Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Lubbock, Texas » Cropping Systems Research Laboratory » Wind Erosion and Water Conservation Research » Docs » Photos of the Llano Estacado

Photos of the Llano Estacado
headline bar

Photos of the Llano Estacado

John E. Stout, USDA-ARS, Lubbock, Texas

The Llano Estacado, also known as the Staked Plains or Southern High Plains, is a region located at the southern end of the Great Plains of North America.  This vast elevated plain has long been recognized as a distinct physiographic region. The key feature that sets this region apart from its surroundings is its exceptionally flat and featureless surface bounded on three sides by "Caprock" escarpments.  The western and northern escarpments separate the plateau from the Pecos and Canadian river valleys. Tributaries of the Red, Brazos and Colorado rivers carve away at the eastern escarpment, which separates the Llano Estacado from the Rolling Plains of Texas and Oklahoma.

Click on a photo to see a high-resolution image.

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_70_small.jpg

Abandoned church in Taiban, New Mexico (October 11, 2020)

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_69_small.jpg

Lonely ranch road near Pep, Texas (February 7, 2024)

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_68_small.jpg

South Plains, Texas (December 28, 2016)

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_67_small.jpg

The Inkwell tank at the Yellow House Ranch, Hockley County, Texas (August 29, 2023)

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_66_small.jpg

Ranch gate within Middle Tule Draw, north of Nazareth, Texas (April 14, 2023)

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_63_small.jpg

Turquoise waters of Yellow Lake, Hockley County, Texas (September 29, 2022)

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_62_small.jpg

Clouds above US Highway 84 (August 25, 2022)

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_61_small.jpg

Cattle tank on the Yellow House Ranch, Hockley County, Texas (June 24, 2022)

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_60_small.jpg

Abandoned building on the High Plains of Texas

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_58_small.jpg

Cemetery near Grassland, Texas

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_59_small.jpg

Caliche road, Hockley County, Texas (May 29, 2011)

   
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_48_small.jpg

Cone grain elevator in Hale County

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_46_small.jpg

Abandoned school in Close City, Texas

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_41_small.jpg

Alamogordo Valley at the northwestern edge of the Llano Estacado

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_22_small.jpg

Estacado Cemetery

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_04_small.jpg

Canadian escarpment of the Llano Estacado

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_57_small.jpg

Notrees, Texas

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_55_small.jpg

Large brown cow visiting the dark waters of the Inkwell pond at the Yellow House Ranch, Hockley County, Texas

 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_01_small.jpg

Pasture at Bridwell Ranch, Crosby County, Texas (September 23, 2014)

/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_02_small.jpg
 
Irrigation standpipe west of Shallowater, Hockley County, Texas. (December 15, 2011)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_03_small.jpg Steel grain elevator in Barwise, Floyd County, Texas (December 26, 2011)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_05_small.jpg Summer shower, San Miguel County, New Mexico (August 19, 2011)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_06_small.jpg Abandoned Presbyterian church, Taiban, New Mexico (August 10, 2011)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_07_small.jpg Melrose Roping Club, Curry County, New Mexico (August 10, 2011)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_08_small.jpg A lone tree on the treeless high plains, Hockley County, Texas (July 26,2011)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_09_small.jpg Wheat on the Llano Estacado, Lubbock County, Texas (July 23, 2011)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_10_small.jpg Oil storage tanks, Hockley County, Texas (May 25, 2011)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_11_small.jpg  Cuthbert, Texas
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_12_small.jpg Abandoned church in Estacado, Texas (May 1, 2011)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_13_small.jpg An old garage in Bula, Texas (April 28, 2011)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_14_small.jpg South Plains Fair, Lubbock, Texas (September 16, 2012)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_15_small.jpg Farm to Market Road 400 passing through Yellow House Canyon, Texas (April 24, 2011)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_16_small.jpg Weathered house in Fluvanna, Texas (November 18, 2012)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_17_small.jpg Overgrazed rangeland, Lamb County, Texas (March 24, 2011)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_18_small.jpg Colorado River, Borden County, Texas (January 30, 2011)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_19_small.jpg CRMWA aqueduct, Lubbock County, Texas (March 8, 2011)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_20_small.jpg Grassland near Silver Lake, Hockley County, Texas (January 21, 2011)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_21_small.jpg Row irrigation south of Lorenzo, Texas (May 1, 2011)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_23_small.jpg Playa lake near the ghost town of Gordon, Lynn County, Texas (January 6, 2011)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_24_small.jpg West of Amherst, Texas (April 16, 2012)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_25_small.jpg Grain elevator, O'Donnell, Texas (January 6, 2011)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_26_small.jpg Abandoned grain elevator, County Line, Texas (January 3, 2011)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_27_small.jpg Grain silo of the former Spade Ranch - North Division, Lamb County, Texas (January 3, 2011)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_28_small.jpg Foster's Grocery, Hart Camp, Texas (December 30, 2010)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_29_small.jpg Plowboy grain elevator, Roscoe, Texas (February 21, 2011)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_30_small.jpg Brazos Wind Ranch, Scurry County, Texas (November 25, 2004)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_31_small.jpg Caprock Escarpment south of Ralls, Texas (November 18, 2009)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_32_small.jpg Mushaway Peak, Borden County, Texas (November 25, 2010)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_33_small.jpg Sandy road through shinnery oak, Crosby County, Texas (September 7, 2009)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_34_small.jpg Abandoned grain elevator in the ghost town of Wastella, Texas (February 21, 2011)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_35_small.jpg Haboob dust storm approaching Ransom Canyon, Texas (June 18, 2009)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_36_small.jpg BNSF freight train, Lubbock County, Texas (March 31, 2009)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_37_small.jpg Yellow Lake, a saline playa in Hockley County, Texas. (March 29, 2013)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_38_small.jpg Goose Lake at Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge, Bailey County, Texas. (December 23, 2016)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_39_small.jpg Grain silo in McAdoo, Texas. (December 19, 2012)
 /ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_40_small.jpg Caprock Escarpment, Garza County, Texas. (January 13, 2010)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_42_small.jpg Grain elevator, Crosbyton, Texas (date unknown)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_44_small.jpg Plains Grain, Abernathy, Texas (December 2, 2010)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_45_small.jpg Water tank at Yellow House Ranch, Hockley County, Texas (February 9, 2018)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_47_small.jpg Monument Lake in Bailey County, Texas (February 17, 2017)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_49_small.jpg Texas State Highway 207 passing through Palo Duro Canyon, Armstrong County, Texas (December 21, 2001)
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_50_small.jpg Capillary waves at Yellow Lake
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_51_small.jpg Erosional remnant of the Llano Estacado in Garza County, Texas
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_52_small.jpg Red Hollow, Garza County, Texas
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_54_small.jpg Buried soils in clay dunes at Yellow Lake, Texas
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_56_small.jpg Cafe and hardware store in Southland, Texas
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_64_small.jpg Two trees in the Muleshoe Dunes, Bailey County, Texas
/ARSUserFiles/30960515/Llano Pics/Llano_65_small.jpg Cemetery near the community of Red Mud, Texas

 

Photos are public domain images provided by an employee of the USDA-Agricultural Research Service. If you use any of these photos in a publication, on a web site, or as part of any other project, please credit the USDA-Agricultural Research Service.  These photos may not be used to infer or imply ARS endorsement of any product, company, or position.