Dead Wash Overlook Hike

Dead Wash Overlook is a roughly four-mile out-and-back backcountry hike from a small roadside pullout to a mesa rim above the Dead Wash drainage. It crosses open grassland, drops through colorful badlands and boulder-filled washes, then climbs back to a broad view east and south. Allow about two and a half hours. Distance estimates range from about 3.6 to 4 miles round trip, so plan for four. The park rates it moderate, but navigation and boulders make it feel more demanding than the mileage suggests.

The unmarked gravel pullout is on the east side of the main park road, roughly 1.8 miles south of I-40, with room for only a few cars. Get the free backcountry guide at a visitor center and bring the matching topographic map. The route is faint from the start; this is an off-trail walk, not a maintained path. Park only where it is safe and legal.

The opening stretch crosses mostly flat grassland toward a low escarpment. Below it, the ground changes to eroded mounds and little ravines, with occasional petrified logs exposed in the colorful rock. The route follows this broken band before bending toward a drainage. Keep the map handy: the low relief makes it easy to lose the line even though the terrain looks open.

The descent gets steeper as the route enters a wash, with loose red slopes and a boulder-filled ravine. It opens into a broad basin beside a streambed. Expect to step carefully around rocks and retrace the same corridor on the way back; the return climb comes after the wash crossings.

Cross the basin past striped brown-and-white boulders, then climb another rocky slope to a narrow mesa rim. The payoff is a wide view east and south across Dead Wash, with Blue Mesa to the south. Include the rocky rim in a photo to give the broad grassland and wash channels some scale.

There is no water and little shade along the backcountry route, so carry what you need for the full walk. No developed facilities were identified at the pullout or on the route. Day hiking does not require a permit here. Pet access depends on the designated wilderness boundary; confirm with park staff before bringing a dog. Leave petrified wood, rocks and cultural materials where they are.