Caprock Canyons State Park
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Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway is a
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
state park located along the eastern edge of the Llano Estacado in Briscoe County, Texas,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, approximately southeast of
Amarillo Amarillo ( ; Spanish for " yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall Cou ...
. The state park opened in 1982 and is in size, making it the third-largest state park in Texas.


Recreation

In 1993, a hiking, biking, and equestrian rail trail opened that stretches through the park through Floyd, Briscoe, and Hall counties. The trailway was created after the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department acquired of
right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
from the abandoned Fort Worth and Denver Railroad's lines between Estelline and
South Plains The South Plains is a region in northwest Texas, consisting of 24 counties. The main crop is cotton. Counties The South Plains region includes 24 counties: The northernmost four (Parmer, Castro, Swisher, and Briscoe) are also considered to be p ...
. File:Caprock Canyons Butte 2005.jpg, Isolated
butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word me ...
, an erosional remnant of the Llano Estacado. File:Caprock Canyons Side Canyon 2005.JPG, Side canyon carved by
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...
.


Climate

The park is located in
West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio. No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...
and has a
semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...
. The average January minimum temperature is and the average July maximum is . The park receives of precipitation annually.


Flora and fauna

The area contains
badlands Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, m ...
with
mesquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus '' Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under gr ...
, cacti and junipers with tall
grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...
es, plums, hackberries and cottonwoods in the canyons. At the urging of his wife, Charles Goodnight preserved several
plains bison The Plains bison (''Bison bison bison'') is one of two subspecies/ecotypes of the American bison, the other being the wood bison (''B. b. athabascae''). A natural population of Plains bison survives in Yellowstone National Park (the Yellowstone ...
from those that were being slaughtered. This herd became one of the genetic sources from which current bison herds descend. In 2011, bison were reintroduced to the park, and the
Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ar ...
designated the bison herd at Caprock Canyons State Park as the official State Bison Herd of Texas. The herd has minimal cattle introgression. African sheep (Barbary sheep),
mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whi ...
,
white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
, coyotes, opossums,
raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...
s, bobcats,
fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
es, porcupines, numerous species of snakes and lizards, and over 175 species of birds including
golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of ...
s are found within the park. Lake Theo contains bass,
catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive ...
, and rainbow trout. In the summer of 2012
black-tailed prairie dog The black-tailed prairie dog (''Cynomys ludovicianus'') is a rodent of the family Sciuridae found in the Great Plains of North America from about the United States-Canada border to the United States-Mexico border. Unlike some other prairie dogs, ...
s were reintroduced to a area within the park. File:Geococcyx californianus.jpg,
Greater roadrunner The greater roadrunner (''Geococcyx californianus'') is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, from the Aridoamerica region in the Southwestern United States and Mexico. The scientific name means "Californian earth-cuckoo". Along w ...
(''Geococcyx californianus'') File:Caprock Canyons Mule Deer 2005.jpg,
Mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whi ...
(''Odocoileus hemionus'') File:BuffaloGrazing.jpg, Texas
plains bison The Plains bison (''Bison bison bison'') is one of two subspecies/ecotypes of the American bison, the other being the wood bison (''B. b. athabascae''). A natural population of Plains bison survives in Yellowstone National Park (the Yellowstone ...
(''Bison bison bison'')


See also

* Conservation of American bison *
Yellow House Canyon Yellow House Canyon is about long, heading in Lubbock, Texas, at the junction of Blackwater Draw and Yellow House Draw, and trending generally southeastward to the edge of the Llano Estacado about east of Slaton, Texas; it forms one of three maj ...
*
Palo Duro Canyon Palo Duro Canyon is a canyon system of the Caprock Escarpment located in the Texas Panhandle near the cities of Amarillo and Canyon. As the second-largest canyon in the United States, it is roughly long and has an average width of , but reaches a ...
* Blanco Canyon *
Mount Blanco Mount Blanco is a small white hill — an erosional remnant — located on the eastern border of the Llano Estacado within Blanco Canyon in Crosby County, Texas. With Blanco Canyon, it is the type locality of the Blanco Formation of Texas and Kan ...
*
Mushaway Peak Mushaway Peak is a small but conspicuous butte located southeast of Gail in central Borden County, Texas. It is one of the region's most venerable landmarks. The summit of this peak rises to an altitude of above sea level, which is roughly the ...
*
Quitaque Creek Quitaque Creek is an intermittent stream about long, originating as a shallow draw on the high plains of the Llano Estacado in Floyd County, Texas, and flowing eastward to join the North Pease River in Motley County, Texas. Geography The upland ...
* Caprock Escarpment *
Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River is a sandy-braided stream about long, formed at the confluence of Palo Duro Creek and Tierra Blanca Creek, about northeast of Canyon in Randall County, Texas, and flowing east-southeastward to the Red River about ...
*
Canyon Valley, Texas Canyon Valley is a ghost town in southern Crosby County, Texas, United States. Today, only a few farms and ranches are scattered across the area. Geography Canyon Valley is located south of Ralls in southwestern Crosby County. Only one road pa ...
*
Double Mountain Fork Brazos River The Double Mountain Fork Brazos River is an ephemeral, sandy-braided stream about long, heading on the Llano Estacado of West Texas about southeast of Tahoka, Texas, flowing east-northeast across the western Rolling Plains to join the Salt Fork ...
*
North Fork Double Mountain Fork Brazos River The North Fork Double Mountain Fork Brazos River is an intermittent stream about long, heading at the junction of Blackwater Draw and Yellow House Draw in the city of Lubbock, flowing generally southeastward to its mouth on the Double Mountain For ...
* Little Red River (Texas)


References


External links


Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway
fro
Texas Parks and Wildlife
(TPWD)
Caprock Canyons Facility Map
(Portable Document Format, PDF) fro
TPWDCaprock Canyons Trailway Map and Guide
(Portable Document Format, PDF) fro
TPWD
*
Video of the Texas State Bison Herd in Caprock Canyons State Park
on the Texas Archive of the Moving Image {{DEFAULTSORT:Caprock Canyons State Park And Trailway Protected areas of Briscoe County, Texas State parks of Texas Rail trails in Texas Canyons and gorges of Texas Protected areas established in 1982 1982 establishments in Texas Bison herds Grasslands of Texas