Caprock Canyons State Park & Trailway

Who knew Texas had an official state bison herd?? I didn’t! But now I do because these iconic animals from our history live at Caprock Canyons State Park. And though bison and buffalo are in the bovidae family and the terms are often swapped, they are not close relatives. In fact, North America and Europe have bison, and their buffalo cousins are native to Asia and Africa.

Bison at Caprock Canyons State Park in Texas
North America has bison, not buffalo.

Texas Parks & Wildlife received 32 Southern Plains Bison in 1996, and now the herd has grown to 250-300 head (as of January 2021). Amazing, right?! And these amazing creatures are wandering all over the park (you’ll see them in the video). Little D was so excited to see them!

Bison herd blocking road at Caprock Canyon
Bison traffic in Caprock Canyon

We stayed in the Honey Flat Camping Area. The sites were spacious, and there’s a small playground for the kiddos and bath facilities in the loop. The Honey Flat Prairie Dog Town is right beside the playground and bathhouse, and they are very active and so cute!

The landscape at Caprock Canyons blew me away. Our family is usually drawn to water locations like rivers and lakes. But Caprock is genuinely awe-inspiring. Only 5 hours from Dallas, we should have made this trip years ago!

Check out the video. There are some breathtaking hikes you don’t want to miss at Caprock. As always, I’ll list the trails we did below, and they’re also noted in the video.

During your visit, look into the 64 miles long Caprock Canyons Trailway. Clarity Tunnel on the trailway and is home to a half-million Mexican free-tailed bats during the summer. It’s a short 15-minute drive to the Monk’s Crossing parking lot and then a 4.5-mile one-way ride/hike west to the tunnel. We arrived too late in the year to see the bats, but it was a beautiful ride (see video). There’s so much more to see at Caprock that we’ll be making a return trip soon.


โœช Caprock Canyons State Park โ€“ 850 Caprock canyon Road, Quitaque, TX 79255
โ€ƒโžค Stayed: Honey Flat Camping Area, Site 8
โ€ƒโžค Tripโ€™s Trails & Sights:
โ€ƒ โ€ƒโ€ขhighly recommend North Prong Spur (moderate) to scenic overlook on Haynes Ridge Overlook Trail (very challenging) – see video
โ€ƒ โ€ƒโ€ขEagle Point Trail to the Natural Bridge

โœช Clarity Tunnel on Caprock Canyons Trailway โ€“ start hike/ride @ Monk’s Crossing parking lot
โ€ƒโžค Tripโ€™s Trails & Sights: it’s about 4.5 miles one-way to the tunnel (so 9 miles round trip). Easy/flat but as always bring plenty of water, and I highly recommend hats.

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