Panhandle Plains

Panhandle Plains covers the northwestern quarter of Texas, the high tableland of the Llano Estacado running from the Oklahoma border south past Lubbock and west into New Mexico. The land sits at 3,000 to 4,500 feet — higher than most of the state — and the dominant terrain is a vast flatness broken only by the Caprock Escarpment and the canyons it has cut into the plateau. Potter and Randall counties hold Amarillo, the region’s main hub; Lubbock County holds Lubbock and Texas Tech; outlying counties like Hale, Hutchinson, Carson, Donley, and Briscoe carry the smaller-town traffic. Palo Duro Canyon — the second-largest in the country — drops 800 feet below the surrounding plain near Canyon, Texas. Caprock Canyons State Park, Lake Meredith, and the old cattle-trail towns round out the public-land map. Trips here are built around distance. Cadillac Ranch, the canyon parks, Buddy Holly’s Lubbock, and stretches of historic Route 66 anchor most itineraries. The wind is constant, the sunsets are long, and the night skies away from the cities are some of the darkest in Texas.