Caprock Canyon State Park & Trailway
A Mini Review by Mike Mills
I definitely recommend it but on a warm dry day.
The trail is 64.25 miles running from 22 miles SE of Quitaque (Kitty Qway) to Estaline (on highway 287) but at this point only the 22 miles SE of
Quitaque (the state park is 3 miles north of town) is being maintained. That is the most scenic portion anyway. Not technical at all but definitely
 need Mt Bike to ride it due to large size of aggregate on the railbed. The 600 foot tunnel is pretty neat but has about 4 to 8 inches of bat guano (dry
and powdery) to wade through. A scenic ride but our weather did not cooperate in that it was cold and misty and then we got caught in a
thunderstorm about a mile and a half before the tunnel...trying to race to the dry/safety of the tunnel we had a confrontation with 3 longhorns that
did not want to yield the right of way in a cut and then we got into about 100 yards of clay/silt wash ranging from 2 to 6 inches deep and since it was
also in a cut there was no way to go around it...would not have been a problem if not pouring rain but with the rain we got bogged down in goop
that caked into fork/brake caliper areas both front and back such that tires immovable and had to carry bikes out. Used all available water to make
riding them possible (complete tear down required at home).
Recommendations:
-pick warm dry weather
-since at least a 4.5 hour drive each way plan to camp one or two
nights at Caprock
-Mt bike required (not even a hybrid advised)
-high risk of flats so be prepared
-ride from the SE end to Quitaque (down hill and with prevailing wind)
if going one way.
-check with rangers before departing state park for current trail
conditions
-easily ok for novice riders with correct equipment
-take disposable dust masks to wear in tunnel to avoid breathing bat
guano dust.
-take plastic bags and string or rubber bands to put over shoes/shins
for walking through tunnel
(there are garbage cans on each end of tunnel for disposal)
This a social or family outing not a hard core ride.
Thanks Mike....Fellow Ducks, anyone up for this?
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