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2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 15; A Dead Horse of course and Utah State Route 313

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After leaving Canyonlands National Park I returned to Utah State Route 313 and headed towards the overlook of the Colorado River at Dead Horse Point State Park.


This blog post serves as Part 15 in the Fall Mountain Trip series; Part 14 can be found here:

2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 14; Canyonlands National Park and the Island in the Sky

As stated in the previous blog UT 313 was approved in 1975 and was built over an existing Grand County Highway to Dead Horse Point State Park.  UT 313 essentially replaced UT 279 which was never completed as intended.  UT 313 is a 22.5 mile north/south State Highway stretching from US 191 to Dead Horse Point State Park.  UT 313 also serves the secondary purpose of providing access to the Island of the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park.  From Island of the Sky Road I took a right turn on UT 313 southbound towards Dead Horse Point State Park.


Dead Horse Point State Park is one of my most frequently visited State Parks in any state I've been to.  Dead Horse Point provides a highly scenic overlook of a large bend in the Colorado River as it winds through the Canyonlands towards a confluence with the Green River.  Dead Horse Point State Park was created in 1959 and was once a natural corral point.  The name "Dead Horse" comes from the 19th Century when it was used to corral horses.  When the gates of the corral were released the horses never left and eventually died of exposure on the high vista above the Colorado River.  The photo below of the Dead Horse Point State Park sign comes from the winter of 2013.


Dead Horse Point State Park has various hiking trails on the rim of the Canyonlands above the Colorado River.  This particular vista over looks the Potash Mines located at the end of UT 279 and the La Sal Range to the east.


From Dead Horse Point as stated above a large bend in the Colorado River can be observed.  The view is breath taking but a keen observer will notice a small dirt road below.  Said dirt road is Potash Road which connects UT 279 to the White Rim Road which in turn connects to Canyonlands National Park via Shafer Canyon Road.


Suffice to say there is hell of a panoramic photo opportunity at Dead Horse Point.


For comparison sake this photo of Dead Horse Point is from the winter of 2013.


And a gloomy fall in 2015.


While I didn't take many photos of UT 313 in 2016 I did take several in 2015 of the descent to US 191.  UT 313 is a surprisingly tame roadway with only two major hairpins that have normal widths.





That said this photo of the UT 313 north terminus at US 191 is from 2016.  From the end of UT 313 I turned south on US 191 towards Moab and Arches National park.


Part 16 of this series can be found here:

2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 16; Arches National Park and the first Utah State Route 93





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