Natural Bridges National Monument
Natural Bridges National Monument | |
---|---|
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape) | |
Location | San Juan County, Utah, United States |
Coordinates | 37°36′05″N 110°00′49″W / 37.6013829°N 110.0137437°W[1] |
Area | 7,636 acres (30.90 km2)[2] |
Created | April 16, 1908 |
Visitors | 101,843 (in 2016)[3] |
Governing body | National Park Service |
Website | Natural Bridges National Monument |
Natural Bridges National Monument is a
The three bridges in the park are named Kachina, Owachomo, and
History
Humans have lived in the area around Natural Bridges since as early as 7500 BCE, as shown by rock art and stone tools found at nearby sites. Around 700 CE ancestors of modern Puebloan people moved to the site, constructing stone and mortar buildings and granaries. These structures share similarities with those found in Mesa Verde National Park, which can be seen distantly, to the east, from the Bears Ears on the park's eastern border. Like the people of Mesa Verde, the residents of Natural Bridges seem to have left the region around the year 1270.[5]
Europeans first visited the area in 1883 when gold prospector, Cass Hite followed White Canyon upstream, from the Colorado River, and found the bridges near the junction of White and Armstrong canyons. In 1904, the
The Monument was nearly inaccessible for many decades as reflected by the visitor log kept by the Monument's superintendents. Reaching the site from Blanding, Utah, the nearest settlement would take a three-day horseback ride. The park received little visitation until after the uranium boom of the 1950s, which resulted in the creation of new roads in the area, including modern-day Utah State Route 95, which was paved in 1976.
Geology
The bridges and other features present on the Colorado Plateau today were molded by the processes of erosion. The destructive forces of wind and rain, running water, and freezing temperatures attacked the uplifts as soon as all the tectonic havoc started in the Late Cretaceous. The Colorado Plateau has been uplifted about 12,000 feet (3,660 m) since the end of the Cretaceous about 66 million years ago.
Some of this uplift occurred geologically rapidly. As the rate of uplift increased, so did the rate of erosion. The Colorado River, for example, carved its present course within the last 6 million years. With uplift, streams throughout the Colorado Plateau began to dissect the topography into the landscape we see today with unprecedented vigor, carving the rocks and carrying away the dismantled strata into the landscape we see today.
The Monument's elevation ranges up to 6,500 feet (2,000 m). The Monument's vegetation is predominantly pinyon-juniper forest, with grass and shrubs (brittle brush, Mormon tea, sage, etc.) typical of the high-elevation Utah desert. In the canyons, where there is more water and seasonal streams, riparian desert plants, such as willow, oak, and cottonwood trees, thrive. Because the Monument has been closed to grazing for nearly a century, and off-road motorized travel is restricted, Natural Bridges contains extensive areas of undisturbed, mature
Bridge collapse
This section possibly contains original research. (June 2022) |
Potential bridge collapse is possible at Natural Bridges National Monument, especially along the span of Owachomo Bridge in Armstrong Canyon which is only 9 feet (3 m) thick at the crest of its span.
Earthquake potential is high along the Moab Fault near Arches National Park, Southeast Utah Group (SEUG). While this and other faults in the Paradox Basin are associated with salt structures, the Colorado Plateau interior does possess a low level of seismic hazard. Ground shaking from earthquakes may impact the bridges at Natural Bridges National Monument causing catastrophic failure of one or more of the bridges.
Attractions
The main attractions are the natural bridges, accessible from the Bridge View Drive, which winds along the park and goes by all three bridges, and by hiking trails leading down to the bases of the bridges. There is also a campground and picnic areas and a visitor center within the park. Electricity in the park comes entirely from
Horsecollar Ruin is an
Bridge | Height m (ft) |
Span m (ft) |
Width m (ft) |
Thickness m (ft) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Owachomo | 32 (106) | 55 (180) | 8 (27) | 3 (9) |
Sipapu |
67 (220) | 68 (225) | 9.5 (31) | 16 (53) |
Kachina | 64 (210) | 62 (204) | 13 (44) | 28 (93) |
Biology
Animal species found in the National Monument include birds such as the
Native plant species include willow,
Much of the Monument's ground is covered in communities of
Climate
Natural Bridges National Monument has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk) with cold winters and hot summers.
Climate data for Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1965–present | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °F (°C) | 60 (16) |
68 (20) |
77 (25) |
85 (29) |
93 (34) |
101 (38) |
103 (39) |
99 (37) |
96 (36) |
87 (31) |
78 (26) |
61 (16) |
103 (39) |
Mean maximum °F (°C) | 50.6 (10.3) |
55.5 (13.1) |
66.9 (19.4) |
75.3 (24.1) |
84.7 (29.3) |
93.0 (33.9) |
96.5 (35.8) |
92.8 (33.8) |
88.2 (31.2) |
78.6 (25.9) |
63.2 (17.3) |
52.3 (11.3) |
96.8 (36.0) |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 39.3 (4.1) |
43.4 (6.3) |
52.8 (11.6) |
60.5 (15.8) |
71.0 (21.7) |
83.2 (28.4) |
88.6 (31.4) |
85.2 (29.6) |
77.1 (25.1) |
63.4 (17.4) |
50.2 (10.1) |
39.4 (4.1) |
62.8 (17.1) |
Daily mean °F (°C) | 29.5 (−1.4) |
33.5 (0.8) |
41.4 (5.2) |
47.7 (8.7) |
57.5 (14.2) |
68.4 (20.2) |
74.3 (23.5) |
71.8 (22.1) |
64.1 (17.8) |
51.2 (10.7) |
39.5 (4.2) |
29.8 (−1.2) |
50.7 (10.4) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 19.8 (−6.8) |
23.5 (−4.7) |
29.9 (−1.2) |
35.0 (1.7) |
44.0 (6.7) |
53.7 (12.1) |
60.1 (15.6) |
58.5 (14.7) |
51.1 (10.6) |
38.9 (3.8) |
28.8 (−1.8) |
20.1 (−6.6) |
38.6 (3.7) |
Mean minimum °F (°C) | 5.1 (−14.9) |
10.0 (−12.2) |
17.1 (−8.3) |
22.0 (−5.6) |
30.5 (−0.8) |
40.1 (4.5) |
51.3 (10.7) |
50.2 (10.1) |
37.6 (3.1) |
24.0 (−4.4) |
12.9 (−10.6) |
5.4 (−14.8) |
2.6 (−16.3) |
Record low °F (°C) | −11 (−24) |
−13 (−25) |
6 (−14) |
6 (−14) |
20 (−7) |
30 (−1) |
41 (5) |
37 (3) |
27 (−3) |
6 (−14) |
−2 (−19) |
−14 (−26) |
−14 (−26) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 1.20 (30) |
0.83 (21) |
0.90 (23) |
0.72 (18) |
0.86 (22) |
0.38 (9.7) |
1.20 (30) |
1.42 (36) |
1.61 (41) |
1.15 (29) |
0.66 (17) |
1.05 (27) |
11.98 (304) |
Average snowfall inches (cm) | 10.8 (27) |
5.5 (14) |
3.3 (8.4) |
1.6 (4.1) |
0.2 (0.51) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.6 (1.5) |
2.4 (6.1) |
7.6 (19) |
32.0 (81) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 5.6 | 5.8 | 5.3 | 4.4 | 4.8 | 2.0 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 6.2 | 5.2 | 3.9 | 5.4 | 64.5 |
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 4.3 | 3.1 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 4.2 | 16.4 |
Source: NOAA[10][11] |
See also
- List of national monuments of the United States
- Arches National Park
- Dark Canyon Wilderness
- Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
- Manti-La Sal National Forest
- Muley Point
- Rainbow Bridge National Monument
- Bears Ears National Monument
- Hite, Utah
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service.
- ^ "Natural Bridges National Monument". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
- ^ "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2013" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-05-14. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
- ^ "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
- ^ "Sipapu Natural Bridge". Natural Arch and Bridge Society.
- ^ "History & Culture – Natural Bridges National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)".
- ^ a b Olson, Jeffrey G. "Natural Bridges named the world's first international dark-sky park". Natural Bridges National Monument. National Park Service. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
- International Dark-Sky Association. 2007-04-19. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2008-11-15. Retrieved 2008-11-09.
- ^ "Night Sky Quality Monitoring Report". Explore Nature. National Park Service. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
- KSL Newsradio. May 16, 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
- ^ "NOWData – NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
- ^ "Summary of Monthly Normals 1991–2020". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
External links
- Official website by the National Park Service
- Information by AmericanSouthwest.net