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Lookout · Dead Horse Point Mesa Scenic Byway

Big Horn Overlook

OpenStreetMap
Looking south-west from Big Horn Overlook. Terrain at true elevation.
Overview · Assembled from verified data

Big Horn Overlook sits at mile 1 of the Dead Horse Point Mesa Scenic Byway, at an elevation of 5,816 feet. The land drops 1,096 feet within 600 meters of the overlook, and the view faces 240°, a direction that looks toward sunset. Several other viewpoints are visible from here: Rim Overlook lies 0.5 miles to the south-southwest, Bird's View Butte and Crow's Head Spires Overlook is 1.1 miles west, and Shafer Canyon Overlook and Shafer Trail Viewpoint sit 4.8 and 5.2 miles to the southwest. Airport Tower, a peak reaching 5,815 feet, is visible 7.8 miles to the south-southwest. Moab is 12.2 miles to the east-northeast, with Castle Valley farther out at 20.8 miles in the same direction, and Green River is 41.0 miles north-northwest. Sunset times vary through the year, from 20:47 at the June solstice to 17:02 at the December solstice. Rim Overlook precedes this stop on the byway, and Colorado River Overlook follows it.

Position
Mile ~1 of 28
Access
0.7 mi detour
Elevation
5,816 ft
View
Southwest · 240°
Light
Best at sunset
Relief
1,096 ft drop
In view
5 named features
Photos · Real imagery only
View of the Colorado River. Definitely better to take this picture at sunrise, rather than like this - into the sun in the late afternoon.
Phil Whitehouse from London, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0 · source
At Dead Horse Point State Park, looking out over the Colorado River
Phil Whitehouse from London, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0 · source
Colorado River and canyon in Dead Horse Point State Park in Utah
BFS Man from Webster, TX, USA · CC BY 2.0 · source
Butte and canyon at Dead Horse Point State Park in Utah. The watery area in the distance is a potash mining operation beside the Colorado River.
BFS Man from Webster, TX, USA · CC BY 2.0 · source
500px provided description: Una mezcla de matices multicolores ataviando la naturaleza [#landscape ,#color ,#nature ,#river ,#travel ,#mountain ,#outdoors ,#scenic ,#no person ,#Colorado Cannyon]
Jesus NuÑez · CC0 · source
Sunrise at Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah
Pedro Szekely from Los Angeles, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
In view · Named features

What you’re looking at

Named terrain inside the view from this overlook, nearest first.

  • Rim Overlook5,834 ftsouth-southwest · 0.5 mi
  • Bird's View Butte & Crow's Head Spires Overlook5,892 ftwest · 1.1 mi
  • Shafer Canyon Overlook5,759 ftsouthwest · 4.8 mi
  • Shafer Trail Viewpoint5,862 ftsouthwest · 5.2 mi
  • Airport Tower5,815 ftsouth-southwest · 7.8 mi
When to look · Sun at this latitude

Light

This overlook faces sunset — 30° off square to it.

DateSunriseSunsetGolden hour
March equinox07:2319:3118:56
June solstice05:5620:4720:08
September equinox07:0719:1818:43
December solstice07:3417:0216:20

Local time (America/Denver). Computed for this exact position.

Getting there · Position and access

Where it is

Mile 1 of 28 along Dead Horse Point Mesa Scenic Byway.

  • Moab12.2 mi east-northeast
  • Castle Valley20.8 mi east-northeast
  • Green River41.0 mi north-northwest
← Before it: Rim OverlookAfter it: Colorado River Overlook →
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From the source · Verbatim

Airport Tower · WikipediaCC BY-SA

Airport Tower is a 700-foot-tall (210-meter) sandstone butte located in the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park, in San Juan County, Utah. It is situated 1.64 mile east of Washer Woman, which is a towering arch similar in height. Each are composed of Wingate Sandstone, which is the remains of wind-borne sand dunes deposited approximately 200 million years ago in the Late Triassic. The nearest higher neighbor is Monster Tower, 1.6 mi (2.6 km) to the west, Tiki Tower is one-half mile northwest, and Mesa Arch is situated 3.2 mi (5.1 km) to the west. A short hike to Mesa Arch provides the easiest view of Airport Tower. Access to this tower is via the four-wheel drive White Rim Road, which is another option to see Airport Tower. The top of this geological formation rises 1,400 feet above the road in less than one mile. Precipitation runoff from Airport Tower drains southeast into the nearby Colorado River via Buck and Lathrop Canyons. This geographical feature's name was officially adopted in 1986 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. It was so named because the rock formation resembles the appearance of an airport control tower.

Read it at Wikipedia →
Common questions

How high is Big Horn Overlook?

Big Horn Overlook sits at about 5,816 feet (1,773 m).

What can you see from Big Horn Overlook?

From Big Horn Overlook: Rim Overlook (SSW, 0.5 mi); Bird's View Butte & Crow's Head Spires Overlook (W, 1.1 mi); Shafer Canyon Overlook (SW, 4.8 mi); Shafer Trail Viewpoint (SW, 5.2 mi).

Is Big Horn Overlook better at sunrise or sunset?

Sunset. The land falls away from Big Horn Overlook toward the sunset, so at sunrise the light is behind you. Exact times shift through the year; the page shows the current window.

What is the nearest town to Big Horn Overlook?

Moab, 12 miles ENE of Big Horn Overlook.

What is the next lookout after Big Horn Overlook?

Colorado River Overlook is the next surfaced lookout along the same route after Big Horn Overlook.

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Big Horn Overlook — confirmed, rated, and photographed by people who actually pulled over. A local confirmation is what upgrades a lookout from Discovered to Verified. Zero hallucinations.

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