Last Updated: July 12, 2026
After a week of repairs at Newmar’s service center in Nappanee, Indiana, we pointed the motorhome west toward Amarillo, Texas — a roughly 1,200-mile drive across the heartland of the country. We were chasing better weather and trying to stay ahead of the active spring storm system moving through the plains. The driving days were long, but the goal was clear: get to drier, calmer air in the Texas Panhandle. We had family in Amarillo we had hoped to visit, but the worsening COVID-19 situation made that impossible. With anywhere from 20 to 80 percent of those infected showing no symptoms or only mild ones, we had no way of knowing whether we carried the virus, and we were not willing to take the risk. We will try again on a future pass through.
Visitor Information — Palo Duro Canyon State Park: Located at 11450 Park Road 5, Canyon, TX 79015, approximately 25 miles southeast of Amarillo. Open daily from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Admission fees apply; purchase tickets online at tpwd.texas.gov — online booking is strongly recommended, especially on weekends and holidays when the park can reach capacity. Phone: (806) 488-2227. Dogs are permitted on trails on leash.
Visitor Information — Cadillac Ranch: Located on the south frontage road of I-40 at exit 60, approximately 5 miles west of downtown Amarillo. Free admission, open 24 hours. No facilities on site — a short walk across an open field from the parking area. Visitors are encouraged to bring spray paint and add to the ever-changing artwork on the cars. Wear shoes you do not mind getting muddy.
Effingham, Illinois
Our first overnight stop heading west was Camp Lakewood in Effingham, Illinois — a gateway city sitting at the crossroads of I-57 and I-70, roughly halfway between Chicago and St. Louis. The park offered full hookups and workable wifi. Spring had barely touched this part of Illinois; the trees were still entirely bare and the grounds had that flat, grey quality that the Midwest holds onto stubbornly into late April. There were very few other campers. Jake the dog found the squirrel situation acceptable and we took long walks around the park’s lake to stretch our legs after the road.
The sunsets over the lake were genuinely beautiful — the one thing the bare early-spring landscape does generously is let the light through. We were not in Effingham for the sights. We were in Effingham to make miles and stay out of tornado country, and it served that purpose well.
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield, Missouri was our second stop, and we immediately wished we could stay longer. The city sits at the northern edge of the Ozarks and serves as the gateway to some of the most beautiful lake and forest country in the American interior — Table Rock Lake, Bull Shoals, the Current River, and Branson just 45 miles to the south. Springfield is also home to the original Bass Pro Shops store, a local institution that has grown into one of the largest outdoor retailers in the world. None of that was accessible during COVID; everything was closed or restricted. But the friendly owners of Cook’s RV Motor Park made us feel genuinely welcome even through social distancing protocols, and being further south finally brought us back into spring.
The redbud trees were at their peak — those vivid magenta-pink blossoms that appear before the leaves and turn the Missouri roadsides into something close to electric. After weeks of bare grey trees in Indiana and Illinois, they felt like a genuine celebration. Redbuds have always marked the turning point of spring for us — the moment when the season stops threatening and actually delivers.
Tulips were out too — another welcome sign that we had finally left the grey north behind. Springfield was the kind of stop that made us add a mental note to return properly one day, to spend time in the Ozarks and see what this region looks like when the world is not in the middle of a pandemic.
Weatherford, Oklahoma
Weatherford, Oklahoma was our last overnight before Texas — a small city on old Route 66 in western Oklahoma, about an hour west of Oklahoma City. Wanderlust Crossings RV Park had large sites, full hookups, and decent wifi. Like nearly every RV park we stopped at during this stretch of the trip, they had implemented smart COVID protocols: full payment by credit card before arrival, an information packet left in a mailbox outside, and alternating sites occupied to increase the distance between rigs. It was a thoughtful, practical response to an unprecedented situation, and we saw it replicated at park after park across the country. The RV industry adapted quickly.
Amarillo, Texas
We stayed at RV Oasis in Amarillo — large sites, full hookups, and wifi sufficient for email and video calls. The Texas Panhandle air was drier and calmer than anything we had experienced since leaving the Southwest weeks earlier, and simply being warm and sunny again lifted the mood considerably. One of the RV parks in the area had a small collection of restored Cadillacs on display — fitting, given what we were about to discover down the road.
Amarillo has a deeply quirky relationship with partially buried vehicles. Slug Bug Ranch, along old Route 66 just east of the city, features a row of Volkswagen Beetles buried nose-down in an open field — an homage (or parody, depending on your perspective) of the more famous Cadillac Ranch. It is exactly the kind of wonderfully strange roadside Americana that makes a cross-country road trip genuinely memorable.
Cadillac Ranch
Cadillac Ranch is one of the great pieces of American roadside art — and after years of seeing it referenced in travel writing, seeing it in person does not disappoint. Created in 1974 by the art collective Ant Farm (Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez, and Doug Michels), the installation sits on land donated by Stanley Marsh 3, an Amarillo helium tycoon with a pronounced fondness for public art and provocation. Ten Cadillacs — ranging in model year from 1949 to 1963 and representing the rise and fall of the American tail fin — are buried nose-first in a flat Texas wheat field at an angle said to match the slope of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The cars have been repainted countless times over the decades — solid colors, murals, stripes — and are now covered almost entirely in the accumulated graffiti of generations of visitors. Spray painting the Cadillacs is not just tolerated but actively encouraged. We spotted what looked distinctly like a monkey emerging from one paint layer. Visitors are welcome to add their own contribution; just bring your own cans. The result is an installation that is never quite the same twice, constantly evolving as new layers go over the old.
Palo Duro Canyon State Park
Palo Duro Canyon is one of the great undercelebrated natural wonders of the American West. Often called the Grand Canyon of Texas, it is the second largest canyon in the United States — stretching roughly 120 miles long, up to 20 miles wide, and dropping as much as 800 feet from rim to canyon floor. It was carved over millions of years by the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River, exposing geological layers spanning the Permian and Triassic periods and creating the red, orange, and purple striped walls that make the canyon so visually striking. Driving into it for the first time produces genuine awe — nothing in the flat Texas Panhandle landscape above prepares you for what opens up below.
The park was operating under COVID restrictions, limiting daily visitor numbers and requiring online ticket purchases in advance. We went early in the morning and had the trails almost entirely to ourselves — which, on a practical level, made social distancing effortless, but also made the canyon feel wonderfully private and vast. It was the best kind of outdoor experience: wild, beautiful, and quiet. After weeks of bad weather, constant driving, and the general anxiety of moving through a country in the middle of a pandemic, Palo Duro felt like a genuine exhale.
Spring wildflowers were blooming throughout the canyon — blackfoot daisies, evening primrose, and splashes of yellow we could not immediately identify among the red rock and dry grass. The canyon floor supports a surprisingly rich plant community, and seeing it in flower made the colors of the canyon walls even more vivid by contrast.
The park has over 30 miles of hiking, horseback riding, and mountain biking trails, plus a campground and cowcamp cabins available for overnight stays. The trails range from easy canyon floor walks to more demanding routes that climb the canyon walls for sweeping views across the Panhandle. Dogs are welcome on trails on leash, and Jake the dog made the most of every step.
The canyon supports a diverse wildlife community — mule deer, coyotes, roadrunners, and wild turkeys among the most commonly spotted. This turkey seemed entirely unbothered by our presence, taking its time crossing the trail with the unhurried confidence of an animal that knows the canyon belongs to it.
Palo Duro Canyon was one of the genuine surprises of the entire journey. We had known it was there, but nothing quite prepared us for the scale and color of it. It is the kind of place that makes you wish you had more time — and that you had known to allocate a full day rather than a morning. We will be back.
Our last night in Amarillo brought the April 2020 Pink Supermoon — the largest and brightest supermoon of the year, rising enormous and golden over the wide Texas Panhandle sky. In a month full of uncertainty and restricted movement, it was a reminder that some things remain entirely indifferent to what we are going through down below.
Practical Tips for Visiting Amarillo and Palo Duro Canyon
Buy Palo Duro Canyon tickets online in advance. The park can reach daily capacity quickly, especially on weekends and holidays. Purchasing tickets ahead of time at tpwd.texas.gov guarantees entry and saves time at the gate. Arriving early also means cooler temperatures and far fewer crowds.
Allow a full day at Palo Duro Canyon. The canyon is enormous and the trails are varied enough to fill an entire day. Morning is the best time to hike — temperatures in the Texas Panhandle can climb quickly, and the canyon walls provide limited shade on exposed sections. Bring more water than you think you need.
Consider staying in the canyon. Palo Duro Canyon State Park has a campground at the canyon floor and cowcamp cabins available for rent — waking up inside the canyon is a very different experience from visiting as a day tripper. Book well in advance as they fill quickly, particularly in spring and fall.
Cadillac Ranch is free and open around the clock. There are no facilities on site, and it is a short walk across an open field from the roadside parking area. The ground can be muddy after rain — wear appropriate footwear. Bring your own spray paint if you want to contribute to the ever-evolving artwork; it is actively encouraged.
Dogs are welcome at Palo Duro Canyon on trails on leash. Given the wide open spaces and interesting smells, this is a genuinely excellent dog hiking destination. Carry water for your dog as well — shade and water sources on the trails are limited.
The Texas Outdoor Musical runs summer evenings in the canyon. Each summer, the outdoor amphitheater at Palo Duro Canyon hosts TEXAS — a longstanding outdoor drama telling the story of the Texas Panhandle’s history. It is a uniquely Texas experience and worth timing a visit around if your schedule allows.
For more of our spring 2020 road trip, see our previous stops at Bernheim Forest in Shepherdsville, Kentucky and the Newmar Service Center in Nappanee, Indiana.
