Region: Panhandle Plains
Town was established by Methodist minister L.H. Carhart in 1878 as a
"sobriety settlement," in contrast to typical boomtowns of that era. It earned
the sobriquet "Saints Roost" from local cowboys. Seat of Donley County. Many
museums have fossilized specimens from the Clarendonian Age found near here.
Locals call Clarendon home of "trailblazers, cattle barons, cowboys, preachers,
teachers, sodbusters, merchants, craftsmen, artists, old bones and old fossils …
and maybe a few saints!" Today, farming and ranching remain the primary economy
of the county, with birding and wildlife viewing, as well as hunting, now
popular in area. Don't miss the Sandell Drive-In, an old-fashioned drive-in
movie theater that shows first-run movies year-round.
The Bar H Dude Ranch offers chuck-wagon breakfast and dinner along with
activities such as horseback riding, cattle drives and birding trails. Ranch
also offers 10-acre cane maze Sept.–Nov.