Dead Horse State Park - A Short Side Trip On the Way to Moab

On the way to Moab from Salt Lake we took a little side trip to Dead Horse State Park. 

The drive on highway 313 was very scenic. This is the highway that takes you to the Island in the Sky Viewpoint. We arrived in the heat of the day - around noon - on a scorching hot July 1. 

I had done a lot of studying. I thought I knew how much the entrance fee was going to be as the State Park website I had read a few days prior said $15. It also said there was a Senior admittance rate of $10. The lady at the entrance asked for twenty dollars. I was confused. We asked for the Seniors rate and she said they had done away with the Senior discount. I asked about the $15 entry fee - and she said it had recently changed but the website at that time did not. What is a person to do? They have now changed the information on the website. They still have a $5 discount for seniors but you need to be a Utah resident (which it did not indicate before). We paid the entrance fee but it was a little frustrating not having the correct information. 

We hiked half the flat West Rim trail. We wanted to walk from the Visitor Center to the overlook but it was way too hot. We walked back to the car and drove to the overlook. We were glad we drove to the overlook. It was lunch time and we decided to have a picnic. There are fantastic picnic areas with the most incredible views. 

Lots of picnic tables to choose from. The view was just twenty feet away. 

I was chicken to go too close to the edge of the rocks.

 It is very high up. 

 This picture doesn't really show how high up we are until you see how tiny the cars are on the road below.

I loved the overlook that had rails and a beautiful rock wall. The path near the visitor centre is pretty neat too. The bathrooms were nice and clean, but very HOT on a toasty July afternoon. It is about a half hour drive from here to Arches National Park and about a thirty five minute drive to the Hotel we stayed at.

Was it worth the side trip?

We spent just a little over an hour here as our main destination was Moab and Arches National Park. Even though it cost an extra $20 (which meant we spent $100 American - $140 Canadian coin on going to parks) that is what we drove all this way to do. Moab is a 20 hour drive from my house in Canada. We did not come all this way to cheap out and not see these amazing sights. It gave us a little glimpse of the Canyonlands which we were not able to spend much time in. I can’t say I would come back to that particular park - (I would probably carry on to Island in the Sky which Google maps says is 18 minutes away from Dead Horse State Park) but it was neat to see the Colorado River at this Point.  

I am sure there is much more to explore here and the campground with rustic yurts looked interesting. What a view!