The Three Natural Bridges Trails

Natural Bridges National Monument is in the remote canyon country of southeast Utah and has three examples of giant natural rock spans.

1. Sipapu Bridge Trail Bridges are different from arches in that bridges are formed by the moving water of a stream, where arches are formed by frost action on seeping water.

These bridges are in a sandstone layer that is deeper than the layer where the stone arches of Arches Park occur.

The bad part about natural bridges is that they often are deep in canyons and hard to get to. The first one along the nine mile loop road is Sipapu Bridge. The trail down there is only 0.6 miles but has a 500 ft. elevation change.

There are wooden ladders, stairs, and hand rails to help you traverse the steep slippery rock. Going down is pretty easy, if your knees are good, coming up is easy enough if your lungs are good. At the bottom it is lush and green and a different world from the desert conditions on the rim.

2. Owachoma Bridge TrailI momentarily skipped past the second bridge because there was a bus load of school kids there and went on to the third bridge Owachoma. My efforts weren't rewarded though as the kids arrived there moments after I did.

Owachoma Bridge is long and skinny and is an example of an older bridge, perhaps near collapse. It is so old that the stream that formed it doesn't flow under it any more. It was easy to get to, only 0.2 mile and not very deep. This one is on the cover of the park brochure, the highlight of Natural Bridges.

3. Kachina Bridge Trail

I circled back around the loop to the remaining of the big three, Kachina Bridge. The trail here was the longest at 0.75 miles down, but the elevation change not so bad at 350 ft. A lot of work had been done on the trail, cutting and arranging stones to make convenient steps down an otherwise steep route.

These bridges are so massive that it is hard to take pictures of them up close with your typical cameras.

Again, it was much greener and moister at the bottom of the canyon and the place was alive with birds calling.