Hey

My wife and I will be in Texas for ten days in May and were originally planning to spend the time within a 3 or 4 hour radius of Austin.
She recently sprung on me the idea of traveling 8 hours into the panhandle to see Palo Duro Canyon. (she's an art fan and this is apparently where Georgia O'Keefe got some of her inspiration)
Looking at a map, the region from Austin to the canyon looks pretty desolate. I don't mind driving especially when there is new scenery but a 16 hour round trip through a sparsely populated region of Texas has me a bit worried.
Is the canyon worth it? Are there things to do along the drive? Is it nice countryside or is it a little bleak? Thanks for any and all input.

I have some of the same questions you do and hope we get good answers, but for me, the bleakness is a feature, not a bug. Too much of Texas is irrigated into midwestern greenness, and I am looking for bleak places to go without driving all the way to Big Bend. Aerial photos of Palo Duro look promising.

It is somewhat bleak. The panhandle is for that matter. I've been to Palo Duro Canyon once, but only because our son went to college in Lubbock and it was something to do from there. I'd never in the world make that drive from Austin over, just for the canyon, and I am first and foremost, an outdoors person.

Now the caprock area is beautiful! We had always been making the long drive from Dallas to Lubbock when we passed so never had time to stop, but it looks spectacular. It reminds me of vistas we'd see hiking in AZ or Utah.

Palo Duro Canyon is inspiring, but it's a bit of a stretch to say it's worth an 18-hour round trip. It's red-rock formations are much less impressive than those of Arizona or Utah, so unless you just HAVE to see such formations while in Austin, I'd skip it.

> Is it nice countryside or is it a little bleak?

I've driven or ridden the area innumerable times, and it's almost the epitome of the term, "miles and miles of miles and miles."

ditto

I will say 10 days in a 3-4 hour radius of Austin is a long time. Are you just doing day trips?

Connie- Well, we don't plan to use Austin as a home base. We just want to drive to areas that interest us and stay for 1 or 2 nights at each place. Ie. Hill country for a couple, Corpus Christi for a couple etc.
In other words, wherever the wind blows.

...and the wind is ALWAYS blowing in Texas!