Overview

Hype:

Sipapu Bridge’s tremendous span inspires and awes the imagination. Hike to the second largest natural bridge in the United States and, along the way, explore the geology of this fascinating region. You will fully appreciate this incredible natural feature with an adventurous canyon hike.

Trail Condition: Class 2 (Trail may have tree roots or rocks jutting out. Navigation skills may consist of following rock cairns and choosing turns at junctions. Elevation gains may be more substantial.)

Time: 1-2 hours

Length: 1.0 miles round trip

Elevation Gain: 314 ft, -730 ft

Fees: Entrance

Recommended Ages:

	0-3
	4-11
	12-19
	20-49
	50-69
	70+

Recommended Months to Visit:

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Links: https://www.nps.gov/nabr/planyourvisit/sipapubridge.htm

Getting There

Navigate to 37.613334, -110.009240.

Route

From the trailhead, follow the well-marked trail down the slickrock. The slickrock has sections of stairs carved into the rock, and the trail is clearly marked with rocks. After about 0.1 miles, you'll come to some steel stairs. Shortly after the stairs is a wood ladder that you can use to drop down a short ledge. 

At 0.3 miles, you'll come to a signed junction. Take the left spur trail about 1 minute to an Indian ruin then return to take the right fork down to the arch. 

At 0.47 miles, you'll come to two more wooden ladders.

At 0.5 miles, you'll arive under Sipapu Bridge.

Return the way you came, or take one of the connecting trails to the other natural bridges.

Maps

Closest City or Region: Natural Bridges National Monument

Coordinates: 37.613334, -110.009240

Interactive Guide Map

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June 29, 2019 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Savannah Dye, Madilyn Dye, Cooper Dye, Arianne Dye, Miller Dye, Killian Wagner,

Story

Arianne and I took the kids to Natural Bridges National Monument while the other adults did Cheesebox Canyon. We stopped at the visitor center and picked up Junior Ranger booklets, then we proceeded around the loop.

Our first stop was the Sipapu Bridge overlook. We walked the short distance out to the overlook, then we stopped and helped the kids with their Junior Ranger activities for about 15 minutes. We had plenty of time to spend because we didn't want to get back to camp while all the biting gnats were still awake, so we took it nice and slow.

After the overlook, we took the trail down to Sipapu Bridge. The trail was very nice and was especially fun because of the wooden ladders. We were also amused with the steps chisseled into the stone in places. Once we made it down to the arch, we stopped and ate lunch. We explored the trail along the stream looking for the indian ruins, but the coordinates we had must have been wrong because we found some ruins but not where we were expecting. The kids loved the tadpoles in the stream puddles, and Madi was very concerned that some of the tadpoles were going to die because their puddle was drying up and there was almost no water left. We worked on the Junior Ranger books, then we hiked back to the car. The hike back was in the afternoon sun, and it was quite hot. Madi had an especially hard time with the heat and did a lot of complaining. For the steepest part of the trail, I put Killian on one shoulder and Cooper on the other shoulder and carried them both up the trail. 

We made it back to the car around 12:45 then we headed over to the Horsecollar Ruin Overlook Trail. By this point, the kids were pretty hot and tired and were not very interested in hiking at all. You'd have thought that a third of a mile was longer than a marathon for all the complaining we heard. Madi only made it there because I bribed her that I would carry her back if she hiked the whole way there on her own. At the overlook, the kids found a small rock alcove and played inside. The ruins were quite impressive, but I think Ari and I were the only ones who appreciated them.

The next stop was the Kachina Bridge Overlook. Ari stayed in the car with the kids while I went and scoped it out. It was cool, but we decided it wasn't worth the effort to get the kids to walk the 600 ft to the overlook.

Our last stop was the Owachomo Bridge Overlook. Once again, Ari stayed in the car with the kids while I went and scoped it out. The overlook was very impressive, so I went back and got my 3 kids. Ari was still pretty pooped from all the hiking earlier, so she stayed with Miller and Killian. When we got back to the car, we convinced Ari it was worth it, so we all walked back out to the overlook. Like I said, we had lots of time to kill, so we weren't in any hurry.

Once we were all done with the hikes and overlooks, we finished the loop and headed back to the visitor center. We had planned it so we could do the visitor center stuff during the hottest hours of the day. We watched the park film then we sat on the floor of the visitor center right next to the air conditioning vents, and we did all the rest of the activities in their Junior Ranger books. The kids got their badges, we bought our souvenir magnet and walked through the museum, and then we headed back to camp around 3:30.

Pictures