Parking
Use the Visitor Center lot and take the East Rim Trail from the center’s south side. Park admission is required.
Overview
About Basin Overlook Trail
Why go
- A shelf viewpoint looking toward Pyramid Butte and Chimney Rock.
- Mostly easy East Rim walking before the short spur descent.
Heads up
- The quick 100-foot drop to the shelf must be climbed back out.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Dead Horse Point map
Full mapElevation5,945–6,010 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Dead Horse Point Tour Guide
Your drive to Basin Overlook Trail, 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 trailhead
Visitor Center Rim Trails0:00 / 0:24
“You're nearing the visitor center's rim-trail access, where the East and West Rim trails make a half-day loop to Dead Horse Point.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Dead Horse Point Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Visitor Center and Desert View
- Kayenta Campground
- Wingate Campground and Yurts
- Dead Horse Point Overlook
- 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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Basin Overlook Trail
The Basin Overlook outingBasin Overlook Trail is a 1.
Basin Overlook Trail is a 1.6-mile out-and-back from the Visitor Center, following the East Rim Trail south to a spur that drops to a shelf below the mesa rim. The approach is mostly flat, with one short hill; the last drop is about 100 feet, and you climb it again on the way out. Allow around 45 minutes. It’s a good choice if you want a more secluded canyon view without walking all the way to Dead Horse Point.
The East Rim approachStart from the south side of the Visitor Center and follow the East Rim.
Start from the south side of the Visitor Center and follow the East Rim. The route crosses sagebrush flats and juniper forest, with views toward the La Sal Mountains and Behind the Rocks. The park describes the trail as easy apart from a short hill about a quarter-mile from the center. The Basin spur branches before Dead Horse Point, so this out-and-back turns around at the overlook instead of continuing to the park’s main point.
The shelf and its viewThe spur quickly drops from the mesa top to a shelf overlooking canyon country.
The spur quickly drops from the mesa top to a shelf overlooking canyon country. Look for Pyramid Butte and Chimney Rock; those are the landmarks that make this detour distinct from the wider East Rim walk. The shelf’s views are usually more secluded than the park’s larger overlooks. If you’re taking a photo, frame both rock formations from the shelf.
Access and dogsPark at the Visitor Center and begin on the trail’s south side. Park admission is required.
Park at the Visitor Center and begin on the trail’s south side. Park admission is required. Dogs are allowed on park hiking trails when leashed. The Visitor Center is the nearest documented bathroom; food or drinking water at the overlook itself wasn’t verified.
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.
