These two state parks in Texas are among the best in the country, report says

State parks may well be better in Texas — two of them rank among the best in the U.S., according to a report from HomeToGo.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park in the Texas panhandle nabbed the No. 2 spot on the vacation rental website’s list of most extraordinary state parks. Brazos Bend State Park near Houston followed in third place.

Letchworth State Park in New York secured the No. 1 position. Blue Spring State Park in Florida and Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada rounded out the top five.

HomeToGo used its search data to determine the 100 most popular state parks then trimmed the list down to the 20 parks with the highest ratings.

From there, HomeToGo scored parks on five key factors: annual number of visitors, acreage, number of activities, availability of nearby accommodations and diversity of flora and fauna.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park, which boasts the second-largest grand canyon in the country, saw it’s highest score in the solitude category, which compared the number of visitors and the total area of the park, the report said.

It also scored well in the accommodation category, which looked at the number of vacation rentals available within a 30-mile radius of the park.

Its lowest score was in activities, which assessed how many activities such as rock climbing, fishing, swimming and kayaking are available. Palo Duro Canyon State Park offered the fourth-fewest of all parks.

HomeToGo praised Palo Duro Canyon State Park for its many hiking trails and “mindblowing vistas.”

Brazos Bend State Park reflected Palo Duro’s results, obtaining its highest scores in the solitude and accommodation categories and its lowest in activities.

It also ranked fourth out of all parks in the wildlife category, which analyzed the diversity of plants and animals in the park.

HomeToGo lauded Brazos Bend State Park for its various wildlife including deer, armadillos, river otters and alligators.

This story was originally published July 21, 2020 at 3:47 PM with the headline "These two state parks in Texas are among the best in the country, report says."