Name: Lighthouse Trail
Rating: 4.7

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Dogs Leashed

Features River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers

Family Friendly The trail is wide and obstacle-free with the opportunity for kids to spot numerous lizards. Bring the 4-legged best friend, especially if you need to tire out high-energy dogs.

Overview

The Lighthouse Trail is one of the more popular trails in Palo Duro State Park. The total round trip is a little under 6 miles long. As you make your way along this trail, your destination is the 310 ft high rock formation known as the Lighthouse.

There can be a high volume of foot and bike traffic. Go early to miss the crowds and stay late!

Need to Know

Bring plenty of water during summer days as the canyon can get hot.

Description

The Lighthouse Trail is the most popular trail in the Palo Duro State Park. The trail concludes with the centerpiece formation of stone pillar resembling a lighthouse that tower 300 ft. over the trail.

Glimpses of the lighthouse formation can be seen from multiple viewpoints, but make sure you complete the trail to fully experience it up close (round trip around 6 miles). The trail begins relatively flat, but as it continues trails split, leaving options for gradual elevations and descents vs. more difficult paths for mountain biking.

The path is mainly packed dirt and rock, but loose sandy paths are not absent from this trail. You do have to cross creek beds along the way, but usually they remain dry during summer seasons.

Givens, Spicer, and the Lowry Trail all have a connecting point on this trail. A trailhead sign indicates any turns to different trails; stay left at each junction to continue on Lighthouse.

To access the lighthouse pillar, there is a moderately difficult climb with possible large gaps to step up and over. Remember to bring water and a shade hat, and rest when needed on benches throughout the trail. Keep a head up for mountain bikers.

Flora & Fauna

Cacti are abundant and grow close to the path, in addition to plenty of other native plants. Keep an eye out, as there are lots of lizards scuffling around if you only pay close attention.

Contacts

Land Manager: Texas State Parks - Palo Duro Canyon

Shared By:

Craig Whiteside

Full Details

Trail Ratings

4.7 from 35 votes

#1

in Palo Duro Canyon State Park

#314

Overall

4.7 from 35 votes

5 Star		71%
4 Star		26%
3 Star		3%
2 Star		0%
1 Star		0%

Recommended Route Rankings

#1

in Palo Duro Canyon State…

#10

in Texas

#314

Overall

25 Views Last Month

5,943 Since Sep 25, 2015

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Photos

Mar 14, 2024 near Canyon, TX

Mar 15, 2024 near Canyon, TX

Nov 8, 2015 near Canyon, TX

Feb 22, 2018 near Canyon, TX

Aerial shot of the Lighthouse Trail from a Cessna 172.

Aug 10, 2017 near Canyon, TX

2 Comments

Weather

Current Trail Conditions

All Clear 32 days ago

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Check-Ins

Apr 13, 2024

Chris Allcorn

Mar 14, 2024

Stewart Carnes

May 17, 2023

B J

Mar 15, 2023

Steve Mittanck

6.1mi — 3h 48m

Aug 7, 2022

Matthew Kean

Awesome. My favorite hike. 6mi

Oct 15, 2021

Clay McCarthy

Took the two dogs with us today. It's just about 1100 and a beautiful morning at 72 degrees and light breeze. Let's see how this goes.

Oct 10, 2021

Dan Shemon

Very cool formation in the 2nd largest canyon in N. America! 6.5mi — 3h 00m

Sep 5, 2021

Stephanie Vazquez

Apr 29, 2021

Jan More

Mar 7, 2021

Ted Gould

Aug 8, 2020

Joseph DeLuna

9.3mi — 3h 41m

Jul 22, 2020

Laura Garrett

May 15, 2020

Monica Schmidt

Incredible views from the lighthouse. 6.9mi — 2h 31m

May 15, 2020

Monica Schmidt

So amazing. Be sure to do the last little bit up to the lighthouse. Amazing view from the top. 6.5mi — 2h 45m

Feb 25, 2020

Carissa Bryant

Beautiful, rewarding hike! View from the base of the Lighthouse is one of my favorites in Texas.

Feb 1, 2020

Stephen F

Jan 17, 2020

Lawton Jung

6.1mi

Jan 6, 2020

Eric Lynch

6.1mi

Dec 23, 2019

Lisa Howe

Sep 23, 2019

Morgan Hudnall

6.1mi

May 17, 2019

Jay Abernathy

May 5, 2019

Cody Hendrix

Awesome hike!! Bring Water

Apr 18, 2019

Alec Rodriguez

Apr 11, 2019

Dana Beique

Apr 11, 2019

Carolyn Jungels

Mar 23, 2019

Alese Descoteaux

Mar 15, 2019

Quinn Banas

7mi — 3h 00m

Mar 15, 2019

Tey Moriarty

Mar 11, 2019

Cindy Hwang

Feb 15, 2019

Joan Pendleton

Feb 4, 2019

Carissa Bryant

Very fun hike! Smooth and flat until the last bit, then it requires some pretty serious climbing to get a close-up view of the Lighthouse.

Jan 9, 2019

Yussra Hamid

Easy and beautiful hike to see the canyon, ending at the lighthouse where there's a convenient place to eat and enjoy 6.1mi — 4h 00m

Jan 7, 2019

Yussra Hamid

We had a picnic up at the flat part of the lighthouse trail. Really enjoyable. 3 miles one way. Great off trail areas to climb 6mi — 5h 00m

Nov 3, 2018

Jacq Marie

6.5mi

Oct 21, 2018

David McCormick

Small scramble to get to the base of the lighthouse, but a great hike. Probably the best in the park.

Jun 14, 2018

Ashley Cordero

6.2mi

Apr 10, 2018

Clark Justclark

First trip to Palo Duro and what an amazing journey. Low 40s to start, low 70s at end. Not crowded at all, ran into maybe 12 folks along the way. 6mi — 4h 00m

Apr 8, 2018

Levi Myers

Hiked half the trail out and back with a few friends and 4 children under 6. Well maintained hard packed trail with a few loose and rocky sections. 2.8mi

Jan 3, 2018

David C

10mi — 4h 30m

Nov 4, 2017

Cash Ficke

7mi

Oct 22, 2017

Kestryll Ferguson

Sep 2, 2017

Sonya Lemke

We climbed to Lighthouse Peak 6.5mi

Jul 29, 2017

Graeson Scott

6.5mi

Jul 21, 2017

Jay Abernathy

7.3mi

Apr 30, 2017

Roger Chesser

Mar 17, 2017

Amanda Massingill

Mar 4, 2017

Marcie Villa

Beautiful scenery! Easy to moderate trail. 5.4mi

Feb 1, 2017

Amina Lea

Oct 20, 2016

Landon Ellis

5.9mi

Sep 28, 2016

Kaitlin Darnell

5.9mi — 3h 30m

Dec 13, 2015

Adrian Smith

Nearby Recommended Routes

Lighthouse - GSL - PDR Loop

6.3 mi 10.1 km • 259' Up 78.94 m Up • 263' Down 80.2 m Down

Canyon, TX

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Lighthouse Trail

“A family-friendly trail that is the center-piece of Palo Duro Canyon. ”

6.1

9.8

Out and Back

3,120' 951 m

2,826' 861 m

361' 110 m

361' 110 m

2%

12%

Toolbox

Know This Trail?

Dogs Leashed

Features River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers

Family Friendly The trail is wide and obstacle-free with the opportunity for kids to spot numerous lizards. Bring the 4-legged best friend, especially if you need to tire out high-energy dogs.

Overview

Need to Know

Description

Flora & Fauna

Contacts

Shared By:

Trail Ratings

#1

#314

#1

#10

#314

Photos

2 Comments

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Weather

Current Trail Conditions

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Nearby Recommended Routes

Lighthouse - GSL - PDR Loop

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