Parking
Use the Dead Horse Point Visitor Center lot. Follow the West Rim signs behind the center, cross the park road and pass the north side of Kayenta Campground; the park entrance fee applies.
Overview
About Bighorn Overlook Trail
Why go
- Deep rain-fed potholes and a distinctive horn-shaped fin at the rim
- An easy, undulating approach before the final slickrock spur
Heads up
- The same trail is used for the return
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Dead Horse Point map
Full mapElevation5,810–5,980 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 Bighorn 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 Bighorn Overlook Trail
A longer walk to its own rimBighorn Overlook Trail is a 3-mile out-and-back from the Visitor Center, about 1.
Bighorn Overlook Trail is a 3-mile out-and-back from the Visitor Center, about 1.5 miles each way, following the West Rim to its longest spur. Allow about two hours with time at the end. It is moderate overall: the approach rolls gently across the mesa, then the spur crosses sand and piñon-juniper before following cairns over exposed slickrock. If you only want a quick viewpoint, the paved main overlook at Dead Horse Point is much closer to the car. Choose Bighorn when you want a real walk to a different rim destination.
The West Rim approachStart behind the Visitor Center and follow West Rim signs across the park road and past the…
Start behind the Visitor Center and follow West Rim signs across the park road and past the north side of Kayenta Campground. Between spurs, this is an easy, undulating walk over the mesa. Cairns mark exposed sandstone, and the La Sal, Abajo and Henry mountains sit on the distant skyline. About half a mile from the Visitor Center, turn right onto the Bighorn spur.
Follow the spur to the canyonThe Bighorn path cuts across a piñon-and-juniper plateau, then bends north toward the rim.
The Bighorn path cuts across a piñon-and-juniper plateau, then bends north toward the rim. East Fork Shafer Canyon drops away on the left as the trail contours an amphitheater. Sandy tread gives way to slickrock near the end; follow the cairns to the potholed ridge. This is an out-and-back, so retrace the same route to the Visitor Center.
Look for the horn and the poolsThe overlook is named for a distant eroded fin that looks like a pair of horns.
The overlook is named for a distant eroded fin that looks like a pair of horns. At the end, deep potholes in the slickrock collect rainwater. When they hold water, they can support fairy shrimp, whirligig beetles, toad tadpoles and other small desert life; they may be dry between rains. Look across the canyon at the stacked rock layers: the Colorado River has cut about 2,000 feet through formations laid down over roughly 300 million years. After rain, use the potholes as foreground for the view, with the horn-shaped fin beyond them.
Exposed edges and accessThere are short exposed stretches and no guardrails at the overlook.
There are short exposed stretches and no guardrails at the overlook. The final slickrock sections rely on cairns, and lightning can be severe on exposed canyon rims. Dogs are allowed on leash. Park at the Visitor Center and use its restrooms before setting out; the park entrance fee applies.
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.
