Overview
About Big Chief Overlook
Why stop
- Wide east-facing view toward the La Sal Mountains and canyon country.
Heads up
- The remote approach has difficult sections, elevation changes and spotty cell service.
Map
Where it is
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Dead Horse Point Tour Guide
Your drive to Big Chief Overlook, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Dead Horse Point State Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Intrepid Trailhead and Cable Line“You're approaching the Intrepid trailhead, the access for a longer outing to the Cable Line hoist. Its rusted tripod and pulley helped oil workers lift equipment from the river in the early nineteen fifties.”
Plays as you drive up to Big Chief Overlook in the Parkwolf Dead Horse Point Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Dark Skin on the Cliffs
- Moenkopi Yurts
- The Ground Is Alive
- Visitor Center Rim Trails
- 11 audio storiesacross Dead Horse Point’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Raven, Whiptail Lizard, Fence Lizard, and 1 more
- Works offlinemaps, 21 trails, 22 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
More about Big Chief Overlook
A long way out for a wide viewBig Chief Overlook is a rim viewpoint at the northern end of Big Chief, one of the east-side…
Big Chief Overlook is a rim viewpoint at the northern end of Big Chief, one of the east-side routes in Dead Horse Point’s Intrepid trail system. It looks east over canyon country to the La Sal Mountains and the butte that gives the trail its name. I’d save it for riders or hikers who want a real route, not a quick pullout: the view comes after miles of slickrock and elevation changes.
Plan the approachThe park lists Big Chief at 3.6 miles.
The park lists Big Chief at 3.6 miles. The main trailhead is one mile south of the entrance station, and a park day-use fee applies. Big Chief connects with other east-rim trails, so use the posted junction map to plan your loop. This is the most challenging trail on the eastern side of the system, and the park calls this stretch its most remote section. Basic route-finding helps; cell service can be spotty along the far rim. Expect bikes on the trail. Dogs are allowed on the mountain-biking routes when leashed at all times.
Look past the butteThe dark butte sits in a broad sweep of layered canyon country, with the La Sals beyond.
The dark butte sits in a broad sweep of layered canyon country, with the La Sals beyond. From the rim you can also look down toward Moab and the potash mine. The ledge underfoot is Kayenta sandstone, and the changing slickrock and elevation on the way out make this feel like more than a roadside viewpoint.
Keep Miner’s Point separateMiner’s Point is a different destination on a 0.7-mile spur from Big Chief.
Miner’s Point is a different destination on a 0.7-mile spur from Big Chief. It marks the historic end of an oil line that once reached down to the Colorado River. Big Chief Overlook is farther north, where the trail reaches the view and the namesake butte.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Dead Horse Point
33 sightingsRavenMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
16 sightingsWhiptail LizardMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
34 sightingsFence LizardMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
42 sightingsSide-blotched LizardMost seen around 9 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Dead Horse Point. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
