Texas Panhandle Climbing

The square flat edges of the Texas panhandle serve as an excellent portrayal of the area's general topography. But this vast prairie landscape of the Llano Estacado mesa is contrasted abruptly by the Caprock Escarpment dropping up to a thousand feet to the eastward plains. Erosion from rivers, streams, and flash floods have painted the landscape with generous hues of red clay and white caliche. But amidst the gorgeous choss and windswept grasslands, a few sandstone protrusions have gifted the region with a few tolerable climbing opportunities. The boulders of Palo Duro Canyon present the best pull down prospects in the Panhandle with a decent percentage of proud pebbles. Roped climbing in the area demands a certain grit that only comes from learning to love short/sandy choss, long approaches, and often unfavorable weather. There are even infrequent ice climbing opportunities for those with patience best measured in centuries. Caprock Canyon, Lake Meredith, and Lake Palo Duro also offer a few meager bouldering options but as with all of the climbing in the region, these locales are not much more than the locals' only vertical escape aside from air-conditioned plastic.

On that note, the gyms at the Texas Tech Recreation center (Lubbock), Amarillo Rock Climbing House, and the WT A&M Recreation center (Canyon) make being a climber here just enticing enough that it seems possible, though locals in the area spend a lot of their time and money day-dreaming about their next trip to CO, NM, or OK to experience the benefits of a 'real' climbing area.