Natural Bridges National Monument

Visited: May 2017

Nearby town: Blanding, UT

In this small Park located in southeastern Utah, you will find three incredible natural bridges that are all very close to each other. You can see all 3 of these bridges from overlooks by barely venturing out of your car, but you can also hike down to each of these bridges with relative ease.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a whole lot of time to see this Park (we saw many other places on this trip), but this is a cool stop and you can experience just about everything the Monument has to offer in a couple of hours or so.

Natural Bridges National Monument lies a few miles off the main road, Utah Highway 95. Make your first stop at the Visitor Center and then take the Bridge View Drive (it's a one way loop). Your first stop is Sipapu Bridge. You can view it from the road or take the trail down to the bottom of the canyon. It's only 1.4 miles one way, but with a 436 ft elevation change (one way) it's very steep!

We just checked it out from the top.

Sipapu Bridge has a height of 220 ft and a span of 225 ft, making it the 13th largest natural bridge in the entire world.

Further down the road, you can briefly stop at an overlook for the Horsecollar Ruin. This Ancestral Puebloan settlement was abandoned over 700 years ago. You can also take a short hike down to the ruins.

The next bridge is Kachina. Kachina has a height of 210 ft and a span of 204 ft. You can hike down to the Bridge as well, or just view from the road. Like the hike down to Sipapu Bridge, it is 1.4 miles and a steep elevation change. 

Although the terms natural bridge and natural arch are somewhat interchangeable, most geologists agree that a natural bridge is primarily formed by water, while a natural arch is formed by wind or other natural patterns.

A natural bridge is formed through erosion by water flowing in the stream bed of a canyon. The stream will undercut walls of rock (particularly during flash flooding), forming the bridge. At some point, as erosion continues to enlarge the bridge's opening, the bridge collapses under its own weight. There is evidence of at least two collapsed bridges in the Monument. And at some point, all three of these natural bridges will collapse as well.

The last bridge is Owachomo. The hike down to the bridge is only 0.5 miles round trip and a 188 ft elevation change. So, if there is one bridge to get out of the car and explore from some different angles, make it this one. Furthermore, it's kind of difficult to see the bridge from the road (at the time we visited, it really blended with the background). 

Owachomo Bridge is 106 ft tall and has a span of 180 ft. 

Compare with the view at the end of the trail...

The first non-Native Americans to see these bridges were a group of gold prospectors, led by Cass Hite, in 1883. In 1904, National Geographic wrote an article about the area that generated a lot of interest in this region. On April 16, 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt designated the area and established the state of Utah's very first national monument.

We'd love to go back and get up close and personal with the other bridges in this Park. Again, if you hike down to one bridge, the easiest one will be Owachomo at the end of the scenic drive. If you are in the area, be sure to find some time and take a couple of hours to explore this cool Monument. More info here: https://www.nps.gov/nabr/index.htm