Rainbow Bridge National Monument is administered by

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (shortened to Glen Canyon NRA or GCNRA) is a national recreation area and conservation unit of the United States National Park Service that encompasses the area around Lake Powell and lower Cataract Canyon ...

, southern

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, United States. Rainbow Bridge is often described as the world's highest

natural bridge A natural arch, natural bridge, or (less commonly) rock arch is a natural landform where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, coastal cliffs, fins or stacks are subject to erosion ...

. The span of Rainbow Bridge was reported in 1974 by the Bureau of Reclamation to be , but a measurement of span according to definition by the Natural Arch and Bridge Society in 2007 resulted in a value of . At the top it is thick and wide. The bridge, which is of cultural importance to a number of area Native American tribes, has been designated a

Traditional Cultural Property The U.S. National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) classifies its listings by various types of properties. Listed properties generally fall into one of five categories, though there are special considerations for other types of properties whi ...

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 propertie ...

Size

Two other natural arches,

Kolob Arch Kolob Arch is a natural arch in Zion National Park, Utah, United States. According to the Natural Arch and Bridge Society (NABS), it is the sixth-longest natural arch in the world. In 2006, the Society measured the span at 287.4 ± 2 feet (87.6 m ...

and

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 nor ...

, both also in southern Utah, have confirmed spans several meters longer than Rainbow Bridge, but by most definitions of the terms they are considered to be arches rather than bridges. With a height of Rainbow Bridge does indeed stand taller than either of its longer competitors, but it is outdone by

Aloba Arch Aloba Arch is the name of a natural arch located in Chad. Large natural arches are somewhat rare outside the southern and western regions of China and the Colorado Plateau of the southwest United States. Chad's Ennedi Plateau, located within th ...

in Chad at . The world's tallest (though less easily accessible) arch is Töshük Tagh, better known as

Shipton's Arch Shipton's Arch ( ug, تۆشۈك تاغ, translit=Töshük tagh, yengi=Tɵxük taƣ, ucy=Төшүк тағ, literally "Hole Mountain"; or simply ) is a conglomerate natural arch in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. It is located in Kizi ...

, in China at an estimated . Finally,

Xianren Bridge Xianren Bridge () is a natural arch created by flowing water that has the world's longest recorded span. Carved of limestone karst, the formation bridges Buliu River in the northern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. Because of its remo ...

(also known as Fairy Bridge), in Guangxi Province, China, with a span of about , and a height of the opening of , appears to be the natural bridge with the largest span in the world.

Access

Rainbow Bridge is one of the most accessible of the large arches of the world. It can be reached by a two-hour boat ride on

Lake Powell Lake Powell is an artificial reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It is the second largest artificial reservoir by maximum ...

from either of two marinas near Page, Arizona, followed by a mile-long walk from the National Park wharf in Bridge Canyon, or by hiking several days overland from a trailhead on the south side of Lake Powell (obtain a permit from the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...

Window Rock, Arizona Window Rock ( nv, , ) is a census-designated place that serves as the seat of government and capital of the Navajo Nation, the largest territory in North America of a sovereign Native American nation. The capital lies within the boundaries of the ...

Geology

Rainbow Bridge is made from

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

originally deposited by wind as sand dunes, during the end of the

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

and the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

periods. Extreme fluctuations in climate during the Triassic and Jurassic periods—the region was alternately a sea and desert on par with the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

—produced layers of sandstone with different levels of hardness. By the end of the Jurassic, the sea returned to cover these layers of sandstone and compressed them so tightly that they would persist until the present day. As Bridge Creek flowed toward the growing

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

during the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

, it carved first through softer rocks and veered away from the harder Triassic and Jurassic sandstones, eventually creating a wide

hairpin bend A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or hairpin corner) is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal hai ...

that flowed around a solid "fin" of sandstone that would become Rainbow Bridge. The previous course of the creek is still visible above the bridge. Water flows back on itself at bends and wide spots, creating swirling

eddies In fluid dynamics, an eddy is the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid is in a turbulent flow regime. The moving fluid creates a space devoid of downstream-flowing fluid on the downstream side of the object. Fluid b ...

along the banks. As the creek flowed around Rainbow Bridge fin, these abrasive eddies formed on both the upstream and downstream sides and cut circular alcoves in the rock wall. The sediment in the creek eventually scoured the softer layers of sandstone away, leaving the harder layers behind.

History

Located in the rugged, isolated canyons at the feet of

Navajo Mountain , photo = NavajoMtn (cropped).jpg , photo_caption = Navajo Mountain and Lake Powell, looking southeast from the Kaiparowits Plateau , elevation_ft = 10348 , elevation_ref = , prominence_ft = 4226 , prominence_ref = , listing = , locati ...

, Rainbow Bridge was known for centuries by the Native Americans who have long held the bridge sacred.

Ancient Pueblo People The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, an ...

were followed much later by

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Paiu ...

and

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

groups who named the bridge ''Nonnezoshe'' or "rainbow turned to stone." Several Native American families still reside nearby. By the 1800s, Rainbow Bridge was probably seen by wandering trappers, prospectors, and cowboys. Not until 1909, though, was its existence publicized to the outside world. Two separate exploration parties—one headed by

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

Dean Byron Cummings, and another by government surveyor, W.B. Douglass—began searching for the legendary span. Eventually, they combined efforts. Paiute guides Nasja Begay and Jim Mike led the way, along with trader and explorer John Wetherill. Late in the afternoon of August 15, coming down what is now Bridge Canyon, the party saw Rainbow Bridge for the first time. The next year, on May 30, 1910, U.S. President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

used presidential proclamation to designate Rainbow Bridge National Monument. Teddy Roosevelt and

Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontie ...

were among the first visitors to make the trek by foot and horseback from Oljeto or

. In 1924 S.I. and Hubert Richardson built a road north from Red Lake (Tonalea) to the west side of Navajo Mountain, where they built a rustic stone building and facilities for mules and visitors, calling it Rainbow Lodge. They established a trail from the lodge to Cliff Canyon, then over Redbud Pass to Bridge Canyon. The 14-mile trip from the lodge to Rainbow Bridge could be made in one day by mule or horse. Bill and Catherine Wilson operated the lodge from 1928 to 1951, except for the World War II years. In 1942 Barry Goldwater (later US Senator and presidential candidate) acquired a half interest in the lodge. The main building at the site burned in August 1951. Merritt and Winona Holloway operated the lodge in 1952, using a garage building as a dining hall. Miles Hedrick conducted some trips from the lodge site for the next few years, before the site was abandoned. The site is now the trailhead for hikers to the bridge. Due to erosion, Redbud Pass is no longer passable for horses. Rainbow Bridge became more accessible with the popularity of

river running Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

Glen Canyon Glen Canyon is a natural canyon carved by a length of the Colorado River, mostly in southeastern and south-central Utah, in the United States. Glen Canyon starts where Narrow Canyon ends, at the confluence of the Colorado River and the Dirty D ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, although the trip still required several days floating the

plus a six-mile hike up-canyon. By the early 1950s, people could travel upstream by jet boat from

Lee's Ferry Lees Ferry (also known as Lee's Ferry, Lee Ferry, Little Colorado Station and Saints Ferry) is a site on the Colorado River in Coconino County, Arizona in the United States, about southwest of Page and south of the Utah–Arizona state li ...

Glen Canyon Dam Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, United States, near the town of Page, Arizona, Page. The high dam was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1956 to 1966 and forms Lake Powe ...

was authorized in 1956. By 1963, the gates on the dam closed and rising

began to engulf the river and its side canyons. Higher water made motorboat access to Rainbow Bridge much easier, bringing thousands of visitors each year. In 1974, Navajo tribal members who lived in the history of Rainbow Bridge filed suit in U.S.a District Court against the Secretary of the Interior, the Commissioner of the

Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

, and the Director of the

. The suit was an attempt to preserve important Navajo religious sites that were being inundated by the rising waters of Lake Powell. The court ruled against the Navajo, saying that the need for water storage outweighed their concerns. In 1980, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that to close Rainbow Bridge, a public site, for Navajo religious ceremonies would violate the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

which protects the

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

of all citizens. By 1993, a National Park Service General Management Plan, involving much public input, was adopted. As part of the planning process, the National Park Service consulted with the five Native American nations affiliated with Rainbow Bridge: the Navajo, Hopi, San Juan Southern

, Kaibab Paiute, and White Mesa

Ute Ute or UTE may refer to: * Ute (band), an Australian jazz group * Ute (given name) * ''Ute'' (sponge), a sponge genus * Ute (vehicle), an Australian and New Zealand term for certain utility vehicles * Ute, Iowa, a city in Monona County along ...

. Chief among their concerns was that Rainbow Bridge—a religious and sacred place—be protected and visited in a respectful manner. Additionally, the tribes expressed concerns about visitors approaching or walking under the bridge. Today, the National Park Service asks visitors to be respectful of its significance to the people who have long held Rainbow Bridge sacred. It is not illegal, however, for visitors to approach and walk under the bridge from one side to the other along or just above the creek bed, and there is a well-worn path under the bridge that is regularly used.

References

External links