Visit MERUS Adventure Park

Photo courtesy of MERUS Adventure Park

“Our motto is low noise, low speed,” said park owner Dirk van Reenen. MERUS itself is a Latin word meaning “pure” or “undiluted.” Van Reenen says he’s determined to protect his land and the experiences his park provides near Palo Duro Canyon State Park, which reminds him of overlanding with his parents in South Africa, where he lived as a child.

MERUS Adventure Park is a relatively new campground with  10 full-hookup sites with another 10 full-hookup sites expected to open later this year. The park also has 17 electric only RV sites and 12 cabins, including a park model RV. Van Reenen has further developed the property with 55 miles of dirt roads for gentle off-roading and overlanding adventures and 15 miles of dedicated mountain biking trails. Mountain biking enthusiasts are also welcome to bike along the park’s other dirt roads.

Photo courtesy of MERUS Adventure Park

The park also has an on-site training center that offers workshops in off-road driving, wilderness survival, and backcountry communications. “We have resident professional instructors that teach off-roading basics and driving techniques, advanced driving, off-road recovery, and communication,” van Reenan said. “We also bring other experts in to train wilderness survival, overlanding setup, and route planning, and we are planning to expand our curriculum later in 2025.”

Van Reenan said his training center can accommodate about 20 students. “We are building a new training center that will be able to fit up to 40 students,” he said, adding, “Training and education around mindset, skills, safety, and reasonably navigating outdoor adventure is very important to us to preserve as much access to public and private land in the future for the next generations.”

Van Reenan said he is also adding more kid friendly amenities and has plans for playgrounds, bocce ball, and rally car off-road tracks. “We are also building additional trail systems closer to the RV park and office areas for hiking and biking and putting out feeders to attract more wildlife like mule deer and Aoudad sheep to be viewed from the RV and cabin areas,” he said.

Photo courtesy of MERUS Adventure Park

Van Reenen said he wants to encourage more families and younger adults who want to have a truly wild experience in nature. “Our big initiative for 2025 is making MERUS Adventure Park more family friendly and making the park a wonderland experience for kids. We have visitors from the 4 corners of the U.S. We are continually amazed that people drive 15 hours or more to come to MERUS Adventure Park." 

The number one activity at MERUS Adventure Park is off road driving. “Keep in mind this is only for full-sized vehicles. No side-by-sides, ATVs, or motorcycles. So it’s slow speed and low noise. We have also worked to expand our hiking and mountain biking trails and have seen an increase in those activities in 2024 along with guests riding e-bikes. Our typical stay is two to three nights. However, we have seen an increase in people staying four to five nights and really just relaxing and taking in the breathtaking canyon.”