The route was assigned north of Moab in the 1975 in place of SR-278, a proposed but never constructed access to Dead Horse Point.

Gaining its scenic byway designation, SR-313 heads northward, along the ridges of Dead Horse Point.

The route continues in a stretch of area known as the Big Flat, where it intersects the entrance to Canyonlands National Park.

The route has left Dead Horse Point State Park by now, and progresses northward through Grand County.

The route that SR-313 runs along was mapped by 1969, stretching all the way to Dead Horse Point as an unmarked county highway.

The access road to Canyonlands National Park was rebuilt 1988, and the construction crews severely damaged SR-313 in the process.

[8] The reconstruction reduced the maximum grade from 11% to 8% and re-graded the switchbacks to be on level ground to eliminate the blind corners.