The Canadian River Cuts Through Northern Potter County

Much of the surrounding High Plains looks broad and open. Along the Canadian River, that horizon drops into the Canadian Breaks. The National Park Service describes this canyon country as roughly 200 to 300 feet deep and as much as two miles wide.

The river made the breaks, but the dam made the lake. Sanford Dam began impounding the Canadian River in 1965 to form Lake Meredith. That distinction explains the northern county's landscape: an old river-cut corridor with a much newer reservoir tucked inside it.