Sipapu Bridge is a natural bridge or arch located in the

Natural Bridges National Monument Natural Bridges National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located about northwest of the Four Corners boundary of southeast Utah, in the western United States, at the junction of White Canyon and Armstrong Canyon, part of the Colora ...

in central San Juan County, Utah, United States. The bridge spans White Canyon.

Description

Sipapu was long reported to have a span of by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

, ranking it as the fourth longest natural arch in the world. A more accurate measurement obtained by laser survey in 2007 revealed the measurement to be a significant overstatement. The

Natural Arch and Bridge Society Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans a ...

has published a revised span of , demoting the arch to a thirteenth-place ranking. Based on specific criteria that separate natural arches from natural bridges, Sipapu is the sixth longest natural bridge after the more well-known Rainbow Bridge also located in Utah, and four Chinese natural bridges—all longer than Rainbow Bridge—which were measured and documented by NABS between 2010 and 2015. Sipapu can be viewed from a roadside viewpoint, but more fully viewed from a short hiking trail that leads down to its base from the canyon rim. Since the closure of the trail leading under

Landscape Arch Landscape Arch is the longest of the many natural rock arches located in Arches National Park, Utah, United States and among the longest natural stone arches in the world. Description The arch is among many in the Devils Garden area in the n ...

due to safety concerns, and the voluntary prohibition placed on passing under Rainbow Bridge in deference to Navajo and Hopi spiritual beliefs, Sipapu is now the longest natural arch in the world to have an active trail beneath it that visitors may pass under, affording views of the underside of the arch.

Name

The name of the arch comes from the Hopi word '' sipapu'', a word for a symbolic portal from which the first human ancestors emerged. Earlier names, which still were in use until the mid 20th century, were "President", "Augusta" and "Great Augusta".

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Sipapu Bridge Natural arches of San Juan County, Utah