Natural Bridges National Monument

Between the Bridges: Kachina to Sipapu Though it was still midsummer, the weather had cooled a little with the summer thunderstorms to make a trip to Natural Bridges National Monument in southeast Utah reasonable. Rather than walk down and back up to each of the three large bridges, I wanted to take the loop trail through Armstrong Canyon between two of them. I parked at the trail head for Sipapu Bridge, the first stop on the Bridge View Drive, but instead of going down I walked the 1.8 mile... Read Full Story

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... Read Full Story

The Butler Wash Ruins Trail is in southeast Utah west of Blanding on the way to Natural Bridges National Monument along the scenic byway Utah Route 95. This route has some of very spectacular scenery.From the trail head of the 0.5 mile trail, the view west is to Comb Ridge, a 90 mile long sharp spined sandstone hogback that was a nearly impossible barrier to travel before the modern age. The east facing side is mostly the Navajo Sandstone layer. The trail crosses through high desert of sparse... Read Full Story

The Mule Canyon Ruins Trail is along Utah Route 95 on the way to Natural Bridges National Monument from Blanding, Utah. It is on the west side of the massive sandstone barrier Comb Ridge.The paved trail is very short and features a well protected kiva. This circular kiva has the same features as the excellent ones visible at Mesa Verde. The site at Mule Canyon has excellent views of the surrounding mountain ranges. The Blue Mountains near Monticello, Utah still snow covered in early March... Read Full Story

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