Looking to the south from the eastern viewpoint of the Lower Dark Horse trail. Review by Bruce on May 29, 2025.
Dead Horse Point Viewpoint TrailsThe Dead Horse Point State Park viewpoint trails opened in 2025. A
set of branching out-and-back trails go to six viewpoints on the eastern
side of the state park. Although all these trails are listed as
"difficult" on the park's map, two of them are actually very
easy doubletrack rides. And all of them can be managed by an experienced
intermediate rider.
All of the viewpoint trails are reached by riding a portion of the Big
Chief loop to the Miner's Point doubletrack trail. For information on the
main trail system in Dead Horse Point State Park, see these trail pages:
Dead Horse Point East Side
Dead Horse Point West Side
Note that Dead Horse Point is a fee area. The trail system has become very
popular with mountain bikers, and now has a separate parking lot just for
bikes.
Bruce rolls over a sandstone dome on Lower Dark Horse.
View south from the western viewpoint of Lower Dark Horse.
The viewpoint trails are:
(1) Miner's Point. Very easy dirt-road ride of 0.9 miles. It's the route
to everything else.
(2) Upper Dark Horse. Very easy doubletrack, 0.5 miles plus 0.3 miles of
Miner's Point.
(3) Cable Line. Intermediate singletrack trail forks off Upper Dark Horse,
1.4 miles (plus 0.5 miles of Miner's Point and Upper Dark Horse).
(4) Lower Dark Horse. More-difficult singletrack that forks off Cable
Line. It splits to go to eastern and western viewpoints. 1.1 miles plus portions of
Miner's Point, Upper Dark Horse, and Cable Line.
(5) Midpoint. Short intermediate trail between Cable Line and Lower Dark
Horse with a viewpoint spur.
See below for in-depth discussion of each trail.
At the time of this review, some stretches of the
singletrack trails are still soft. Cairns and dead wood are used to mark
the general path, but in 2025 you may need to look around occasionally
when the riding line isn't obvious.
Trail intersections are well-marked with signs that include maps with
"you are here's."
Branches indicate the path in the stretch of the Cable Line trail.
View east toward potash evaporation ponds from the Midpoint trail viewpoint.
The viewpoint trails are a nice addition to the options as
Dead Horse, with easy cruising (like Miner's Point) for beginning riders
and some more-difficult singletrack (like Lower Dark Horse) for
experienced bikers.
Trailheads and connection
Looking north at the entry into the Intrepid trail from the Visitor Center parking.
Visitor's Center ParkingAbout 10 miles north of Moab,
turn west off Highway 191 towards Canyonlands National Park on Highway
313. Drive 14 miles and turn left toward Dead Horse Point. Four miles
later, pay your entry fee ($20 per car in 2025) at the gate house and
drive another two miles to the visitors center. The trailhead is at the
north end of the parking lot (at the end opposite from the actual
visitor's center building).
Looking east in the new mountain bike parking lot. The connector trail is to the left.
Mountain Bike ParkingDrive up Highway 313 as above, turning left off of the road to
Canyonlands National Park toward Dead Horse Point at mile 14 from Highway
191. Go 4 miles to the entry gate. Then 0.9 miles later, turn left and
drive to a large parking area. There's a small bathroom and a bike-rental
shop (open during peak tourist season). The connecting trail is found near
the buildings, running 0.1 miles to the Raven Roll trail.
Just turned off Big Chief to head east on Miner's Point.
Getting to the viewpoint trailsFrom the mountain bike parking lot: Turn to the right when
you reach Raven Roll, then around 150 yards later turn left onto Great
Pyramid. Pedal 0.6 miles, then turn left onto Big Chief. After another 0.4
miles, the singletrack crosses a dirt road. Turn right here. You're now on
the Miner's Point trail.
From the visitor's center: Get on Intrepid northbound. 0.4
miles later, keep right at the 4-way intersection with Raven Roll and
Prickly Pear. In another 0.2, stay to the right again at the connector
over to Raven Roll. You're now on the Great Pyramid trail. At mile 2.3
from parking, keep right onto Big Chief. Go 0.4 miles and turn right on
the Miner's Point doubletrack.
Easier Rides!
Miner's Point Trail
Looking east toward the La Sal Mountains on Miner's Point. Straight as an arrow, flat, and smooth.
The Miner's Point trail is an easy dirt road ride. It's a
1.7-mile out-and-back when done alone. (Miner's Point is also the starting
route for all the viewpoint trails.) There's very little elevation change.
An occasional slab of Kayenta sandstone breaks through the dirt surface of
the road, but it's a cushy trip on flat doubletrack.
At mile 0.3 from Big Chief, keep straight (left) and uphill
as the Upper Dark Horse doubletrack forks away from Miner's Point. (Upper
Dark Horse is the route to all the other viewpoint trails. You can hit
Miner's Point first, then come back to Upper Dark Horse.)
Looking north from Miner's Point.
View east toward the Colorado River.
Miner's Point ends in a small loop, as the doubletrack
follows the edge of the mesa around the Point before heading back. You'll
be pedaling through mounds of mine tailings at this spot in the ride.
Typical trail on Upper Dark Horse.
The Upper Dark Horse trail is a short doubletrack ride. It's
smooth and easy to pedal. It forks downhill away from the Miner's Point
dirt road at mile 0.3 from the Big Chief trail. This is a right turn if
you're coming from Big Chief.
Upper Dark Horse is 0.5 miles in length. It will gently drop downhill,
losing 100 feet of elevation from the Miner's Point trail to the Upper
Dark Horse viewpoint. At mile 0.2, go to the right as the Cable Line trail
branches off on your left.
A sign marks the end of the trail and the Upper Dark Horse
viewpoint. If you're continuing on to Cable Line or Lower Dark Horse, head
0.3 miles back uphill and turn right on Cable Line.
Looking southwest from the end of Upper Dark Horse.
Intermediate Rides
Cable Line Trail
Looking east down the Cable Line trail as it forks away from Upper Dark Horse (which is on the right in the photo)
The Cable Line trail forks away from the Upper Dark Horse
doubletrack at mile 0.2 from the Miner's Point road. It heads straight
east on a combination of doubletrack, dirt singletrack, and Kayenta
slickrock. Cable Line is also the access route if you're planning to ride
Lower Dark Horse or Midpoint.
After around 1/10th mile on easy doubletrack, Cable Line
turns to singletrack and begins dropping elevation. Here the trail becomes
intermediate in tech requirement. At mile 0.3, keep to the left as Lower
Dark Horse forks right. Then at 0.4, stay uphill and left again as the
Midpoint trail joins.
Cable Line begins an intermediate-tech descent to the trail fork with Lower Dark Horse.
Following the cable east, with the La Sal Mountains in the distance.
After a stretch of easy dirt-singletrack cruising, you'll
reach a slickrock area where you'll get a chance to roll some sandstone
bumps. This stretch is easily done by an intermediate rider.
During these later stretches of the ride, you'll often be following the
cable itself as it lies on the ground.
Cable Line is easy to follow through the dirt stretches. As
you hit the slickrock area, you may need to look around occasionally to
spot the continuing trail. There are cairns and old tree limbs placed on
the rock to herd you along.
Bruce rolls up a soft ledge. Not much tech here.
Final approach to the spot where the cable plunges off the mesa.
As you approach the end of the mesa, a hiking trail turns
away on your right. Veer to the left and approach the cable support
structure.
The cable was in operation during the early 1950s. It was
used to hoist supplies between the canyon bottom and the mesa as an oil
pipeline was being constructed.
Note that any old bits of cable, bolts, wood etc are considered
cultural artifacts and are protected. Look and explore but leave things as
you found them.
View to the south.
Cable Line spends some time running along a narrow stretch of the mesa. Here's a view to the north.
The view from the top includes the Colorado River and
several evaporating ponds where potash (a source of potassium) is
recovered.
At the viewpoint spur on Midpoint. Not much of a trail here yet!
The Midpoint trail is a very short intermediate singletrack
that links the Upper Dark Horse singletrack to Cable Line. It angles
downhill when done from Cable Line to Upper Dark Horse. It's only 0.2
miles in length.
There's a short spur to the Midpoint view, where you can
look across several potash evaporation ponds between the mesa and the
Colorado River.
View south at Midpoint.
Expert Ride
Lower Dark Horse Trail
Riding east toward the La Sal Mountains. The trail is occasionally hard to see.
The Lower Dark Horse trail is the most satisfying ride of
the new viewpoint trails. The riding is intermediate to upper-intermediate
in tech requirement. There are some twisty narrow areas where you'll dodge
tree branches, and a bit of rock to navigate. This route will have 100
vertical feet of elevation loss from Cable Line to the viewpoint.
Rolling sandstone alternates with stretches of dirt
singletrack. It's fun riding, and has a very different feel from the broad
trails elsewhere in the park. But because the trail is new, you may
encounter spots where your tires bog down in soft red dirt.
Bruce approaches the eastern viewpoint on Lower Dark Horse.
An area of well-marked slickrock.
The riding route is not always obvious in May 2025. The
trail is brand new, so riding lines aren't worn in. The park
trail-builders have placed dead branches to mark the path, but many of
them seem to have been hit by bike tires and knocked askew. Some trail
signs are lying on the ground, possibly wrenched out of their rock cages
by wind storms. Until the path is ridden-in, you may need to stop
occasionally to look for the trail.
Dark Horse drops 0.9 miles from Cable Line to a trail fork,
where it splits. The western spur (to the right at the trail fork) goes
0.1 miles to the west viewpoint, while the left fork goes 0.2 miles to the
east viewpoint.
Twisting through pinion and juniper, with a short drop coming up.
Looking to the west from the western viewpoint of Lower Dark Horse.
The western viewpoint overlooks a huge canyon, with exposure
of the Kayenta, Wingate, Chinle, and Moenkopi formations. It's 0.2 miles
out-and-back on the viewpoint spur from the trail fork.
The trail to the eastern viewpoint is a bit more technical,
passing over more-difficult sandstone. But it's still easily done by a
solid intermediate rider.
Arriving at the eastern viewpoint.
Potash evaporation ponds with the Colorado River barely visible.
The eastern viewpoint looks down on potash evaporation ponds
and the Colorado River. You can see over to the Navajo sandstone in the
Poison Spider area, and the La Sal mountains form a scenic background.
Bottom Line!Lots of nice views. Makes a good add-on to rides on the main trail
system. But if you can't do both, do the other trails instead.
Looking south from Miner's Point.
map from 2025
Getting there!Visitor's Center Parking: About 10 miles north of Moab,
turn west off Highway 191 towards Canyonlands National Park on Highway
313. Drive 14 miles and turn left toward Dead Horse Point. Four miles
later, pay your entry fee ($20 per car in 2025) at the gate house and
drive another two miles to the visitors center. The trailhead is at the
north end of the parking lot (at the end opposite from the actual
visitor's center building).
Mountain Bike Parking: Drive up Highway 313 as above, turning left off of the road to
Canyonlands National Park toward Dead Horse Point at mile 14 from Highway
191. Go 4 miles to the entry gate. Then 0.9 miles later, turn left and
drive to a large parking area. There's a small bathroom and a bike-rental
shop (open during peak tourist season). The connecting trail is found near
the buildings, running 0.1 miles to the Raven Roll trail.
