View from “Neck” lookout

Soaring 2,000 feet above the Colorado River, Dead Horse Point State Park was on our list this trip. We’ve spent quite a few months here in Moab over the last few years, but we never made it into the actual park. If you look closely at the photo above though you will see the road at the bottom by the Colorado River that we did take a couple of years ago. That drive took us most of the day and we saw the goose-neck in the river from a different perspective. It also scared me more than a few times as Bob took the Jeep up the steep switchbacks with drastic drop-offs.

After purchasing an annual pass for all Utah State Parks at the gate we split up outside the Visitor Center. Bob took to the mountain bike trails, and I took off for a hike around the East Rim of the park. It was HOT! and we are both looking forward to going back another day when the temps were supposed to cool off by 20 degrees or more.

Utah State Parks / Dead Horse Point
Hike / Bike Trails
Shafer Trail Road - Map for the drive through the bottom route

Part #2
Here it is a week later, and we are back on the trails of Dead Horse. Once again we split up at the Visitor Center and went our separate ways. While there are many days that Bob will hike with me - if he has his choice you will always find him on his mountain bike. He scouts out trails for the both of us and it makes for an enjoyable day, and also gives us some much needed time to visit with our own thoughts. When you spend 24/7 in 320 sq. ft. together, you can use a little alone time.

The weather was in the mid-’60s and the sun was shining as I started on the West Rim trail. The hike took me past three different overlooks and I found it much more enjoyable than the hike last week. While the East Rim trail had beautiful views of the canyon below, the West Rim had such different perspectives from each lookout as it took curves around the canyon below. Each lookout took you about .25 miles away from the main trail and as I approached each one I found them slightly terrifying, as you were right at the edge. I would definitely NOT recommend this trail if you have small children with you.

And if the view looks familiar to those fans of Thelma & Louise - yep, this is where they filmed the iconic ending, not the Grand Canyon.

Bob had another great ride, adding another three miles or so onto the trails he took last week. I am glad he has found this new outlet for thrills now that he has sold all his dirt bikes. His new bike has the suspension and other attributes I know nothing about, which allows him to take on some more challenging trails. We will plan one more day here sometime in the next week before we leave the area.