Coronado Trail Marker (Palo Duro Canyon)
Canyon, Texas, USA
TX-217, 4 mi east of Canyon, Canyon, TX 79015, USA
MARKER
VISITOR INFORMATION
NO TICKET REQUIRED
A roadside historical marker, free to read at any time. There is no parking area or restroom at the marker itself, so pull over only where it is safe to do so.
Free roadside historical marker; visible from the public right-of-way at any time. There are no staffed hours or ticket requirements.
Peak visitation season unconfirmed. No reliable site-specific monthly attendance pattern was established.
April-May or September-October for the Coronado marker east of Canyon. Confirm THC marker 2048 on SH 217 about four miles east of Canyon. View from a lawful stopping place; plan any canyon-park visit separately.
HISTORIC SITES NEARBY
Nearby Historic Sites
miles
Landmark
WHO WAS HERE
0
PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE
About Coronado Expedition Trail Marker (Palo Duro Canyon Area)
A marker near Palo Duro Canyon commemorates Francisco Vazquez de Coronado's expedition across the Texas Panhandle in 1541. His party traveled through the plains while searching for Quivira, hunting bison and fording canyons on its way north. Coronado returned to Mexico in 1542 without finding the wealth he sought. The 1969 marker identifies the region associated with the route rather than a surviving expedition structure.
Texas Historical Commission markers and interpretation at Palo Duro Canyon State Park commemorate the expedition route. They provide historical references rather than evidence of a surviving expedition structure.
History happened here at Coronado Expedition Trail Marker (Palo Duro Canyon Area)
This marker traces the approximate route of Francisco Vazquez de Coronado's 1541 expedition across the Texas Panhandle, when the conquistador and his soldiers crossed the Llano Estacado in search of the legendary golden city of Quivira. Coronado's diarists left the first European descriptions of the Texas Panhandle's canyons and the vast bison herds that sustained Plains tribes.
PEOPLE WHO DIED HERE
PEOPLE AT REST HERE
EXTERNAL LINKS
Texas Historical Commission: https://atlas.thc.texas.gov/Details/5011004366
Texas Historical Commission: https://atlas.thc.texas.gov/Details/5381002048
thc.texas.gov: https://thc.texas.gov/blog/hike-history
Texas State Historical Association: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/palo-duro-canyon
Historical Marker Database: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=96835
Accessed 2026-09-29