If you are on your way to Salt Lake City, Dead Horse Point State Park, one of the most photographed scenic attractions in the world, is definitely worth a look. Located approximately 235 miles south of Salt Lake City, the legendary park gets its name from long ago when cowboys once herded wild mustangs through its mesas. The "difficult" mustangs that weren't roped and broken to be kept or sold to eastern markets (known as "broomtails") were left behind to fend for themselves.
A 30-yard stretch of fenced controlled land provided the only way back to open prairie. Although the fence was supposedly left open so the broomtails could return to freedom, for some mysterious reason the horses remained on this point and died of thirst, with the Colorado River in sight just 2,000 feet below. Dead Horse Point State Park is on SR 313 18 miles off Hwy 191 near Moab. If you visit the park, be sure to bring plenty of water, because as you might expect, water is limited.
