Three majestic natural bridges invite you to ponder the power of water in a landscape usually defined by its absence. View them from an overlook, or hit the trails and experience their grandeur from below. Declared a National Monument in 1908, the bridges are named "Kachina," "Owachomo" and "Sipapu" in honor of the ancestral Puebloans who once made this place their home.
More info: https://www.nps.gov/nabr/index.htm
Sipapu is the largest and most spectacular of the three bridges in the Monument. It is considered middle aged, older than Kachina but younger than Owachomo. Its rounded opening and smooth sides are mute evidence of countless floods bearing scouring rocks and sand. This bridge, whose opening would almost house the dome of the United States Capitol, has taken thousands of years to form but will someday collapse and erode as part of the endless cycles of time and change.
Dimensions
Height: 220 feet (67 meters)
Span: 268 feet (82 meters)
Width: 31 feet (9.5 meters)
Thickness: 53 feet (16 meters)
Kachina is "the middle bridge." Spanning the canyon equidistant from both Owachomo and Sipapu bridges. It is larger than Owachomo but smaller than Sipapu. Proving that canyons are dynamic rather than static, approximately 4,000 tons of sandstone fell from the inside of the Kachina bridge opening in June 1992, enlarging the opening as it has no doubt been enlarged time and time again.
Height: 210 feet (64 meters)
Span: 204 feet (62 meters)
Width: 44 feet (13 meters)
Thickness: 93 feet (28 meters)
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.
Height: 106 feet (32 meters)
Span: 180 feet (55 meters)
Width: 27 feet (8 meters)
Thickness: 9 feet (3 meters)
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