Did You Know the Devil’s Tombstone Can Be Found in Palo Duro Canyon?
The Devil's Tombstone is in Palo Duro Canyon.
No, this isn't some joke about how hot it gets down in the Canyon in the summer. Seriously, the Devil's Tombstone is in Palo Duro Canyon.
There are all kinds of these natural formations. Where I grew up, we had the Devil's Bathtub.
Don't judge. I grew up in Oklahoma. It was a little pool of water fed by a natural spring. Not sure what the Devil had to do with it, but we had it and it belonged to him.
The most interesting thing about the tombstone though, is that it may not necessarily be for the Devil.
Where and What is the Devil's Tombstone?
The Devil's Tombstone is a hoodoo formation that was once upon a time as iconic as the Lighthouse formation now is. It's located in the Palo Duro Canyon State Park by the Givens Spencer Lowery Trail, about a mile out from the Red Star Ridge.
Wait. What's a Hoodoo?
Glad you asked. A hoodoo in this context is not to be mixed up with the religion practiced in the Caribbean. No mojo hands here.
It's definition is simply:
hoo-doo (n.): a natural column of rock in western North America, often in fantastical form.
The "fantastical form" with this one is that at the top of the column is a big giant rock that looks like it could take a tumble with one good giant gust of wind.
So Whose Tombstone Is It Really?
That's the question when it comes to the Devil's Tombstone in Palo Duro Canyon. The Devil isn't buried there, but if you step near it at just the wrong moment you might get to meet him.
In all honesty, it will probably take a long time for Mother Nature to do her work and whittle away at the remaining tower that the big giant rock rests on.
Then again...