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Amarillo
Amarillo was founded in 1887 as a 'buffalo-hide tent camp' for railroad construction workers and has evolved over the centuries into a busy city that is home to a convention centre, symphony, ballet, theatre, opera and two higher education facilities, Amarillo College and Texas State Technical College.
The city thrives still on the horns of cattle ranching, although tourists can expect to see some real cowboys or cowgirls putting on a show as the tourism increases in the area and the city is home to many motels and restaurants now, which are catering to visitors. The town is located on the major Route 1-40 east-west highway, making it easily accessible for visitors and those who come for the famed frenetic Amarillo Livestock Auctions.
Don Harrington Discovery Centre
A fifty-one acre park of lush landscapes and a lake is home to the Don Harrington Discovery Center, which focuses on earth and life sciences. The Center boasts more than 100 hands-on activities and a recently renovated planetarium. There is also an aquarium on site featuring both saltwater and freshwater tanks as well as a botanical garden. Most popular sights here are a Foucault Pendulum, rotating independently of the earth's gravitational pull, a helium technology exhibit and a weather-watch section with a tornado machine.
Address: 1200 Streit Drive; Telephone: (806) 355 9547; Website: www.dhdc.org; Opening time: Tuesday to Saturday 9.30am to 4.30pm; Sunday noon to 4.30pm. Closed Mondays; Admission: $4.50 (adults), $4 (youths 13-22), $3.50 (children)
Palo Duro Canyon
Over a million years ago the Red River created a huge canyon in the Texas plains. The walls of the Palo Duro Canyon plunge up to 1,000ft (305m) at points, exposing the multi-layered coloured rock strata. The colours are particularly brightly picked out on the spires and pinnacles that the forces of nature have carved out on the canyon floor. The Palo Duro Canyon State Park is a few miles east of Amarillo, reached via Texas 217 highway. The park offers picnic and camping facilities, a visitor's centre with a shop, an amphitheatre where shows are staged, and horseback riding trips. The park also has a famous historic site where the last great battle between troops and Indians took place in Texas. In 1874 Colonel Ranald Mackenzie and his 4th Cavalry defeated a large band of Native Americans camped in the canyon and transported them to reservations in Oklahoma.
