know the first view that you get of the canyon. It is just so breath taking no matter how many times you have seen it. I compare it to when you walk into an MLB ballpark and see the field; it just fills me with excitement. Driving up to the trail head for the lighthouse trail and seeing an empty parking lot is the most exciting moment for me. Knowing that I will be the only and potentially the first person of the day to get that view is just “WOW”. The trail does get very busy in the warmer weather days and especially the weekends.
There are a few warning signs when you start the trail about making sure that you bring enough water and sun protection. But not just enough water for yourself but enough water for your 4 legged friends as well. I typically pack about 3 liters of water with me when I do this trail. I apply sunscreen before I get on the trail and when I get to the lighthouse. Got to make sure that you reapply the sunscreen or it will serve no purpose.
The trail starts off pretty easy with a flat hike. Once you hike about a little over half a mile in, you get an amazing view of Capitol Peak. All around the peak you will see a lot of hoodoo formations. They are super amazing to think how they formed. There are tons of them on the rest of the hike as well. Once you make it around Capitol Peak, you get an amazing view of rest of the canyon. I recommend getting on the trail as early as you can because seeing the sunrise from the other side is another view to add to your bucket list.
The hike from here is pretty straight and flat. You will reach a fork in the trail where you can go on the Givens, Spicer, Lowry Trail or continue on the Lighthouse trail. After the fork, you will cross a mostly dry creek bed. Now from time to time the creek does having running water but nothing that is passable. You will cross this creek a few more times as you continue on the trail.
You will reach a point in the trail where it will become very steep. You will know you have reached this point when you see the bike rack. There are very steep switch backs as well a set or rock stares that you have to climb in order to get up to the lighthouse rock formation. It might take a little bit of scrambling but it really isn’t that hard. Just pace yourself and don’t try to run up this but the dirt is very loose in this area because of the all the high foot traffic as well as because of the type of dirt it is. Once you have reached the top of that climb you will just be in awe.
The next iconic view point you will see is a small little bench with an incredible view of the actual lighthouse rock formation which is literally right in front of your face. This is probably the best place for you to get your Instagram picture of yourself. Once you have got your picture you are going to want to make your way to the rock. I want to give too much away because the element of surprise of the view you get of the entire canyon from the base of the lighthouse is just one you don’t want to miss. This can be the view at sunrise, sunset, or just the middle of the day. Just take a look on the geotag of Palo Duro Canyon SP and you will for sure see the view.
This trail means so much to be because whenever I was having a rough day or just not feeling the best I knew that I could always go out to the canyon and the trail would bring a smile to my face. It brought relaxation back into my life. I truly think the reason why I love hiking/camping as much as I do is partially because of this trail. That’s why I always wanted to bring people with me to go out and hike the trail. I didn’t want to keep the secret of this great place to myself. There are all these crazy facts that I believe that says the more time you spend in nature the less stress and more relaxed that you will be.
I tried not to give to many details away about the hike because I literally don’t have enough finger strength to type that much. But if you ever find yourself out at the Palo Duro Canyon SP and want a good hike, I am going to recommend the Lighthouse trail.
