Dead Horse Point State Park

This park is amazing; I can’t find one bad thing to say about this place. The park is great with some of the best views you can find, and there are endless things to do during your time at Dead Horse State Park. The campground is top notch and I can’t wait to get back there.

As a well traveled tourist, I found Dead Horse Point State Park to be a must stop. I visited early in the morning as I was making my way towards Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park. Like I had read in my research prior to visiting, you don’t need too long of time here. It is $ 10 to get in and since I was there real early in the morning, there was no attendant on duty and I paid with the honor system.
But, you drive to the Visitors Center where there’s a short, simple walk to the start of this spectacular viewpoint. Btw, that’s what Dead Horse is all about… an absolutely outstanding, unobstructed view of an amazing canyon… not nearly as colorful as the Grand Canyon, but I found it to be a «mini version.» And as you can understand, it’s a wonderful view of what seems to be the start of Canyonlands NP. That’s actually what Canyonlands (Island in the Sky) is all about… sights and scenery within an island surrounded by an enormous picturesque, canyon.
For better views of the canyon… leave the Visitor’s Center area and drive a little further within the park to the end, where you’ll arrive at the most scenic portion. This was the pinnacle of Dead Horse Point. It was early in the morning and I had a beautiful sunrise. The canyon was extremely photogenic! This pinnacle… as I look back on my experience, sort of mirrored the Grand View Point of Canyonlands National Park…(which also was located at the end of the park)…like the grand finale of what you’ll see at both places.
Overall, although Dead Horse Point was very similar to Grand View Point of Canyonlands… it’s certainly worth a visit. It’s much less crowded than Island in the Sky and for the beauty of the canyon… you can never have enough viewpoints to witness nature at its finest!
One more thing… on your drive to Dead Horse Point, there are loads of free roaming cows that literally stand and walk beside the road. Be careful as you drive and if you have a moment… stop and grab a photo with the herd of cows! It’s fun especially for anyone who appreciates animals!

We had planned on making the trek to this park which was only a 40 minute drive from our hotel in Moab and we’re sure glad we did.
The views this park has to offer start from the minute you arrive to the visitors center. There you will find a tiny little coffee shack to get pepped up for the hike.
There’s a small little trail that you can start with just behind the visitors center. This trail meets up with the others forming one larger beautiful loop that wraps around the cliffs edge.
Be sure to load up on water and sunscreen. There were biking trails as well but we didn’t have a chance to do it all. The hike was great!
There were campsites here that looked awesome. With grills, tables, and super clean bathrooms provided all for very little money. Hope to camp here sometime soon.

Sunset at its best in Moab! We planned to watch sunset at this Dead Horse point and it was splendid. The 360 degree view of that area was more than just awesome. Specially with the red hues of the setting sun, the rocks looked dramatic. At a glance, the scenery was similar to the Grand Canyon, but with a grand horse shoe bend in the Colorado, its a spectacular view in its own right. Its not a very crowded place, so you can sit there and enjoy the sunset peacefully. We really loved this place.

Came here on high recommendations from the tourist center in Moab. Purportedly better than the Grand Canyon. Ok it is charming and I love all of the the West in general but we can see the Texas Gulf Potash Pond out in the distance. WTF. Can we get rid of that from the view? In my opinion this is not the quintessential Colorado River Grand Canyon experience with all due respects to the locals who champion it. Horse shoe point near Page has better views when it comes to looking at horse shoe bends. Ok, I was here a little late in the day, after the sun has set, but I get the gist of the place.
Well, if you nothing better to do or must see everything, then stop on by, on your way to Canyonlands National Park or on the way back.

The husband and I agree, the scenery here is as good as the Grand Canyon. And we’d never even heard of this park – a local recommended we check it out at sunset, and man, it didn’t disappoint. Don’t let the dark wild west name fool you, it’s magical, otherworldly, and most definitely worth visiting. We had as great a time here as we did in Arches the following day… perhaps better since this is so much less populated. It took us about 45 minutes driving in from Moab, and I wish we’d had more time to spend here.

Stopped by on the way to Arches National Park near sunset, amazing scenery personally like it better than Grand Canyon. Could see Canyonland and Colorado river, even some rains and fogs made the scene more memorable. FYI, bathrooms are very clean too :)

Absolutely amazing views… ones that you won’t forget for a long time! The ranger was really nice in the visitor center and the trails led to absolutely stunning vistas. This is a must stop while on a visit to the Moab area!

Interesting how much dirtier the Colorado River is in Oct compared to pics taken earlier this year by other Unilocaler’s! Glad it’s still only $ 10 else I may have passed. Nice place to stop though no real hikes IMO.

If you have a federal park pass or if you paid to get into Canyonlands there’s not much point in paying the state of Utah $ 10 for some slightly different views.

Why do you come to Utah?
I bet you’ve seen the picture of DEAD HORSE POINT some magazine like National Geo before and made this place one of your bucket list.
I am here now and checked MY bucket list. It looked just like the magazine pic and so much more to offer!
This is outdoor country and I LOVE IT

This was recommended by a Moab local as the go to place for sunset and not the Arches National Park. He was right. The place is so much more pleasant, for one it is not crowded like a New York street to start with. It is a rather small state park with trails you could just spent a couple of hours. Incredible scenery.
The park has dramatic overlook of the Colorado River and Canyonlands National Park. The park covers 5,362 acres (2,170 ha) of high desert at an altitude of 5,900 feet (1,800 m).
The park has overlooks if you don’t want to hike, campground, and picnic area.
According to the state park — The place’s name’s origin — According to legend, wranglers often drove herds of feral horses across this narrow bottleneck leaving them corralled by the sheer cliffs. On one haunting drive, for reasons still unknown, the cowboys chose the best horses and left the others corralled on the point. With the gate across the neck closed, the remaining horses were trapped with no way out, no water and no hope for survival. Those who found the remains of the unfortunate horses gave this place the name «Dead Horse Point.
The area was also used in the final ‘Grand Canyon’ scene of the 1991 film Thelma & Louise.

Incredible scenery including rocks, Colorado river, and snowy mountains in the back.
It’s near Canyonland (~20 min drive), and park ranger at Arches strongly recommened to check out this, we stopped by. Totally worth it.
I don’t know why this is state park but not national, but I’m lucky I didn’t miss the opportunity!
$ 10 parking, Many trails to lead to various overlook points. I wenet to Colorado river overlook.

Came here based on recommendations online and all the glowing reviews here. Honestly, I was a little underwhelmed. Especially with Canyonlands National Park literally right next door, I really don’t think this is a necessary stop for out of town visitors. The view of the Colorado River is alright, but there’s just so much more at Canyonlands (especially the view when on the Grand View Point hike). I guess if you were planning on spending the day here doing other stuff, it might justify the entrance fee which I would like to mention as a state park, the national park pass is NOT valid here.

Next on the road trip was Dead Horse Point.
Unlike the other parks in the area, this is a state park so the National Parks pass doesn’t get you in. You must pay a $ 10 entrance fee which is totally worth it.
Amazing views of the Colorado river. The views are most spectacular at sunset since the rocks get orange to reddish with the sun.
You don’t need much time to visit, no hike to see the scenery so in the end we spent less than and hour there.

We missed this last year, but fortunately knew better this time. The National Parks pass doesn’t work here, but it’s definitely worth the $ 10 entrance fee. The views are amazing, the story interesting. The park staff is also very friendly and helpful. And hey, how many park brochures tell you that there is a geocache on the premises?:) A must-​see place for sure!

A $ 10 well spent. This detour was worth every penny of the $ 10 per car entrance fee. We were visiting Arches and Canyonlands when we stumbled upon this park. I knew nothing about it, so I didn’t know what to expect. I only spent a few hours here, which is enough time to check out some vista points and snap lots of pictures. This park is smaller than Arches and Canyonlands and can easily be visited in a day.
The views are spectacular. From above, you get a perfect, vast view of the meandering Colorado River. The canyons beneath are carved from the flowing River into U shapes that wind throughout the expansive land. In the center of the River are different size plateaus, some big, while others are the size of columns. There are also hoodoos in the canyon. From atop, we see how the River has created this unique land and how erosion has arbitrarily deposited soil inland. Looking down, I get a sense of calm and peace as I try and picture this land millions of years ago.
If you have a few hours, I definitely recommend that you visit Dead Horse Point State Park. It’s absolutely worth your time and make for fantastic pictures that you can blow to hang on your wall.

Dead Horse State Park:
I prefer this view over Canyonlands, so if you only 1 hour go here instead of Canyonlands. Fee for both parks is $ 10 per vehicle. Best Moab view in my opinion.
Canyonlands National Park:
Huge park with many trails for bikers and 4x4s. If you only have 2 hours drive to Island in the Sky section going west on Hwy 313 visit the green river and grand view point and do the 20min roundtrip hike to Mesa Arch.
Arches National Park:
Must visit for Moab. Give yourself at least 3 hours to drive through this park. Delicate Arch hike takes about 2 hours round trip to arrive right at the Arch or you can drive to the view point for a view from distance.

Dead Horse Point State Park is cool to see. $ 10 per car to visit, we had 5 in our car so it was a good deal! Legend is cowboys used to round up wild mustangs, took them to the point, pick the ones they wanted, then let the rest die.
They have a small Visitor Center — worth taking a look.
Then we drove to Dead Horse Point Overlook — nice to take lots of pics here. You can see a giant hole w/​some cool red rocks & the Colorado River.
Lots of hiking available, but it’s Hot in Moab. We didn’t have enough time so only tooks some pics.
Shafer Canyon is where they filmed many movies like Thelma & Louise.

Dead Horse Point is a must see if you are in Moab, and Moab is a really beautiful and fun place to go so hopefully at some point you will find yourself in this lovely canyon town.
The larger national parks nearby probably steal most of the attention away from this gem, but the lack of other visitors is part of the attraction. The gorgeous canyon cut by the Colorado features a back drop of reds and oranges that rival the Grand Canyon.
The reason I would recommend Dead Horse Point over nearby Canyonlands is that it’s much more easily accessible by car, they allow dogs on leashes, and it’s only $ 10 per day vehicle. There are plenty of good viewpoints right off the road, and a nice fairly flat hike right behind the visitors center.
The ranger and visitor center are on par with the other parks in the area, very knowledgeable and full of information and cool souvenirs.
There is also some interesting folklore behind Dead Horse Point: a legend that a group of Mustangs was rounded up and abandoned here by some cowboys and the horses died of thirst and hunger.
Dead Horse was also the canyon featured in Thelma and Louise.

Der Dead Horse Point State Park ist ein kleiner State Park in Utah in unmittelbarer Nähe nordöstlich des Canyonlands National Park. Von der südlichen Spitze hat man einen besonderen Ausblick aus 1731 m Höhe auf den über 600 m tiefer gelegenen Colorado River, der an dieser Stelle eine 180°-Kehre macht. Der State Park ist über die SR 313 von Moab erreichbar. Es gibt ein Visitor Center und einen Campingplatz.
Der Name des Gebiets ist auf die Nutzung im 19. Jahrhundert zurückzuführen, als Cowboys und Pferdediebe das vorstehende Hochplateau mit den an allen Seiten steil abfallenden Kanten als natürliche Koppel benutzten. Das Hochplateau ist mit der restlichen Hochebene nur über einen schmalen Bergrücken verbunden, der an der engsten Stelle 27 m breit ist. Diese Stelle wurde mit Ästen und Gestrüpp versperrt, so dass die Pferde eingeschlossen waren. Anschließend wurden die Pferde, die zur Zucht aussortiert wurden, mitgenommen. Für die zurückgelassenen Pferde endete die Gefangennahme teilweise tödlich, weil es auf der beschränkten kargen Fläche kaum geeignete Nahrung, keine natürlichen Wasserquellen und Schattenplätze gab. Sie verdursteten, während 600 m unter ihnen der Colorado vorbei floss.
Die Wasserknappheit (im Schnitt fallen 25 cm Niederschlag pro Jahr) wirkt sich auf Fauna und Flora des State Parks gravierend aus. Die Pflanzen haben die Größe ihrer Blätter reduziert, um die Verdunstung zu reduzieren. Einige Pflanzen haben ihre Blätter mit einer Wachsschicht überzogen und reduzieren damit ihren Wasserverlust. Die Tiere in dieser Gegend sind überwiegend nachtaktiv. (Wikipedia)
So schlimm die Geschichte Vom Dead Horse Point auch ist, ist es einfach wahnsinn dort zu stehen und einfach so einen Ausblick bewundern zu können. Also wenn man schon einmal in der Gegend ist, sollte man dort einen kleinen Zwischenstop einlegen und es sich angucken. Es lohnt sich auf jeden fall.