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DEAD HORSE POINT HAPPENINGS - March
2004
Visitor of the
Month
by Don Bruce, Park Naturalist
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Dead Horse Point State Park is perhaps Utah's most spectacular
state park.
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In this edition of “Moab Happenings”,
and continuing throughout the year, a random visitor will
be selected and featured as Dead Horse Point State Park’s
“Visitor of the Month.” Dead Horse Point employees
hope that it will be a fun way to show the public that visitors
to the park are appreciated, welcome, and very important.
It may also be a way for local residents of the Moab area
to get to know and appreciate some of the visitor’s
who come to the area.
The mission of Utah State Parks and Dead Horse Point is “Enhancing
the quality of life in Utah through parks, people, and programs”
and the staff would like to show that they are dedicated to
making your experience safe, clean, and friendly. Mark your
calenders and plan a trip to what many call the most spectacular
viewpoint in the State of Utah. Who knows, maybe you will
be chosen to receive the honor of “Visitor of the Month.” |
 This
month’s special visitors are Adam Frost and Eric Schoenbaum
from Salt Lake City. They both drove down on Friday, February
20th to celebrate Eric’s birthday and to get away
from the city. When asked what brought them down to Moab
Eric replied, “To spend the weekend away from the
city and relaxing.”
Adam, a Utah native, is a software developer and Eric, originally
from Ohio, a retail sales manager. Both had been to Moab
once before and were excited to be here at this time of
year because as Adam said, “This is the perfect time
to come. There’s no one here and you get to go and
do what you want without the crowds.The off-season rates
help too.”
Staying at one of the local bed and breakfasts, they said
they were “treated like kings” and had a very
hearty breakfast each day before heading out to the parks
and other sites. On Saturday they spent most of the day
touring around Arches where they hiked up to Delicate Arch.
“Delicate Arch was absolutely gorgeous”, said
Adam who saw the famous landmark for the first time. They
both said that the hike was the highlight of their weekend
and very beautiful.
After their day at Arches they toured a local winery, then
made their way to one of the local breweries where they
were both so impressed with the beer they bought some to
bring home.
Eric and Adam came to Dead Horse Point on Sunday the 22nd
before heading home to Salt Lake. It was the first time
visiting the park for both of them and they were “stunned”
by the scenery and had no idea that there was such a view
point in the Moab area. They both loved the views and remarked
that there was “no noise” at all. They enjoyed
learning about the different plants and trees and were interested
particularly in the Juniper trees. They said they always
thought that they were Cedar trees.
Overall they said they had an “excellent” weekend
and look forward to coming back to Moab again sometime soon.
Adam said, “There are so many parks, beautiful places
to go, and the different colors of all the rocks makes you
feel like your in another world. Moab is an awesome place.”
The staff here at Dead Horse Point would like to thank Eric
and Adam for being our “Visitors of the Month”
and hope they had a great visit.
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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,
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. |
• Dead Horse Point is
open everyday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Visitor Center/ Museum hours are from 8 a.m. to
5 p.m.
• The 21-unit Kayenta Campground is open year-round
with electricity, modern restroom facilities, dump station
and will accommodate everything from tents to R. V.s.
• 11 miles of hiking trails.
• A self-guided nature walk.
• Gift shop, film, and snacks at Visitor Center.
• Picnic areas.
• For more information call the park at (435) 259-2614
or visit the web site: www.stateparks.utah.gov
Naturalist’s
Corner:
The “Ghost”
of Dead Horse Point
Probably the most asked question at Dead Horse Point is
how the park got it’s unusual name. Unfortunately
the history of who named it and why remains a mystery. Many
are familiar with the popular story of how the “point”
was used as a natural corral or “horse-trap”
to round up wild horses that once occupied the mesa tops
around Dead Horse Point . Rumors have it that cowboys forgot
to take the fence down and that the thirsty horses jumped
to their death to get to the river for water. Other versions
describe how it was horse- thieves who used it to stow stolen
horses away while they hid out from the law. By the time
they got back the horses had died of thirst. While some
have heard of the more popular versions of the legend, most
people do not know that there is an actual ghost or “spirit”
of Dead Horse Point which is visible most every day from
the overlook and adds an interesting twist to the more common
legends and stories.
When standing on Dead Horse Point looking south over the
vast Colorado River Basin, maybe the most prominent landmark
one sees is the “gooseneck” of the Colorado
River where the river meanders and takes a 360 degree bend
while flowing south-west. Just to the east of the “gooseneck”
on the ridge line below Dead Horse Point one may see the
ghost or “spirit” of the dead horses, a natural
feature made of white colored sandstone. The ghost horse
is actually part of the White Rim formation and has magically
eroded away to unmistakably resemble a white horse laying
on it’s side. If curious and unsure about where to
look for the ghost horse while visiting the park or have
any other questions about what you see when you come to
the park, feel free to come to the Visitor Center and ask
a ranger. Hope to see you soon.
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