Sunflower Trail: A Fun, Family Friendly Hike in Palo Duro

This pleasant little nugget of a trail runs alongside Prairie Dog Fork of the Red River, crossing it several times. It can be accessed from Park Road 5 or near Fortress Cliff Camp area or it can be used to create an easy loop with Juniper/Cliffside trail, Rojo Grande Trail and itself. 

Hiking Sunflower Trail: An easy 1.2 miles one way

I find it strange that Texas Parks and Wildlife chose to put so many trails so close to the road – Paso del Rio, Rojo Grande, Juniper/Cliffside and Sunflower Trails all run alongside Park Road 5. But there was enough brush that I couldn’t see the road from my vantage point on Sunflower and there was little enough traffic that I didn’t often hear cars passing by, either.

A nice view of the Prairie Dog Fork of the Red River from the trail

The trail is 1.2 miles one way and even TPWS classifies it as “easy” – finally we can agree on a rating. This is a great jaunt for a weary hiker wanting to squeeze a couple easy miles in or a family wanting a fun kid-friendly trail. It’s also an easy, flowy mountain bike trail that even yours truly could manage with grace.

Accessing Sunflower Trail via Rojo Grande

From the Fortress Cliff Camp area, I found that the easiest way to access the trail was to walk west toward the restricted area (but not into it) until I saw signs for the Rojo Grande Trail. I turned left on Rojo Grande and followed it a short ways until it dead ended into Sunflower Trail. Definitely a pain in the ass to find. 

I hiked from my campsite at Fortress Cliff Campground to Rojo Grande Trail down to Sunflower Trail

Wooden Bridges & Animal Tracks

The trail is dirt packed, mostly flat and runs alongside Prairie Dog Fork of the Red River, providing a very different feel from most of the rest of the rather arid park. Which is to say, there’s water here. It’s nice.

There are a couple of small, wood bridge crossing over the stream, which I’m sure kiddos will love. And if they don’t, you can always push them in. (For legal reasons, I need to clarify that I’m totally joking, and do not condone pushing your kids off a bridge and into a stream, no matter how much they’re whining.)

Thanks to the abundant (for a desert) water source nearby, there are quite a few more trees along this trail than many of the others in this park, which in turn offers a respite from the often merciless Texas sun. Wildlife must frequent the area because I saw multiple animal tracks right on the trail, though I didn’t see any of their makers. 

Along the stream in places I found myself up against small walls of the very red, very Palo Duro-ish sandstone with white layers of  satin-spar gypsum lacing through them, a remarkable geologic feature of this area. 

This fucking trail gets muddy after rain!

Watch Your Step After Rain

I thoughtlessly took this trail in the evening after a quick downpour and almost paid for it with my dignity. The footing was absolutely treacherous after the rainfall. I can only imagine that it’s even worse to be out on while it’s raining.

I slipped, slid and nearly ate ass multiple times along this calm trail. Don’t be like me and wait for the damn trail to be dry. 

Or, you know, ignore my advice and ride this bitch like a slip-n-slide. You do you.

Too Long: Didn’t Read;

This makes for a fun little trail that even a hard ass like myself can enjoy a jaunt down. It would be great for a family hike, the newbie mountain biker or a fatigued hiker needing to get a few more miles underfoot. Watch your step in wet conditions or better yet, wait for the trail to be dry. This trail might not be the most breathtaking (for more than one reason) but I still would recommend.

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