Caprock Canyon State Park with a stay at The Hotel Turkey

Winter tip: Head southwest during the cold winter months to maintain a presence in the world of camping. We enjoy camping but the cold.....not so much. A hidden gem for those who enjoy hiking and/or mountain biking is Caprock Canyon State Park. This park is about an hour and a half southeast of Amarillo, Texas. You've got Palo Duro closer to Amarillo but if you want a smaller canyon with the addition of bison, Caprock Canyon is your park. When we say bison we mean an adventure sharing the same soil with them. They will be in the campsite, on the hiking trails.....they are anywhere you are while in the park (if you're lucky enough to be at the same place at the same time!). Where else can you do this??

Travel tip: If it's bison you want to see avoid the long lines at National Parks and visit Caprock. Another hidden gem in Kansas is the Maxwell Game Preserve in McPherson County.

We've completed two trips to the park, both in the month of February, each providing plenty of sun and a window of time without the harsh winds associated with the area. The park provides options for camping with restroom and shower facilities and primitive camping. The views of the canyon from primitive campsite were superior. The bison collected in the area of our campsite in Honey Flats Campground, which made this stay beautiful in its own way.

Let's talk about primitive camping. In February 2021, our campsite was site 36 at the South Prong Tent Camping Area. This site doesn't provide shelter from the wind, which kicked up at night making our stay a bit uncomfortable.

Travel tip: Use a solid tent & not a lighter open tent to provide shelter from the dust that will creep into the tent with the aid of the wind!

The views at sunset were worth the wind we endured. Our neighbors had their fire in the provided firepit, however using a Solo Stove provided the requested warmth without excessive smoke. Our stay in 2021 was on a weekend so many of the campsites were occupied. By Sunday evening all had left. Cell service was spotty. Note: Our visit in 2025 also had spotty cell service however my provider AT&T gave me the option for satellite text service. Our second night we moved to site 55 as this side of the area provided shelter from the harsh winds that kicked up during our stay. If you're looking for the stay with the views, site 36 or any on that side of the area are a great choice. The pit toilets were clean however smelly.

Closeup of South Prong Tent Camping Area Website: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/caprock-canyons

Site 36 South Prong Tent Camping Area

Site 55 South Prong Tent Camping Area

Taking a break from our hike. Upper South Prong Trail up to Haynes Ridge.

Flash forward to 2025. Caprock remains a beautiful & quite peaceful state park. Our stay this trip was at site 35 at Honey Flats Campground. A short video of our stay is on our YouTube channel, Thehiddentaisteal: https://youtu.be/icp14N-n6dQ.

Honey. Flats campground provides sites with electricity & water with a short walk to the restroom & showers. We tent camped and all the other campsites were full with RV's. I wanted access to the facilities....however the bison made Honey Flats their home too, making a few of our trips ones we drove! Evenings provided a faint breeze and perfect temperatures. The coyotes would let us know how close they got to the campsite. The bison did not walk through the site but stayed within the campground itself. A busy racoon made off with an empty plastic bag we thought was high enough off the ground. He discarded it within feet so we packed it out the next day. Do not leave a thing out as he also worked on our Yeti for a few minutes before I got out and placed it back into the car.

Travel tip: Our stay was perfect weather but the next week brought quite a bit of wind & snow. Make sure to watch the weather as it can change quickly out in western Texas!

Sunrise view from Honey Flats Campground

The next day we hiked the North Prong Spur and the Upper North Prong Trail to Fern Cave. The hike wasn't long but felt about twice its length! Views...amazing! Fern Cave had a bit of ice, so watch that step! No bison viewed during this hike unlike our South Prong hike but we had plenty back at the campsite.

We spent our last night at the Turkey Hotel, located just under ten miles from the park in Turkey, Texas. The Turkey Hotel opened in 1927 providing shelter for railroad travelers, salesman and ranchers. Turkey is the hometown of Bob Wills, the King of Western Swing. Make sure to visit Turkey Creek Winery and shop the cute boutique store next door! There is more to this area as we didn't even touch on Quitaque! Find some time and make the trip to Caprock Canyon State Park. You won't be disappointed!