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 Caprock Canyons State Park - Quitaque, TX Posted by:  WalksfarTX
N 34° 24.440 W 101° 02.994
14S E 311589 N 3809226
Campsites range from drive up sites with electricity to hike-in primitive sites. There are also equestrian campsites with corrals.
Waymark Code: WM11G9G
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/19/2019
Views: 1
Texas Park and Wildlife"The harsh, yet beautiful terrain at Caprock Canyons is distinguished by steep escarpments, exposed red sandstones and deep, highly eroded and rugged canyons. After witnessing the destruction of the native buffalo herds, Charles Goodnight and his wife Mary Ann started their own herd with two calves given by Charles to his wife and eventually grew the herd to about 250 head by 1929. After Goodnight’s death, the herd gradually declined in numbers until the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department began to manage the herd. Today, the bison continue their journey through history as the official Texas State Bison Herd, roaming a portion of their native range at Caprock Canyons State Park.
Park Type: Overnight
Activities:
picnic, hiking, horseback riding, biking, camping, boating, fishing and swimming
Park Fees:
Adult: $5 Daily /
Child 12 Years and Under: Free
Background:
(Texas Parks & Wildlife Website ref. above) The park’s diverse resources have attracted native peoples for at least 10,000 years. The Paleoindian era Lake Theo site provides evidence for the hunting of now-extinct giant bison (Bison antiquus) as well as ritual practice in the form of a feature constructed of bison bone. Later cultures relied on the area’s dependable food, water and lithic (stone or rock) resources and left behind extensive archaeological evidence of their activities. Historically, the Apache dominated this region until the Comanche pushed them out in the 1700s. The Comanche and allied Kiowa made these rugged canyonlands their last stronghold prior to being forced onto reservations by the U.S. Army in the 1870s. In 1541, the Spanish explorer Coronado traveled through the region. Trade between the Spanish missions in New Mexico and the Plains Indians had been established by the early 1600s. During the 1700s, trade prospered between the Comanche and New Mexico buffalo hunters (ciboleros) and traders (comancheros). Between 1876 and 1878, buffalo were hunted to near extinction. Following the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon in 1874, cattlemen began to occupy the region. Charles Goodnight moved cattle into Palo Duro Canyon in 1876 and in 1882 he bought vast areas of land for John G. Adair, who became owner of the noted J.A. Ranch which included what is now Caprock Canyons State Park.
Date Established?: 1975
Link to Park: [Web Link]
Additional Entrance Points: Not Listed
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