Natural Bridges
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Natural Bridges National Monument - May 1995

Natural Bridges National Monument covers a relatively small area in southeast Utah. It is rather remote and not close to other parks. There are three bridges in the small park. We drove extra 300miles just to see them.

Natural Bridges are formed by running water and hence are much rarer than arches, which result from a variety of other erosion forces. This is also the reason why bridges tend to be found within canyons, sometimes quite hidden, whereas arches are usually high and exposed, as they are often the last remnants of rock cliffs and ridges.
 owachomo bridge 2.JPG (40195 bytes) Owachomo Bridge - smallest and oldest among these three bridges.

180 feet long
27 feet wide
9 feet thick in the center
sipapu bridge.JPG (57950 bytes) Sipapu Bridge - the second largest natural bridge in the world. It is longest among these three bridges.

268 feet long
31 feet wide
53 feet thick
220 feet high

 kachina bridge.JPG (57929 bytes)
examine.wmf (7542 bytes)
owachomo bridge.JPG (44383 bytes)		  

In order to have a better sense of the actual side of this Owachomo Bridge, other than the numbers, I asked Janet to stand right under the bridge to take this photo.

Can you find her?

 Kachina Bridge - most massive among these three bridges.

204 feet long
44 feet wide
93 feet thick
210 feet high

 

 

 

 

 

For more information click on Natural Bridges National Monument.