Moving to Lubbuck soon

[JJH]

OK, so I am still not sure exactly where to post this yet, but anyhow:

I am moving to Lubbock, TX very shortly and was wondering if there are good nature/wildlife locations close by. Any help on this is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeremy

[Shane Jennings]

Lake Alan Henry south of Post is a pretty little lake, and they have a few thousand acres surrounding it that is some pretty rough canyon land. City of Lubbock owns and operates it.

http://lakealanhenry.com/

I'm not sure if this is your idea of 'close', but Caprock Canyons State Park near Quitaque is gorgeous.

[JJH]

Thanks for the info so far. I consider anything within 6 hours "close" since I'll will have 3 and 4 days off at a time.

[carrbowl]

Big Spring had a "pond type" area that some birds used to land and it was a great hit for photographers and wildlife people. Gosh I wish I could remember the name of the bird..if I remember correctly, they were endangered..and they also stop in Grand Island NE. Don't know if that helps you out any!!!

[Donner]

Palo Duro Canyon is a little more than an hour north of Lubbock. Maybe closer to hour and a half. It's very pretty. If you search this site for it you'll find several pictures.

Six hours will put you easily into santa fe, as well.

[Dobick]

6 hours will put you just about anywhere in New Mexico. 4 hours and you are in Ruidoso, and 3 hours to White Sands. 2 hours to Palo Duro, and there are a ton of areas out east of Lubbock, that are great with little creek bottoms, and canyon land, but most is in private land.

There is a lot of hunting in the area, although it is mainly bird hunting. Heading east about two hours, you can get to some boar and deer hunting.

It is also only about 3.5 hours to Witchita Mountain Wildlife Preserve, just outside of Lawton, OK.

As far as Lubbock is concerned though -- not really much here, but coming from Dumas, you probably already knew that. There are a lot of prairie dogs though.

[Shane Jennings]

Don't forget the geese in the winter.

carrbowl, are you talking about whooping cranes?

[studiocygnet]

Buffalo Springs Lake, just out 51st St. east of town. You've got waterbirds, and a waterslide.

[carrbowl]

Originally Posted by Shane Jennings

Don't forget the geese in the winter.

carrbowl, are you talking about whooping cranes?

close..I was talking to someone and that's what I was thinking until he mentioned..sand hill cranes...they come in by the hundreds...

[Dobick]

In town, there are probably a dozen or so playa lakes that during the winter have canadian geese all over them. During the summer, it is just your typical park birds.

Buffalo Springs Lake is not a bad area, and they are working hard to make it more marketable. It gets pretty crowded in the summer time though. One small correction to Tom though, it is straight out 50th street, not 51st.

One great/boring thing about Lubbock is that it is hard to get lost here. One big circle around the outside, and a grid of streets on the inside that run due north-south, east-west. The streets that run east-west are numbered, starting in the north, increasing as you move south. Alphabetical starting in the east -- Tree names in alphabetical order, ave a thru z (with an exception here or there) city names for streets and then another set of city named streets, all in alphabetical order. If you know those basics, and then learn the main street names, you will be able to take any address, and find it's location pretty quickly, and get to it just as easily.

[JJH]

Tons of useful information so far. Thank y'all so much! I was raised in Amarillo so I'm familiar with Palo Duro Canyon, but I'm not familiar with much else which is why I asked. I've been away from this area for the last 10 years and just recently decided to move back so that my kiddos can grow up close to their Grandparents. So far, I'm definitely looking forward to some of the photo ops around. We've never been to New Mexico so that area sounds exciting as well, especially since it doesn't seem to be that far away.

Thanks again for the info!!!
Jeremy

[JJH]

Wow, I just realized I spelled Lubbock wrong in the title. Sorry about that.

Jeremy

[CobyPhoto]

Woo Hoo! I am with Kent! Taos, Tres Rios, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Ruidoso, New Mexico Baby! You will find PLENTY to do, shoot and enjoy in all those places! I used to spend loads of time in Ruidoso, NM sking as a kid. Also Cloudcroft. It is just beautiful and so peacful in the areas mentioned. That is one of the things I do miss about being in Houston and not Lubbock.

CJ

[Dobick]

The number of spots in New Mexico that are four and five hours away is great. Some of my favorites include -- Ruidoso, and Ruidoso Downs (for the horse racing) Cloudcroft (just reallly scenic) Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands. Jumping across the border from White Sands, you can be in the Davis Mountains, and not too far from Bahlmorhea (sp?) and Monahans. There are some great photo ops all over the area within four hours, and more than just photography, the whole family can have fun.

[afrikaner07]

I heard a rumor that Lubbock might get a Zoo...did I hear wrong? or does anyone know something about that?

Edit:
Looks like they tried to get it going in 2002, but they didn't have enough sponsors and some people opposed it.