The second largest canyon in the United States opens with no warning in ground that looks flat to the horizon — about 120 miles long, up to 20 miles wide, and around 800 feet deep. The Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River cut it, and the walls run through roughly 250 million years of rock: bright red Permian mudstone at the base, then Triassic sandstone, then the caliche caprock at the rim. The Comanche wintered here, and the canyon was the site of the 1874 battle in which the Army destroyed their horse herd and ended the Red River War.
Getting there
34.9370, -101.6900
Locations are approximate and may be inaccurate, on private land, or otherwise inaccessible. Check before you travel.
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
