Natural Bridges National Monument

The farthest west I traveled yesterday was to Natural Bridges National Monument.  I continued westward on Utah route 95 and found route 275, which pretty much exists to connect the monument to the rest of the U.S.A.  The monument features three natural bridges and a set of Puebloan ruins, which all may be visited by following a one-way loop road.  For all three bridges, there are viewing points and trailheads along the road, which may be used depending on how much hiking you want to do.  The first bridge seen from the road is Sipapu Bridge, named after a Hopi word for a small hole or indentation in the floor of a kiva.

Near Sipapu Bridge are these cliffs.

The loop road continues to the head of a trail to a viewing point for the Horsecollar Ruins.  Along the way, I saw more cliffs.

The Horsecollar Ruins are in an alcove.

Looking in a different direction, I saw more cliffs.

On the walk back to where I had parked my temporary rented Bigfootmobile, I noticed these rocks.

I continued down the loop road to Kachina Bridge, seen here.  Yes, that is a creek flowing under it.

Here's a view of the creek a bit upstream from the bridge.  Although I couldn't see one, I could hear the sound of a waterfall.

I eventually reached the third and last bridge, Owachomo Bridge.  Its viewing point and trailhead were right next to the loop road.

I decided to hike partway down the trail to get a different perspective on the bridge.  Instead of seeing it (as I did with the other two) from above, I saw it from a point that seemed about level with it.

Before leaving the monument, I stopped to take a picture of these two mountains, which are known as the Bears Ears.  They are about seven miles to the east and featured in their own monument.

For more about Natural Bridges National Monument, besides the official site above, go to Utah Life Elevated, Road Trip Ryan, National Park Foundation and Utah(dot)com.  (Yes, I know.  Some of these site names are getting to be familiar.)  This post gets the "science" label because its shows geology.