Favorite National Park Site Countdown #1: Natural Bridges National Monument

Natural Bridge from the Trail Below - Natural Bridges National Monument (All Photos Credit: Lisa Miller)
A few Labor Day-weekends ago, my husband and I decided to stay closer to home rather than venturing hours and hours away. The year before, we were at Glacier National Park, and this past year we went to Alaska for the long weekend. We have been to Moab, Utah many many times and thought about traveling just an hour further south to the Blanding, Utah.

Utah is a very rural state with 80 percent of the population living along the Wasatch Front mountain range near Salt Lake City. Moab is about a four hour drive, usually a bit longer for us because we are hauling our big, heavy camper over steep mountain passes. 

We chose to go to Hovenweep National Monument on the recommendation of a good friend and were not disappointed. Unspoiled cliff dwellings, uncrowded and completely worth exploring. Hovenweep would be hard to beat. Then, we went to Natural Bridges National Monument.

Driving up the narrow sort-of paved road to access the site, I did not have high hopes. It looked pretty desolate and unimpressive, actually. So we started our trip at the visitor center and I was once again underwhelmed. A small shack with a map or two on the walls and some friendly park rangers who I thought probably told every visitor about the same one or two trails. We chatted with them and said thanks and went on our way. At the trailhead, our whole opinion changed in the blink of an eye.

The trail we chose to hike took us down three homemade ladders deep into a river canyon under three naturally formed rock bridges. (Tidbit: an arch is erosion formed, a natural bridge is river formed). We were the only people on the trail. It was magical, exciting, awe inspiring and ethereal. I can still feel the cool breeze on my sun-warmed face and the sound of the river trickling by us. One of my favorite hikes of all time. 

















Natural Bridges National Monument - Utah (All Photos Credit: Lisa Miller)

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