Park Archives: Natural Bridges National Monument

In 1883 prospector Cass Hite wandered up White Canyon from his base camp along the Colorado River. In search of gold, he found instead three magnificent bridges water had sculpted from stone. In 1904 National Geographic Magazine publicized the bridges; in 1908 President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Natural Bridges National Monument, creating Utah's first National Park System area.

The bridges have had several names. They were first named President, Senator, and Congressman in order of height. Later explorers renamed them Augusta, Caroline, and Edwin. In 1909 the park was enlarged to protect nearby Puebloan structures, and the General Land Office affixed the Hopi names Sipapu, Kachina, and Owachomo. Sipapu means "place of emergence," the entryway by which the Hopi believe their ancestors came into this world. Kachina is named for rock art symbols that resemble symbols commonly used on kachina dolls. Owachomo means "rock mound," a feature atop the bridge's east abutment.

Early Human History People repeatedly occupied and abandoned this area from 9,000 to 700 years ago. Only rock art and tools, left by those hunting small game and gathering wild plants, show humans living here then. Ancestors of modern Puebloan people moved onto the mesa tops 1,300 years ago to dry farm—using only natural precipitation—leaving as the environment changed.

About 900 years ago new migrants from across the San Juan River lived in small, single-family dwellings near the deepest, best-watered soils throughout this area. In the 1200s, farmers from Mesa Verde migrated here, but by the 1300s the ancestral Puebloans migrated southward. Navajos and Paiutes lived here in historic time, and Navajo oral tradition holds that their ancestors lived among the early Puebloans.

The evidence these people left is fragile and irreplaceable. To help preserve it, do not enter the structures or touch or mark walls or rock art. Leave artifacts in place and stay on trails.

Natural History Millions of years ago these sandstones were deposited and then slowly uplifted as part of the Colorado Plateau. Erosion gradually formed today's canyons and landscapes. Plant communities varied over time: Pollen studies show this area was once spruce-fir forest. Changes in climate changed the dominant plants, but pockets of Douglas fir still dot cooler, moist, north-facing cliffs near Sipapu Bridge.

Infrequent and unpredictable, precipitation can be dramatic—with long droughts to periods of heavy rain and snow. Plants and animals have adapted to this environment. Cryptobiotic soil, the black and lumpy crust here, holds moisture and stabilizes and adds nutrients to the soil. This allows other plant communities, like the pinyon-juniper forest, to develop and mature.

How Bridges and Arches Differ Natural bridges are formed by the erosive action of moving water. Arches are formed by other erosional forces—mainly frost action and seeping moisture—that also enlarge natural bridges once stream erosion forms them.

The rock here is a sandstone first formed by wind-blown sand. Deep, looping White and Armstrong canyons and their three bridges are results of water's relentless action against the crossbedded sandstone. Episodes of great heads of water and sand scouring the desert stream set the conditions for forming natural bridges. Kachina and Sipapu straddle streams with long, winding curves. Owachomo, straddling no stream now, apparently was cut by two streams.

As a stream forms a big looping meander and all but circles back on itself, it can carve the thin rock wall in which a natural bridge forms. Flood waters erode both sides of the thin wall, and even at low water levels, percolation weakens the wall.

Over time, the river breaks through and takes the shorter course under its new bridge, abandoning the old meander. The river keeps wearing down the rock, enlarging the hole by cutting itself deeper. A natural bridge is temporary. Blocks fall from its underside, and its surfaces weather, wear, and weaken. The span of the oldest, Owachomo, (top photo above) has now worn thin.

Yearly precipitation averages 13 inches, and elevations range from 5,500 to 6,500 feet. The Pinyon-juniper forest dominates the mesa top around the visitor center and Bridge View Drive. Grasses and shrubs are scattered over lower elevations. Willow and Cottonwood trees and other water-loving plants grow in canyons and where water sources are perennial. Hanging gardens are found near canyon wall seeps. Douglas fir and ponderosa pine occur along some shaded canyon walls. In season wildflowers splash color against sandstone backdrops. The life and culture of the people who came and went here over the centuries depended on the area's natural resources and the tools for using them.

Visitor Center Prepare for your visit at the visitor center. Exhibits and an audiovisual program portray the geology, history, and wildlife and plants of Natural Bridges. Ask park staff about activities you might enjoy. Fill water bottles here: once you leave the visitor center area there is no water.

Services A 13-site campground (no water) has tables, tent pads, grills, and pit toilets, with a limit of one vehicle (26 feet long or less) per site. Find gasoline, groceries, and lodging 40 miles east in Blanding or south in Mexican Hat.

Bridge View Drive Bridge View Drive leads to overlooks and trailheads for all three natural bridges and Horse Collar Ruin archeological site. This paved, one-way loop road is nine miles long. Each overlook and trailhead has limited parking. If towing a trailer or other vehicle, unhook and leave it in the visitor center parking lot.

Hiking Short hiking trails lead from Bridge View Drive to the base of each bridge. Trails along the canyon bottom and on the mesa top connect the bridges and trailheads and offer loop hikes of varied lengths. The park is open year round, but late April through October is its most pleasant season.

Into the Canyon Descending into the canyon you may see hanging gardens in shady alcoves. Shelves and benches occur in canyon walls because rock layers erode at different rates. Mudstone and siltstone erode faster than sandstone, promoting sandstone's collapse, breakup, and removal. This creates the stairstep effect of alternating cliffs and benches from mesa top to canyon floor.

Wildlife Wildlife abounds here, but you may see only birds, rabbits, and lizards. Bobcats, coyotes, bears, mule deer, and mountain lions live in the area but will evade your notice if at all possible.

WARNINGS Watch for sheer drop-offs and unfenced trails and for lightning and flash floods from thunderstorms. Carry at least one gallon of water per person per day. Climbing on bridges is prohibited. Dogs are prohibited on hiking trails; they must be leashed when outside vehicles.

Please stay on trails and do not touch rock art or write on canyon walls or enter structures. Leave all artifacts in place for others to enjoy.

Accessibility We strive to make our facilities, services, and programs accessible to all. For more information go to the visitor center, ask a ranger, call, or check our website.

The contents of brochures, site bulletins and trading cards (denoted with a colored caption) can be viewed by clicking on the cover. Most modern-day brochures, however, are cover only (denoted by a white caption) due to photograph copyrights. These items are historical in scope and are intended for educational purposes only; they are not meant as an aid for travel planning. The dates under each brochure do not reflect the complete range of years that a particular brochure was issued.

1950		1954		1961
1963	1965	1967	1972	1975
1983-1986		cover only 1988-1990		cover only 1991-1994
cover only 1997-2001		cover only 2002-2020

Amphibians Date Unknown		Birds Date Unknown		Exotic Animals Date Unknown
Fish Date Unknown		Fish Date Unknown		Plants Date Unknown
Reptiles Date Unknown		Threatened, Endangered and Species of Concern Date Unknown		Archaeology and Rock Art Date Unknown
cover only Archaeology and Rock Art August 1996		Archaeology and Rock Art August 1999		Archeology Date Unknown, c2003
Information Sheet Date Unknown		Geology 06/1990		Geology 3/1993
Geology August 1999		Geology January 2003		Exotic Plant List of SEUG and Those Proposed for Treatment 2009
Plan Your Visit Date Unknown		General Information German 08/1999		Visitor Guide April 2003
Visitor Guide July 2005		Visitor Guide December 2006		Visitor Guide April 2015
Guide Touristique November 2015		Besucherführer November 2015		Visitor Guide November 2017
Besucherführer 2017		Visitor Guide June 2018		Guide Touristique 2018
Visitor Guide May 2019		Our Cultural Heritage and Archaeology Date Unknown		Bike Patrol - Points of Interest Date Unknown
cover only Horsecollar Ruin Overlook Nature Trail Date Unknown		Photovoltaics Date Unknown, DOE/CH10093-13

Cultural Affiliation of Kachina Bridge Ruin (Nancy J. Coulam, extract from Utah Archaeology, Vol. 14 No. 1, 2001, ©Utah Statewide Archaeological Society and the Utah Professional Archaeological Council)

The Colossal Bridges of Utah (W.W. Dyar, extract from The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, Vol. XLVI, May-October 1904)

The following visual bibliography is just a sampling of the handbooks and books which have been published for this park. NPSHistory.com does not endorse these, but are merely presenting them for informational purposes only. As most are copyrighted, we are only able to provide the covers, and not contents, of these publications.