DEAD HORSE POINT STATE PARK, MOAB, UT
And the winner of the Worst Park Name award goes to ... Dead Horse Point State Park!
But don't let the poor marketing stop you from checking out this state park, less than an hour from Moab, Utah. It offers spectacular views of the Colorado River and Canyonlands National Park ... and zero dead horses.
The park has deep canyons, with vertical cliffs that drop 2,000 feet to the Colorado River below. The scenery here is incredible and frankly, this is exactly how I imagined the Grand Canyon would look.
So, exactly how did the park get its name?
There is an area of the park that crosses a narrow neck of land to a point. The neck is just wider than the road, with steep drops on either side. Here is a picture of where the road crosses that neck. You can see the steep drop on the left side of the road; the drop-off on the other side is just outside the frame of this photo.
According to legend, cowboys in the late 1800's would round up wild horses, drive them to the end of this point and block off the narrow neck, effectively creating a natural corral for the horses. They chose the best ones and left the others to perish.
I read this placard and absolutely do not believe it. Back in those days, even a bad horse was better than no horse, so letting a bunch of horses die, when the cowboys could have sold them or just let them go, absolutely defies common sense.
And then I came to then end of Dead Horse Point and saw this. Look closely ...
Do you see the dead horse? No? Let me zoom in for you. Look at the rock formation in the center of the photo ...
Does it kind of look like a dead horse? (Or maybe a sleeping horse?)
THAT is why it's called Dead Horse Point. It has to be. I am absolutely convinced the legend of the cruel cowboys is boloney. Unless, of course, that rock formation is the ghost of all the dead horses!
One more shot of the canyon. I'm smiling because I had just seen the rock horse formation and was happy to know my original misgivings about the cruel cowboys were justified.
Total miles = 5.19
Total elevation gain = 391'
