Copper Breaks State Park & other nearby historical landmarks

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]Copper Brakes is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated Texas state parks.

[00:00:04]It's one of only a handful of international dark sky parks in Texas, and it's one of those rare places where you can be still and experience complete silence. There's some good hikes that you can take up onto Juniper Ridge or down into Bull Canyon. And I've seen wildlife every visit here. Deer, coyotes, rabbits, roadr runners, cardinals, cvies of quail. And if you're someone that's read the book Empire of the Summer Moon or just interested in Comanche and Native American history in Texas, there's some really interesting historic landmarks right around Copper Brakes State Park that you can add onto your trip here. First are the medicine mounds which are just northeast of Copper Brakes. These four dolomite mounds rise above the surrounding flat plains and they're considered a sacred site for the Comanche. Comanche men would climb the largest of the mounds and sit in meditation for days without food or water waiting to receive visions. And it's said that the Comanche buried tribal leaders at the mounds as well. South of the Medicine Mounds is the site of the Battle of Peas River. In 1860, a group of Texas Rangers attacked a group of Comanche here. Quana Parker, who had become the last free Comanche chief and the focus of the book Empire of the Summer Moon, was 12 years old at the time, and he escaped on horseback.

[00:01:05]His mother, Cynthia Anne Parker, was a white woman that had been kidnapped by Comanche as a young girl, but adapted to live with them for 25 years. She was kidnapped back by the Texas Rangers here and forcibly returned to her Anglo relatives. And the last stop is the town of Quana, Texas, which is due north of Copper Brakes. The town's named after Quana Parker, and there's information about him all over town. In 1896, Quana visited the town, and he gave the residents his blessing, wishing them peace, prosperity, and contentment. And about 125 years after that visit, his great great grandson, Quana Parker Burgess, painted this mural just off the town square.