Dead Horse Point State Park

For spring break, our usual pattern is to drive down to Green River and stay one night in a hotel with a swimming pool. Then we drive somewhere the next day and visit some sites in the area. With Moab an hour from Green River and the San Rafael Swell, there are lots of places to go.

We decided to join with David and Stephanie and their children in our spring break fun. We left on Thursday afternoon and drove to Green River, staying at the Comfort Inn. We swam in the hotel pool and when I say we, I mean everyone but me.

The next day, we drove to the Crystal Geyser, very close to the Green River. It's a man-made geyser created by some drilling, that is right next to the Green River. It goes off every 12-16 hours and is pretty unpredictable so we didn't get to see it erupt. But it was still interesting to see what it leaves behind.

Next, we drove to Canyonlands National Park because we wanted to go to the area called "The Needles". Unfortunately, the line was literally a mile and a half long and moving very slowly.

So we bailed and drove over to the nearby Dead Horse Point State Park. The name sounds a little morbid. It comes from a story of some cowboys trying to capture some wild horses. The geography of that area (Dead Horse Point) provides a natural corral so they gathered the horses to that spot and then took the ones they wanted, leaving the others to die, trapped without water even though they could see the Colorado River 200 feet below them.

We made our way to the visitors' center and then hiked the East Rim Trail. David and Stephanie kept a close eye on their younger two who were prone to getting a little too close to the edge as we walked the two miles to the point.

Right behind David's left arm you can see the Colorado River, looking a little thick as it slowly moves through the canyon it has created during the last eon of time.

It was beautiful weather and very enjoyable. After spending a little time there, David and Scott ran back to the cars and drove them over so we didn't have to hike back.

We drove to Price, had some dinner and then came home. It was a good trip!

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