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Show I pmi4 .... ' The Dead Horse roliit State Park visitor center shown here will host tens of thousands of visitors this year. (Photos by Aleene NIelson) Popular Dead Horse Point State Park Ready for Afer Visitor Season By Aleene NIelson Sunny skies, balmy brreezes and spring fever all served to lure winter weary visitors to Dead Horse Point State Park i earlier than usual this year. Although the park " doesn't officially open for I the season until March 15. , Park Superintendent Mike i Barker and Ranger Craig Hawkins have been busy servicing the picnic sites, museum, comfort stations sta-tions and refuse receptacles. recep-tacles. In addition to all this they have been putting put-ting fresh coats of paint on guide signs, picnic ta-bles. ta-bles. fireplaces andshel-iters andshel-iters giving them a new (look for a new season, f Because this year re cord numbers of people have been visiting the Park in January and February Fe-bruary the museum with its displays, has been open. The displays give brief geological, areheo-logical, areheo-logical, biological and historical insights into the park environment that helps first time visitors understand and appreciate appreci-ate the complex beauty here. With the official opening op-ening of the season the visitors center, with its information desk, soft drink and vending machines mach-ines and restrooms will be open to the public. When interviewed. Ranger. Ran-ger. Hawkins stated there is a possibility that an entrance fee will not be charged this year. However, How-ever, if it is necessary to continue charging an entrance fee, it will remain re-main the same as in the pat. F.ntrance fee has been one dollar per vehicle per day. For those wishing wish-ing to camp overnight there is an additional two dollar charge per day for a maximum of three dollars. dol-lars. Of course the outstanding outstand-ing feature of the park is the spectacular scenery. The visitor can view three major mountains -- the LaSals, Abajos (Blues), and the Henrys, a major rivtr -- the Colorado, and millions of years of earth deposition and erosion ero-sion while standing in one - : " Dead Horse Point isn't just for lookers and campers. Private picnic areas have been popularly used by outside visitors and locals for many years. S ! m tk Piaiva-luntpcr Frest. Ihe sagj 4t tartit it ,(. ttM mtmy ft intereiling stories. 1 ' - j '; ) 1 bM H. Hr 1" ". '' " I .... S( " ' . I Interpretive displays such as this one in the Museum at Dead Horse Point State Park help the visitor understand the environment here. Superintendent Mike Barker and Ranger Craig Hawkins are shown J ere putting a fresh coat of paint on a garbage receptacle at the Kayenta f C4mpground, one of the most beautifully designed in the area. spot. Protecting walls and trails that blend with the natural landscape have been built for protection so the visitor can safely move about and not have to stand in one spot. The easy hike along these trails will give the viewer view-er a different perspective every "few yards. Each view rivals anything to be seen at the Grand Canyon. In remarkable cooperation cooper-ation w ith nature the State Park Service has provided provid-ed facilities for visitor convenience. These blend into the landscape so well that one must almost search to see any sign of change from years ago. These include 17 picnic sites complete with fireplaces, fire-places, tables, garbage cans and restrooms as modern as can be found in any city. There is also a complete overnight camping complex with trailer camp spaces, tent pads, covered picnic patios, pa-tios, fireplaces, drinking drink-ing fountains and a modern mo-dern restroom facility. The trailer spaces also have electrical hookups. Of all the things that might be taken for granted, the drinking fountains and water for the restrooms should be appreciated most. In this desert of Southeastern Utah, water is a scarce and precious commodity. This is especially espe-cially true at Dead Horse Point since wells cannot be drilled because the water wa-ter table is so deep. There is no practical way to get water other than by trucking truck-ing it the 35 miles from Moab. A 5,000 gallon water wa-ter tank is situated right on thepointitselftoserve the restroom and picnic sites there. Another 10, -000 gallon tank is at the Kayenta Campground where the overnight camping facilities are located. lo-cated. The 2,500 gallon water truck is also kept full. Last year 387,500 gallons gal-lons of water were transported trans-ported from Moab to Dead Horse Point with as much as 65,000 gallons per month being used in the summer. With the official opening open-ing of this season the personnel per-sonnel at the park invite everyone to visit this magnificent creation of nature. |