Many times, it seems like the best scenery or natural features are found at the summit of a steep mountain, the bottom of a deep canyon or at the end of a long, rugged hiking trail. Not so at Natural Bridges National Park! Although there are hiking trails here if you want an up close and personal view of the sandstone spans, but if you are short on time, you’ll really appreciate this small park – viewpoints for all three natural bridges are along a nine-mile, paved loop road. Simply pull over, walk a short distance to the overlook for a peek or a picture and continue along Bridge View Drive to the next scenic stop. About two hours is all you need to cover the highlights, which includes a stop at the visitor center for a map and brochure.
At 220 feet high and spanning 268 feet, Sipapu is the grandest of the three stone bridges, but despite its size, it is a bit hard to differentiate from its natural environment – the beige sandstone is well camouflaged against the surrounding desert landscape. Binoculars will help. Sipapu means “the place of emergence,” an entryway by which the Hopi Indians believe their ancestors came into this world.
Binoculars or a good zoom on your camera will also bring distant Horse Collar Ruins into focus. Named for its unusual circular doorways that resemble horse collars, Native Americans last lived here more than 700 years ago. This is one of the best-preserved ancestral Puebloan sites in the area. Horse Collar Ruins overlook is near Sipapu Bridge viewpoint.
The 210-foot high, 204-foot long Kachina Bridge is named for the rock art that resembles symbols commonly used on kachina dolls. White Canyon floodwaters are still at work enlarging its span.
Owachomo is the oldest and smallest bridge in the park. Its name means “rock mound,” a feature atop its east abutment. Owachomo is 106 feet high, spans 180 feet and is very thin (9 feet) compared to the other two bridges.
Did you know that the difference between natural bridges and natural arches are the way they were formed? Natural bridges are made by moving water, and usually straddle a river. Arches were created through other means of erosion and are generally not found near water. It was actually a mighty river -the Colorado – that indirectly led to the discovery of Natural Bridges. In 1883, a prospector wandered up White Canyon from his base camp along the Colorado River in search of gold. What he found instead were three magnificent bridges that water had sculpted from stone. In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt established Natural Bridges National Monument, creating Utah’s first National Park Service area.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Natural Bridges National Park
Lake Powell, UT
Visitor Information (435) 692-1234 Ext. 16
The entrance to Natural Bridges is at the end of Highway 275, which is roughly 35 miles west of Blanding, Utah, on Highway 95. Driving time from Blanding is roughly 45 minutes.
Entrance fee for private vehicles is $6 (good for 7 days).