Through Our Lens: A Sunset Hike at Dead Horse Point State Park
Of all the stops on our winter Moab trip, Dead Horse Point State Park surprised us the most. Join us for a sunset hike as seen through Marisa’s trusty Nikon.
There’s a quiet kind of magic at Dead Horse Point State Park when the day begins to fade. We started our hike as the sun was slowly beginning to set, lighting up the canyon in bright oranges. Little by little, the shadows stretched and the entire landscape shifted from warm desert golds to dusky blues.
This place is a must-visit if you are making the trek to Moab. Just 32 miles from town, Dead Horse Point State Park offers one of the most photographed views in the Southwest. The overlook stands 2,000 feet above the Colorado River, opening up a sweeping panorama of Canyonlands’ buttes, mesas, and sculpted pinnacles shaped over millions of years by oceans, rivers, wind, and shifting rock layers. Today the park is known for its miles of pet-friendly trails, easy-access paved viewpoints, and the family-friendly Intrepid Trail System. This park is perfect for hikers, casual strollers, and mountain bikers alike!
We did the East and West Rim Loop for the opportunity to see the majority of this park in just one evening. This is considered a moderate hike at 5.5 miles and 866 ft of elevation gain. We found it to be on the easier end of moderate, and enjoyed every second of this hike.
This photo journal follows our sunset hike from start to finish – from the first sunlit overlooks to the final moments of blue hour. These images capture the colors, textures, and calm of one of our favorite evenings in Moab.
We reached the overlook with plenty of daylight left, giving us time to enjoy our hike and visit the overlooks. At first, everything looked crisp and bright (classic desert midday light) but even then you could feel the shift coming. The shadows stretched longer across the basin, the cliffs began taking on warmer hues, and the whole landscape seemed to change.
As we followed the rim trail, each viewpoint revealed a slightly different version of the same canyon. Some felt wide and endless, others more intimate, carved with winding shapes and deep pockets of shadow. Visiting in the winter worked in our favor; we had cool weather and minimal crowds. We enjoyed the quiet, just listening to the sound of our steps on sandstone. This was the part of the hike where the light really started working its magic.
Dead Horse Point is full of grand, sweeping views, but some of our favorite moments were the details. The way the red rock lit up against the snowy La Sal Mountains, showcasing the patterned layers of the canyon walls, was truly a work of art. Golden hour highlighted every texture, revealing small elements you might walk past earlier in the day without noticing.
Once the sun dipped below the horizon, the entire mood of the canyon changed. The warmth faded into soft purples, then into a deep, steady blue. The landscape took on a peaceful stillness that felt worlds away from the bright afternoon we arrived in. Blue hour has a way of slowing everything down. On this evening, it turned the canyon into a quiet silhouette of layered ridges and fading light.
Our sunset hike at Dead Horse Point was exactly what we needed to end our day. It was peaceful and full of dramatic views that asked us to pause. Between the shifting colors, the quiet trail, and the vast panoramic views, this evening quickly became one of our favorite memories from our trip. If you visit, stay through golden hour, stay through blue hour, and give the canyon time to change around you. It’s worth every minute.