Make memories amid stone

An arching stone bridge higher than the nation’s capitol and nearly as long as a football field, spanning cultures in an ancient landscape — that’s Rainbow Bridge. In a rugged canyon area on what is now the shore of Lake Powell in Utah, the bridge long was isolated from the world. Even the Navajo did not know of the bridge until the mid-19th century. The natural phenomenon spans 275 feet across Aztec Creek in an almost perfect parabolic arch. The top of the arch is 42 feet thick and 33 feet wide.

The land that comprises Rainbow Bridge National Monument was traditionally used by Navajo, Paiute, Ute and Hopi peoples. Before that, Ancestral Puebloans and earlier indigenous people lived in and used the area.

Considered the world’s largest known natural bridge, Rainbow Bridge is celebrating 100 years of being a National Monument this May 30th.

Tour boats operating from Lake Powell’s Wahweap Marina take lake cruises every day to the Rainbow Bridge area where visitors take an easy hike of about a half mile overland right to the bridge itself. Antelope Point Marina is offering special four- and seven-day houseboat packages with a private guided tour to Rainbow Bridge and a slot canyon, a group photo at Rainbow Bridge, and a keepsake Rainbow Bridge coin and book.

If you’re more adventurous, you can hike with an authorized Navajo guide from Navajo Mountain to Rainbow Bridge. This 16-mile two-day experience begins at the base of Navajo Mountain, one of the four mountains that are sacred in the Navajo culture.

Years before it was designated as a national monument, this legendary bridge of stone was a sacred symbol to the Navajo. Rainbow Bridge, or “Nonnoshoshi” in the Navajo language, meaning rainbow turned to stone, is a revered place with a deep spiritual significance as guardian of the universe. It symbolizes deities responsible for the creation of the clouds, rainbows and rains that are essential for life in the desert.

Rainbow Bridge has been millions of years in the making; from the buildup of sand dunes to extreme climate changes that hardened the rock, to the landscape lifting upwards, to the erosion by the streams and washes.

Also discovered at Rainbow Bridge was a fossilized dinosaur footprint, still preserved at the viewing area, ancient rocks and charred wood from a fire pit carbon dated to A.D. 540.

IF YOU GO

• Visit Rainbow Bridge National Monument during this year of celebration. Centennial activities, including guest speakers on select dates through May, are planned by the National Park Service and are detailed online at nps.gov

glca/index.htm (1-928-608-6204) and pagelakepowelltourism.com (1-888-261-7243)

Navajo Mountain - Rainbow Bridge hike

• Antelope Slot Canyon Tours

1-928-645-5594

antelopeslotcanyon.com

Rainbow Bridge tour boat

• Wahweap Marina

1-888-896-3829

lakepowell.com