My first trip to Merus Adventure Park in Texas coming up! (1 Viewer)

[AustinJoe]

I'll be leaving Austin early tomorrow morning for the eight-hour drive up to Merus Adventure Park in Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo for their inaugural "Texas Toyota Takeover". If you are not familiar, Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest canyon in the U.S. behind that other canyon. This will be my first trip to Merus and my first big trip of the "season" with trips to Colorado and Utah coming later this Summer and Fall. I've done a lot of prep to get the 'Stak ready for this year's Overlanding season and I'm itching to get going. For those who are interested in seeing what Merus is all about, I'll be posting updates on my Instagram @sleestak100. This year, in addition to my GoPro, I've added a DJI Mavic Air 2 to the A/V kit so I hope to be able to share some dramatic footage. I'll try to keep the rubber side down!
Bonus - It's supposed to be 20 degrees cooler in PDC than in Austin this weekend!

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[excessive]

That looks really cool, sometimes I wish I lived in a different part of the country

 

[baseballdad5]

You must post pics and after action report. I am planning a trip there later this year.

 

[oukaapie]

It is really awesome, enjoy!

 

[AustinJoe]

You must post pics and after action report. I am planning a trip there later this year.

will do!

 

[Zjohnsonua]

update?

 

[AustinJoe]

OK, Here's a brief update. The park is super cool and the people who run it are great. I happened to be HOT when we were there (105 degrees and sunny) so that wasn't optimal, but it was pretty dry so that helped. The camping options were primitive, but the views were great. I would recommend camping on the rim if it is hot out. It's 7-10 degrees warmer down in the canyon than it is on the rim. Also, the Cedar Flies in the canyon were insane in certain areas. I'm guessing this is seasonal. They offer a nice mix of easy dirt roads (green) to quite difficult trails so you can "choose your own adventure". We did some blue trails mixed in with a black diamond. It was super fun, but not as scary as some of the stuff I've done in Colorado and Utah. You just don't have the elevation exposure that you do in the mountains. Although, I'm pretty certain you can get yourself in trouble here if you arent using your head. Clause, TX is the nearest town (20 minutes each way) if you need to run out for gas or provisions while at the park. Claude is pretty small so the options are limited. I will definitely go back in the Spring or the Fall.

 

[excessive]

what a great turnout. your truck looks dope with those wheels and graphics

 

[AustinJoe]

what a great turnout. your truck looks dope with those wheels and graphics

Definitely a great turnout considering the heat. Appreciate the compliment!

 

[4Cruisers]

Here's an action shot of my '76 FJ40 at MERUS last fall - Land Cruiser Unite event:

This was on Lonesome Dove.

 

[27south]

@AustinJoe thanks for the report! We're planning to stop here for a night or 2 next fall.