Dalhart[1] is a city in the High Plains of the Texas Panhandle. It is known as the "Gateway to the Rockies" because it is an important stopover and resting place for many Texans on their way to the ski slopes of northeast New Mexico and Colorado.
XIT Ranch Museum, [2]. Focuses not only on the (no longer existant) three-million-acre ranch which blanketed the area, but also has exhibits on local wildlife, railroad history of the area, and the role of the County Sheriff in Old West life.
XIT Rodeo and Reunion[3], held the first weekend of August every year, features live music, professional and amateur rodeo events, the world's largest free barbecue, and other activities.
Lake Rita Blanca Park on the south edge of town offers hiking, biking, and horse trails and makes a good place for birdwatching. The 2,168 acre park was once Texas' most northernmost state park but is now administered by the city of Dalhart.
Rita Blanca National Grassland, contact office in Clayton, New Mexico, 505 374 9652, [4]. To the north and northwest of town, over 77,000 acres of what was once the XIT ranch are now preserved in this parcel of Cibola National Forest. The area provides excellent birdwatching and offers limited antelope hunting by special permit.
Stratford, northeast on Texas 54, is a small historic depot town with many homes from 1900-1910.
