Why Is It Called "Dead Horse Point" ?

   As a follow up to Arches National Park, we ventured the few miles up Route 191, past Arches, to Dead Horse Point State Park ... an oft times overlooked destination.

Dead Horse Point State Park - UTAH

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Dead Horse Canyon from Visitor Center

   Dead Horse Point, located in San Juan County, Utah opened in 1959 and covers an area of 5,400 acres of high desert situated at an elevation of almost 6,000 ft above mean sea level. The park features an adequate visitors center and several outstanding overlooks of the Colorado River and The Canyonlands National Park.

 I don't know why more travelers don't visit here but the scenery rivals the vistas of the Grand Canyon. 

   Dead Horse has an 8-mile hiking trail (East and West rim trails) and The Intrepid Bike Trail System covering 17 miles of single-track trails of varying difficulty.

Horseshoe Bend in the Colorado River

 So, why was it called 'Dead Horse Point' ?

 The name Dead Horse Point, according to legend, was known as the place at the end of the canyon where cowboys would round up and corral wild horses. The horse wranglers would 'cut out' the horses they wanted and abandoned the rest to starve to death or succumbed to the harsh waterless environment. Hence the unpleasant moniker.

 

Canyonlands from Dead Horse Point

 

   Dead Horse is 30 miles from anywhere... no gas, no food and lack of medical care might be a concern. Come prepared as this is a high desert area and extremely dry.

  The park is supported by two campgrounds (Kayenta and Wingate) with electric service. A hike-in, tent only area and an area with 'Yurts'... 

 This is one of the few canyon destinations that doesn't fence the cliff edges... so fair warning...

  Area flora has developed some amazing resiliency over the millennia... Plants grow very slowly and have a waxy coating on their small leaves to prevent accelerated evaporation. The plants and animals have adapted to the scarcity of water and the high temperatures in the canyon and surrounding cliffs.

Obligatory Park Entrance Sign

   Although by-passed or overlook by many area visitors, this Park is definitely worth your time to pay a visit. 

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If you are still with me - BONUS material covering Dinosaurs !!

  Departing MOAB, we got back on Rt 191/6 past Price and Roosevelt UT for a three day stop at Steinaker State Park for a visit to another bucket-list destination. The Dinosaur National Monument & Museum outside of Vernal, UT. 

  This place was amazing !! If you are either into Dinosaurs, Paleontology or natural history this park is a must ! The Quary Wall display is worth the trip alone.

Green River

   You access the park entrance off of Rt40 on Utah 149 along the beautiful Green River. To get to the Quarry Exhibit Hall, you park at the very informative Visitors Center and board a free tram that takes you up a steep access road dropping you off right at the Quarry Hall.

  The park straddles the border of Utah and Colorado - a remote area on the edge of the Uinta Basin. Over 90% of the park is managed as wilderness. All of the fossils are located on the Utah side of the border.

  Besides the fossils, the area features numerous hiking trails, some serious rafting thru the canyons carved by the Green and Yampa rivers, ancient petroglyphs in the Cub Creek and Slit Mountain and a few nice campgrounds. 

Wall of Bones - Quarry Hall Exhibit

  Dinosaur National Monument boasts one of the Earth's richest fossil beds. These remains from the Jurassic period date to 150 million years ago. During an extended drought period, many of the dinosaurs perished near the banks of the dry riverbed... when the rains returned, floodwaters carried the remains of over 500  

dinosaurs, representing ten different species, in a jumbled mass, to this their final resting place.

  Ancient river sediments entombed the remains (Morrison Sandstone). Over the millennia, erosion exposed the fossilized bones. In 1909 Earl Douglas discovered the massive cache of bones and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Part of the Massive Morrison Formation

  We are off to Rock Springs, WY and the much anticipated 63rd Annual ESCAPADE being held at the Stillwater Events Complex. We are anxious to meet up with the Kelsoes in Rock Springs to complete plans for our post Escapade travels.

  "May The Odds Be Forever In Your Favor"...