Amarillo travel guide

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Overview

The city of Amarillo, about 330 miles (531km) northwest of Dallas-Fort Worth, is where the old West lives on in the commercial centre of the Texas panhandle.

Amarillo was founded in 1887 as a 'buffalo-hide tent camp' for railroad construction workers. Today, the town boasts a convention centre, symphony, ballet, theatre, opera, and two higher education facilities, Amarillo College and Texas State Technical College.

Amarillo's fortunes have long rested on the horns of cattle ranching, but it has also become a popular stopover for tourists keen to play cowboy, with numerous motels and restaurants having opened up in recent years. 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 Center

Focusing on physical, earth, and life sciences, the Don Harrington Discovery Center is set in a 51-acre park with a lake and picnic area. The centre contains more than 100 hands-on activities and a recently renovated Space Theater. There is also an aquarium on site featuring both saltwater and freshwater tanks, as well as a botanical garden. The 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.

The centre was recently renovated and now includes several permanent exhibitions: Hunters of the Sky, focused on birds of prey, Amazing Bodies, all about the wonders of life and living bodies, Planetary Landscapes, an interactive exhibit that makes planetary weather systems and galactic motion more understandable, and Bounce, an examination into the physics and maths behind round shapes.

The centre runs summer camps as well as so-called Parents' Night Out on Friday nights, when parents can leave kids to learn and play for a few hours.

Address: 1200 Streit Drive

Opening time: Tuesday-Saturday 9.30am-4.30pm, Sunday 12pm-4.30pm, closed Monday.

Website: www.discoverycenteramarillo.org

Don Harrington Discover Center Who What Where Nguyen Why

Amarillo Museum of Art

The Texas Panhandle's one and only accredited art museum is the Amarillo Museum of Art. The museum was established in 1967 by a group of community leaders who felt that those living in the Amarillo area deserved a proper art museum, and in 1972 the museum opened its doors to the public. The museum has six galleries housing a permanent collection that includes 17th through 19th century European paintings, 20th century modernists, photography, Asian art and Middle Eastern textiles.

Some well-known artists represented in the collection are Georgia O'Keeffe, Franz Kline, Louise Nevelson, Helen Frankenthaler, and Francesco Guardi. Since 1995, the museum's collection has grown considerably due to the contributions of Dr. and Mrs. Price of Amarillo. Their contributions led to the naming of the Price Gallery of Asian Art, a collection that contains Edo period Japanese wood block prints, as well as South and Southeast Asian sculptures. The museum also offers frequently changing exhibits ranging from contemporary art to the American and European masters.

A Concert Hall building is part of the museum complex and hosts various concerts and talks throughout the year. The museum hosts regular Art After Dark events, when the museum stays open in the evening for a special exhibition that is accompanied by live music, street food stations, possibly a demonstration or presentation of some kind, and further activities such as screen-printing tutorials.

Address: 2200 South Van Buren Street

Opening time: Tuesday to Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday to Sunday 1pm-5pm, closed Monday.

Website: www.amarilloart.org

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Palo Duro Canyon

A million years ago a branch of the Red River carved a massive canyon through the northern Texas plains. The walls of the Palo Duro Canyon, meaning 'hard wood' canyon, named after the hardy juniper trees that grow in the canyon's sides, plunge down 1,000 feet (305m) at points, exposing the multi-layered coloured rock strata.

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 is also home to 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. Visitors can watch the park's longhorns being fed by rangers at appointed times every few days, and occasional educational talks are hosted by the park to educate visitors on various aspects of life in the canyon over the years.

Address: The park is located about 12 miles (19km) east of Canyon, on State Highway 217.

Opening time: Daily 7am-20pm

Website: www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/palo_duro/