On Day 5 of our Moab trip, we plotted out a 4.5-mile morning hike to famous Fisher Towers before we would venture out to Dead Horse Point State Park.
Fisher Towers
The hike to Fisher Towers is exciting and unique and presented us with several notable features, including an 8-foot ladder, deep canyons, and numerous giant and impressive ancient spires.
And by “ancient,” I mean the rock formations are nearly 300 million years old.
The area is also somewhat famous in that the Towers have been featured in television shows, advertisements, magazines, and movies such as Westworld (2016), John Carter (2010), City Slickers II (1993), Geronimo (1993), The Comancheros (1961), Wagon Master (1949).
Composed of soft, sedimentary rock, the varying colors of Fisher Towers’ layers differ depending on the amounts of iron they contain. The darker, upper portions of the Towers are sandstone (created about 245 million years ago), and the middle to lower portions of the Towers are mudstone, sandstone, and conglomerates (created about 290 million years ago). It took thousands of years of erosion to weather the layered rock formations.
We arrived at the dirt parking lot trailhead and started the initial descent down the trail, winding amongst the piles of red rock.
It didn’t take long for the beauty to stand out.
Every direction we looked had an incredible view.
Somewhere around this point in the trail, we came across some other hikers coming towards us. They warned us of a sketchy ladder up ahead, which is where they decided to turn around.
After winding around thousand-foot rock formations, the fun began with this 8-foot ladder that would allow us to descend straight down several feet into the shelved canyon and continue on the trail.
One by one, we each descended carefully, making sure to safely land. Falling would result in some serious danger down in the canyon below. Fortunately, this wasn’t our first time tackling a sketchy ladder on a hike; in fact, it was our second ladder on this trip already.
Hopefully, this boulder stays in place!
At 900 feet above the trail, the tallest tower is called Titan, and it’s the largest freestanding sandstone spire in the United States.
A couple of miles in, we made it to the vista point where the trail ends.
After taking in the amazing sights and finishing up some tasty jerky, we began the trek back to the trailhead, taking more photos along the way.
I spotted a keyhole and climbed up into it to check out that view.
Navigating up the ladder.
On our return route, three notable things happened:
- Every so often, usually in a place that offers an echo, my husband will bust out this loud, vocal sound that is best described as a wild gorilla imitating Tarzan. Well, he did that on this trail, and a few moments later, a group of about 5 or 6 hikers was marching towards us around a bend in the trail. We were all laughing as one of the girls in the group, wide-eyed, said, “Oh my gosh I totally thought that was an animal!” Naturally, I responded with, “Well… it was.” And Chad followed it up with, “Just don’t look him in the eye.” All of which triggered a bunch more laughter.
- A couple was hiking towards us and as they approached, Chad said, “Hey, weren’t you the two getting wedding photos at Delicate Arch?” Sure enough. It was the same couple we saw two days prior, donned in wedding gown and tuxedo, posing beneath Delicate Arch in Arches National Park.
- This one is full-on Shannon. Since Chad volunteered to lag behind us and take some photos on our return route, Shannon got this brilliant (and hilarious) idea to have Chad video us from a distance on this section of the trail. …two out of three ain’t bad…
Then it was time to climb back out of the canyon and finish up with lunch at the trailhead before heading out to Dead Horse Point State Park.
This was a really enjoyable hike because we were surrounded by unique, towering rock formations, the ladder in the canyon was a fun obstacle, and the panoramic views at the trail’s end were amazing.
| Fisher Towers | |
|---|---|
| Total Distance | 5.15 mi* |
| Total Time | 2:59:41 |
| Total Ascent | 1,086 ft |
| Max Elevation | 5,367 ft |
Dead Horse Point State Park
From Fisher Towers to Dead Horse Point State Park, it’s about an hour-long drive, so we decided to check it out.
The park’s “hikes” are more like “walks” on mostly paved trails, but some of the views of the winding Colorado River and red rock formations are worth seeing.
And, like Shafer Trail, we could see blue potash ponds from Dead Horse Point State Park.
The park was neat, but having already toured Canyonlands National Park and driven on Shafer Trail, it kind of seemed like a repeat, so I don’t know that we’d make another visit to Dead Horse Point in the future, but we were nearby, so it was an easy stop to make.
After returning to Moab for the evening, we enjoyed dinner at Broken Oar.
Tomorrow, it was on to Little Wild Horse Canyon for a slot canyon hike and a few other adventures.
| Dead Horse Point | |
|---|---|
| Total Distance | 3.67 mi |
| Total Time | 1:23:16 |
| Total Ascent | 246 ft |
| Max Elevation | 5,976 ft |
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