High Ground

The great outdoors are pretty great in The High Ground region.

Consider, for example, the 50,000-acre Lake Meredith National Recreation Area 50 miles northeast of Amarillo near Fritch. Fresh-air activities include everything from camping near the shore to scuba diving in the blue waters of the 10,000-acre reservoir.

“I can tell you plenty of nice things about Lake Meredith, but I refuse to tell where my favorite crappie fishing holes are,” jokes Kim Lindley, an outdoor enthusiast who lives in Fritch. “I can catch 20 to 30 crappies a night on Lake Meredith, plus there are bass, trout, walleye and catfish. The lakefront is also ideal for turkey, quail, pheasant and duck hunting. It’s gorgeous out here.”

Other popular High Ground destinations include Buffalo Springs Lake, Lake Allen Henry and Comanche Trail Lake.

Additional recreation spots include rugged and scenic Palo Duro Canyon State Park, a 26,275-acre gem 20 miles southeast of Amarillo. Farther south, Monahans Sandhills State Park offers activities such as sand surfing down steep sand dunes in the 3,840-acre park.

Then there is Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge, a veritable utopia for bird watchers and nature lovers – especially during winter.

“Our biggest tourism draw is when sandhill cranes occupy the refuge, with up to 150,000 of them calling Muleshoe their home during the cold-weather migration months,” says Harold Beierman, wildlife manager for the 5,809-acre refuge. “Besides the sandhill cranes, 320 different species of birds have been observed here since the refuge first opened in 1935. That’s why 12,000 people visit Muleshoe refuge each year for hiking, wildlife observation and photography opportunities.”

Beierman says outdoor adventures are becoming a burgeoning business in the region as more people find out what west Texas has to offer. “We have it all,” he says. “As an avid outdoorsman and a devotee of nature, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”