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Description:
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The Llano Estacado , or southern High Plains , is an extensive plateau in the West Texas - eastern New Mexico area (Fig . 1 ) . Although essentially a flat land , numerous draws traverse the area forming major relief features and the drainage system for the region . Most of the draws run West to East , opening into canyons along the eastern to southern edge of the plateau . One of the major drainage ways for the central Llano Estacado is Yellowhouse Canyon , formed by the joining of Blackwater and Yellowhouse draws , Blackwater Draw
begins in eastern New Mexico 5 to 10 miles northwest of Portales and crosses almost the entire width of the southern High Plains . The origin of Yellowhouse Draw is disputed , but today it appears to start at Silver Lake in Cochran and Hockley counties (Texas ) . However , during the Late Pleistocene , the draw may have originated a few miles west of Portales in the Portales Valley (C . Johnson , personal communication ) . These two draws join to form the canyon in Mackenzie State Park within the city of Lubbock . The Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River flows through the Canyon . |