Parking
Start at the Intrepid Trailhead on the north end of the Visitor Center parking lot. The park describes this as a secondary access for the mixed-use network; follow posted parking directions. Park day-use admission is required.
Overview
About Prickly Pair Loop
Why go
- A compact loop uses two branches with different footing.
- The rockier line offers occasional Shafer Canyon views.
Heads up
- Bikes share the narrow trail.
- The More Fun branch has rough rock shelves and tight turns.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Dead Horse Point map
Full mapElevation5,823–5,925 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 Prickly Pair Loop, 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 area
Visitor Center and Desert View0:00 / 0:29
“Up ahead is the visitor center, with geology exhibits, an art gallery, and a canyon view just outside.”
Plays on the road 0.1 mi from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Dead Horse Point Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Kayenta Campground
- Visitor Center Rim Trails
- Wingate Campground and Yurts
- Intrepid Trailhead and Cable Line
- 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 Prickly Pair Loop
The short route with a proper loopPrickly Pair is a 3.
Prickly Pair is a 3.5-mile loop from the Intrepid Trailhead at the north end of the Visitor Center parking lot. Walk out along the Intrepid access and a short connector, make the loop on the Prickly and Pair branches, then retrace that shared approach. Allow about an hour and a half. This is a good pick when you want a real loop without taking on one of the park’s longer rim walks.
Save the rougher branch for laterAt the fork, take the easier line first and save the signed More Fun branch for the return.
At the fork, take the easier line first and save the signed More Fun branch for the return. It runs closer to Shafer Canyon and has more rock shelves and hairpin turns. Follow the junction signs: Twisted Tree and Whiptail connect nearby, and taking one of them turns this into a longer outing.
Sand, slickrock, and juniperThe route crosses open flats, drops into juniper woodland, and winds over a low ridge and…
The route crosses open flats, drops into juniper woodland, and winds over a low ridge and shallow washes. Expect compact dirt and pockets of sand, with slickrock on the rougher branch. It’s a series of short rises and dips rather than one long climb. The Prickly side is the rockier choice and gives occasional glimpses toward Shafer Canyon; Pair is the quicker, milder way through.
Bikes use this trail tooHikers are welcome, but mountain bikes share the same narrow trail and can come around bends…
Hikers are welcome, but mountain bikes share the same narrow trail and can come around bends quickly. Pay attention at junctions and give riders room to pass. Dogs are allowed on the mixed-use trails but must stay leashed at all times.
A pair of branchesThe name joins the two route sections, Prickly and Pair, with a nod to prickly pear cactus.
The name joins the two route sections, Prickly and Pair, with a nod to prickly pear cactus. The Intrepid trail system was completed in 2014 through Moab Trail Mix with support from Intrepid Potash. That mix of two distinct lines is the point here: one easier way across, one rockier way back.
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.
