Picture Canyon – Outlaw Loop

This route starts in Picture Canyon and depicts a full loop to Outlaw Trail at the edge of Sand Canyon, but two shorter options include looping back via Arch Rock (4mi round trip) or Homestead (8.5mi round trip). 

Picture Canyon allows visitors to step back in time to discover remnants of Plains Indian cultures in rock art and early 20th century homestead remains. Its also an excellent site for viewing Bullock’s oriole, Scaled quail, several species of towhees, wrens and sparrows, Ladder-backed woodpecker, Eastern phoebe and Blue grosbeaks. Scenic vistas, unique rock formations, gentle sandstone canyons and rolling hills, are the main attractions on the 13 miles of hiking and horseback riding trails that start here. 

As you enter this area, please remember that you are the guardian of this unique canyon. Rock art, stone tools, charred bones, and rubble from dwellings provide evidence that people thrived on the Comanche National Grassland for thousands of years. Each relic of the past holds a clue that archaeologists use to reconstruct life here long ago. These cultural resources are ancient, fragile, and irreplaceable. If destroyed or removed, the information they reveal is lost forever. And so is a legacy that belongs to us all. Please do not touch rock art. Oils from your hands promote deterioration of the drawings and the rock surface. Do not draw or scratch graffiti on rocks or cliff faces. Graffiti defaces a fragile, irreplaceable legacy. All cultural resources on public lands are protected by law. – USFS Overview