Dead Horse Point State Park

Dead Horse Point is a narrow finger of mesa in southeastern Utah that ends in a sheer drop of about 2,000 feet (610 m) to the Colorado River. From the overlook at its tip the river makes a tight gooseneck loop directly below, a green-edged ribbon of water folded around a tower of red rock, while the canyon country spreads to the horizon in stepped layers of cliffs, benches and buttes. It is one of the most complete views of the Colorado Plateau from a single point, and it changes completely with the light: flat and hazy at noon, glowing orange and throwing long shadows at sunrise and sunset.

The name comes from a local story. Tradition holds that in the nineteenth century cowboys used the point as a natural corral, since sheer cliffs drop away around it, and that horses left there died of exposure. Whether or not every detail is true, the geography that made such a corral possible is plain to see as the road runs out toward the point.

The park opened to the public in 1959 and covers about 5,362 acres at an elevation of around 5,900 feet. Miles of trails run through the high desert woodland on top of the mesa, giving different angles on the canyons, and the park is designated an International Dark Sky Park, so the view continues after dark under a very clear desert sky. The overlook is familiar even to people who have never been to Utah: it has appeared in a string of films, among them Thelma & Louise (1991) and Mission: Impossible 2 (2000).

Getting there

The park is reached by Utah State Route 313, the Dead Horse Point Mesa Scenic Byway, which leaves US 191 north of Moab; the overlook is about 32 miles from Moab by road. Grand Junction, Colorado, is about 120 km away in a straight line. Canyonlands Regional Airport (CNY) is about 28 km away. There is no public transport to the park, so a car is needed.