Natural Bridges National Monument

Sipapu Bridge

        In 1883 a prospector named Cass Hite was searching in White Canyon for gold. Instead he found three magnificent natural land bridges. In 1904, the National Geographic Magazine published pictures of the bridges for the rest of the world to view. In 1908 President Theodore Roosevelt created Utah's first addition to the National Park System by creating Natural Bridges National Monument. The Bridges were given Hopi Indian names. Sipapu; which means " the place of emergence", Kachina; which is named for the rock art symbols found on the bridge that resemble symbols commonly used on Kachina dolls, and Owachomo, which means " rock mound" for the feature atop the bridge's east abutment.

    Natural bridges are formed by the erosive action of moving water. Water keeps wearing away at the sandstone until a bridge is formed.

Arches are formed by other erosional forces, mainly frost action and seeping moisture. Those same forces also work to enlarge natural bridges once stream erosion forms them.

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Last Updated February 2005