Dead Horse Point State Park Moab, Utah

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This park has always been a favorite of mine. The views from the overlook are phenomenal and reminiscent of Horseshoe Bend. Dead Horse Point State Park is located Southwest of Moab close to the Canyonlands National Park Island in the Sky Entrance.

ABOUT DEAD HORSE POINT STATE PARK

From the prominence of Dead Horse Point, 2,000 feet above a gooseneck in the Colorado River, an ever-changing landscape unfurls. Immense vertical cliffs meet with canyons carved by ice, water, and wind creating a visual masterpiece. Plants and animals surviving on the edge of existence face many challenges of extreme conditions within this high desert environment. Stories of ancient hunters, resting along the cliff tops while knapping chert in preparation for the next hunt, and cowboys of the late 1800s, chasing wild mustangs onto Dead Horse Point, using the narrow neck to block off the natural corral.
https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/dead-horse/

If you are wanting to visit, I have included a map below that will show you exactly where the park is located and let you get directions. Be mindful, there is little if any cell service in that area, so be sure to have the map pulled up and know where you are going.

The Legend:

Want to know more about the legend of Dead Horse Point? Here it is:

Dead Horse Point is a peninsula of rock atop sheer sandstone cliffs. The peninsula is connected to the mesa by a narrow strip of land called the neck. There are many stories about how this high promontory of land received its name.

According to one legend, around the turn of the century, the point was used as a corral for wild mustangs roaming the mesa top. Cowboys rounded up these horses, herded them across the narrow neck of land and onto the point. The neck, which is only 30-yards-wide, was then fenced off with branches and brush. This created a natural corral surrounded by precipitous cliffs straight down on all sides, affording no escape. Cowboys then chose the horses they wanted and let the culls or broomtails go free. One time, for some unknown reason, horses were left corralled on the waterless point where they died of thirst within view of the Colorado River, 2,000 feet below.

You can learn more about the park, see hours, closures, etc. on their website at https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/dead-horse/

There are SO MANY DROP OFFS and CLIFFS here! Please watch your kids and don’t go out to far. There have been so many people that have died here. My husband has seen people fall. It not something you want to see or experience…so stay back and stay within the walls that are built to keep you safe.

The visitor center is so fun to visit and will give you a lot of background info. There are some amazing views here as well. Then you will drive up to the overlook. Be sure to walk the trail all around and see it from different viewpoints. Soak it all in. It is really beautiful.

We loved visiting here. I have only been here a few times, but each time it is like seeing it for the first time again. The views are really spectacular and so many great places to snag photos, so be sure to take as many as you can! Pin the image below so you can remember to add this to your trip when you go.