I'd read about Dead Horse Point State Park on the internet. It's very small
compared to the nearby giant Canyonlands, but it provides some nice views of
the carved-out Colorado River canyon. We spent part of a day hiking the
canyon rim and snapping photos of the incredible vista.
The park gets its name from a legend. In the late 1800's, cowboys would use
the point as a natural corral for wild mustangs. They would herd them across the narrow
neck of land and then fence them off with branches and brush. The legend says that on
at least one occasion, horses were left trapped on the waterless point where they
died of thirst in view of the Colorado 2000 feet below. Ewww.
Thankfully, we didn't find any dead horses, but the views were spectacular. At least most
of the views were; there's a long-time potash mine in the bottom of the canyon on private
land, operating since the 1960's. The strange blue terraces are evaporation ponds;
Colorado River water is pumped into the mine to dissolve the salts and bring them
to the surface, where the solution is pumped into the ponds. Blue dye is added to the
ponds to aid in evaporation by increasing the absorption of sunlight. The ponds are so
bright (and unnatural) they can be easily seen on satellite photos. Kind of a shame in
this amazing landscape.
It was a beautiful sunny day, unliike a few days before, and Canyonlands was very close; so
we decided after visiting Dead Horse that we'd return to Mesa Arch and try for some snowless
photos.