Hike to Owachomo Natural Bridge, Natural Bridges National Monument

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Owachomo Bridge is the most accessible and most photographed natural bridge in the park. It's also likely the oldest natural bridge in the park. Owachomo Natural Bridge is located within Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah. The three bridges in the park are named Kachina, Owachomo, and Sipapu (the largest), which are all Hopi names. Owachomo is the smallest and thinnest of the three natural bridges here and is commonly thought to be the oldest. We may never know for certain, because each of the bridges is eroding at different rates. Regardless of its relative age, Owachomo Bridge is an awe-inspiring feat of erosion. A natural bridge is formed through erosion by water flowing in the stream bed of the canyon. During periods of flash floods, particularly, the stream undercuts the walls of rock that separate the meanders (or "goosenecks") of the stream, until the rock wall within the meander is undercut and the meander is cut off; the new stream bed then flows underneath the bridge. Eventually, as erosion and gravity enlarge the bridge's opening, the bridge collapses under its own weight. There is evidence of at least two collapsed natural bridges within the Monument. Owachomo means "rock mound" in Hopi and is named after the rock formation on top of the east end of the bridge. Before William Douglas gave it this name in 1908, it was called "Edwin" or "Little" Bridge. Prior to that, it was referred to as "Congressman" by miner and explorer Cass Hite. Early in the national monument's development, a dirt road led to Owachomo Bridge from the south. It ended at the campground and ranger station directly southwest of the bridge. There were no other roads, so visitors seeking the other two bridges hiked or rode horses through the rugged canyons. They were often guided by the first "custodian" of the national monument, Ezekial "Zeke" Johnson. Today, remnants of "Zeke's trail", now on the National Register of Historic Places, can still be seen just across the canyon below Owachomo. Height: 106 feet (32 meters)Span: 180 feet (55 meters)Width: 27 feet (8 meters)Thickness: 9 feet (3 meters)

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