Both of these great parks are close to Moab. In the 1800’s, Dead Horse Point was used by cowboys as a corral for rounding up wild mustangs that roamed the area. The horses were herded across the narrow neck of land only 30 metres wide onto the point. The neck was then fenced off, and the horses sorted. Legend has it that on one occasion, for some unknown reason, the rejected horses were left trapped on the point, and many died of thirst, in view of the Colorado River 2,000 feet below. Hence the name Dead Horse Point State Park.The view from Dead Horse Point is as dramatic a view as anyone could ever see. The Colorado River goosenecks at the base of the deep canyon it has cut over the eons, and all around are other twisted canyons and escarpments. The Colorado has been a busy river. Much further downstream, it has been responsible for the creation of the Grand Canyon, as well as countless others.
We then moved on to see the northern part of Canyonlands National Park, and after a picnic lunch at Grand View, we hiked to Grand View Point, Upheaval Dome and Mesa Arch. This Park is at the heart of the Colorado plateau and presents a tortured landscape of hundreds of canyons, mesas, buttes and spires.
