Natural Bridges National Monument – Utah

The History of Natural Bridges National Monument

Natural Bridges National Monument sits on a pinyon and juniper mesa in southeastern Utah, about forty miles west of Blanding. It covers 7,636 acres. Deep canyons cut through the mesa, and where the streams in those canyons wore through the sandstone walls, they cut three bridges through the rock. Nowhere else on earth are three large natural bridges found this close together.

The Three Bridges

Sipapu is the largest, 220 feet high with a span of 268 feet, and the second largest natural bridge in the world. Kachina is 210 feet high with a span of 204 feet and the thickest span of the three. About 4,000 tons of sandstone fell out of its opening in June of 1992. Owachomo is the smallest at 106 feet high and 180 feet across, and it is down to nine feet thick. Owachomo is thought to be the oldest.

How the Bridges Formed

A natural bridge is cut by running water. An arch is not, which is why these three sit in the bottoms of canyons. Each one formed where a stream cut through a narrow neck of rock and abandoned its old meander.

The Names and the People

Archaic period use of these canyons goes back about 2,700 years. Ancestral Puebloans farmed the mesa tops, built cliff dwellings and storage rooms down in the canyons, and left near the end of the 13th century. Horse Collar Ruin is still there and in good condition.

The bridges had other names first. Cass Hite called them Senator, President, and Congressman in 1883. Later they were Caroline, Augusta, and Edwin. In 1909 the Park Service gave them Hopi names. Sipapu is the place of emergence. Kachina came from the rock art at the base of the bridge. Owachomo means rock mound, for the formation on top of one end.

How It Became a Monument

Magazine articles in 1904 brought the bridges to national attention. At the time the trip took several days on horseback. President Theodore Roosevelt made it a national monument on April 16, 1908, the first National Park Service unit in Utah. On March 6, 2007, it became the first International Dark Sky Park in the world.

Know Before You Go

• Region: Southwest United States
• Location: San Juan County, southeastern Utah, about 40 miles west of Blanding at the end of Utah 275 off Scenic Byway 95
• Address: HC 60 Box 1, Lake Powell, UT 84533
• Coordinates: 37.6014, -110.0134
• Costs: NPS Fee $20; America the Beautiful pass accepted
• Schedule: Open year-round. Visitor center hours vary by season. Check the NPS site before you go.
• Attraction Type: National Monument
• Activities: Scenic driving, hiking, overlooks, photography, stargazing
• Notes:
  • Bridge View Drive is a nine mile paved loop that hits all three bridges. It is one way.
  • Short walks from the road get you to a viewpoint for each bridge. Getting down to the base is a steeper hike, roughly 1.4 miles round trip with several hundred feet of elevation change.
  • The nine mile loop trail links all three bridges if you want the long version. For many years it was the only way to see them.
  • The Horse Collar Ruin overlook is a third of a mile along the canyon rim and worth the stop.
  • Elevation at the visitor center is 6,505 feet.
  • There is no gas, food, or lodging here. Blanding is forty miles east.
  • It is far from everything, which is exactly why it is quiet.
• Additional Resources: NPS Official Site

My Visit

My brother and I came through in 2006, late in a long day. We drove the full loop and followed the rules, pulling off at each viewpoint, getting out, walking the short trails where there were short trails.

Most of it was driving. We did not go down to any of the bridges. But you can see all three from the road, and the loop is short enough that you are out of the car every few minutes.

We hardly saw anyone the whole way around.