Dead Horse Point State Park is a state park of Utah in the United States, featuring a dramatic overlook of the Colorado River and Canyonlands National Park. The park is so named because of its use as a natural corral by cowboys in the 19th century. The "dead horse" part of the name is that the corral was abandoned, but the horses did not leave the corral, even after the gate was left open, and died there. The park covers 5,362 acres (2,170 ha) of high desert at an altitude of 5,900 feet (1,800 m).
The plateau is surrounded by sheer cliffs 2,000 feet (610 m) high with only a narrow neck of land 30 yards (27 m) wide connecting the mesa to the main plateau. Thus it was easy for cowboys to simply fence off this narrow neck, and keep rounded up wild horses from running away. Legend has it that one group of horses was inadvertently left fenced in and eventually died of thirst. The area was also used in the final scene of the 1991 film Thelma & Louise.
The park has several overlooks, a visitor center, a 21-site campground and a group campsite, one picnic area, and a 9-mile (14 km) loop hiking trail with two cutovers to allow shorter trips. Safety concerns include the relative isolation of the park (gas, food and medical care are over 30 miles (48 km) away in Moab), lightning danger and unfenced cliffs. While nearby Moab is a noted center for mountain biking, bikes in the park are only allowed on paved roads. Hunting is not allowed in the park.
Famous quotes containing the words dead, horse, point, state and/or park:
“Helen: You’ve got talent and ambition.
Don: Talent? Ambition? That’s dead long ago. That’s drowned. That’s drifting around with a bloated belly on a lake of alcohol.”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)
“I am a feather on the bright sky
I am the blue horse that runs in the plain
I am the fish that rolls, shining, in the water”
—N. Scott Momaday (b. 1934)
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Most cruelly distrains my heart,
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Bear witness of my woeful smart;
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—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“Mrs. Mirvan says we are not to walk in [St. James’s] Park again next Sunday ... because there is better company in Kensington Gardens; but really, if you had seen how every body was dressed, you would not think that possible.”
—Frances Burney (1752–1840)