Parking
Use the Intrepid trailhead on the north side of Visitor Center parking. The park charges a per-vehicle day-use fee.
Overview
About Whiptail and Twisted Tree Loop
Why go
- A varied mix of desert scrub, shallow washes, slickrock and Shafer Canyon rim scenery.
- The longer western route reaches a twisted juniper and a short canyon overlook spur.
Heads up
- The full walk is about 9.2 miles, with the 2.2-mile approach walked out and back.
- The west connector intentionally repeats a short section of trail.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Dead Horse Point map
Full mapElevation5,853–5,968 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 Whiptail and Twisted Tree 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 Whiptail and Twisted Tree Loop
The full outingWhiptail and Twisted Tree Loop is a visitor-built combination of Intrepid trails, not one…
Whiptail and Twisted Tree Loop is a visitor-built combination of Intrepid trails, not one officially named loop. The full route is about 9.2 miles round trip from the Intrepid trailhead, and it takes about four to five hours with the overlook stop. That total includes the 2.2-mile approach to the western circuit and the same Pair access back, plus an intentional 0.7-mile back-and-forth between two Whiptail and Twisted Tree junctions.
Choose the shorter Pair branchStart at the Intrepid trailhead on the north side of Visitor Center parking.
Start at the Intrepid trailhead on the north side of Visitor Center parking. Follow Intrepid about 0.4 mile, then take the left fork onto Prickly Pair. Cross the park road; at the fork near 0.8 mile, follow the right-hand branch, the shorter and easier choice. The longer More Fun branch rejoins around mile 1.6 and adds about half a mile, so it is outside this route. Prickly Pair reaches the western circuit around mile 2.2.
Stay on the full western circuitTurn onto Whiptail and follow its meander through sagebrush and junipers, across shallow washes…
Turn onto Whiptail and follow its meander through sagebrush and junipers, across shallow washes and over red dirt and slickrock. At the first Twisted Tree junction, keep going on Whiptail to its farther junction. Follow Twisted Tree back to the earlier crossing, then retrace that short west connector once more before continuing east on Twisted Tree to Prickly Pair. It sounds odd as directions go, but the repeated section is part of the longer route and gives you time with the twisted juniper that gives the trail its character.
A wash on Twisted Tree leads about 50 yards to a Shafer Canyon overlook; the canyon lies roughly 1,000 feet below. The lookout is the route’s photo stop: leave a juniper or a bit of slickrock in the foreground to give the canyon some scale. That small footpath is an optional spur and is not included in the 9.2-mile mapped line.
Surface, bikes and dogsThis is a shared nonmotorized trail system, so expect mountain bikes.
This is a shared nonmotorized trail system, so expect mountain bikes. Underfoot changes between dirt, slickrock and shallow washes, with small rises and benches rather than one long climb. The distance is the main commitment. Dogs are allowed on hiking trails but must stay leashed. The route follows the canyon rim near its overlook, so stay on the established path there.
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.
