Caprock Canyons State Park - Texas

Caprock Canyons State Park is in the Texas Panhandle about 100 miles southeast of Amarillo and 3 miles north of Quitaque. It encompasses about 24 square miles. For a place I'd never heard of before, I was surprised how good a job it does of copying and sometimes surpassing Bryce Canyon and Zions National Parks in the sheer brilliance of the colors and beauty of the landscape. It does not compete well with them in hoodoo formations or huge cliffs and canyons, but the colors are every bit as good or better. 

Following are photos of wildlife we saw in Caprock Canyons:

It has some of the few plains bison in Texas, originating from one of the five feeder groups of bison that brought them back from extinction. They were introduced into Caprock in 1997. 

Black-tailed prairie dogs were reintroduced into Caprock in 2012. We saw the prairie dogs and the bison sharing the same space, just like in the olden days. 

There is a bird blind overlooking Lake Theo with some bird feeders. It was a marvelous place for wildlife.

I saw my first cedar waxwings.

Dark-eyed junco

My first golden-fronted woodpeckers.

Male and female northern cardinals. 

Northern shoveler ducks on the lake. 

White-crowned sparrow

Common slider

We only spent about three hours there, so this is a great array of wildlife for such a short visit. It was my favorite outdoor venue on this particular trip to Texas.