Dead Horse Point State Park

The Dead Horse Point State Park is a 21.7 km ² State Park to the northeast near the Canyonlands National Park in Utah. From the southern tip one has a special view from 1731 meters above sea level, which makes the over 600 m deeper Colorado River at this point a 180 ° turn. The State Park is accessible via the SR 313 from Moab. There is a visitor center and a campground.

The name of the region is due to the use in the 19th century, used as cowboys and horse thieves, the above plateau on all sides with steep edges as natural coupling. The plateau is connected with the rest of the plateau over only a narrow ridge that is 27 m wide at its narrowest point. This passage was blocked with tree branches and bushes, so that the horses were included. Then the horses were screened for breeding were taken. For the abandoned horses the capture ended partly fatal, because there was limited on the barren surface hardly suitable food, no natural water sources and shade. They died of thirst, while 600 m among them the Colorado flowed past.

The scarcity of water (on average fall 25 cm of rainfall per year) seriously affects the flora and fauna of the state parks from. The plants have reduced the size of its leaves to reduce evaporation. Some plants have their leaves covered with a wax layer and thus reduce their water loss. The animals in this area are mainly nocturnal.

The area was used in 1991 for the film Thelma & Louise as the backdrop and location for the Grand Canyon scenes.