Finally, we toured Natural Bridges National Monument!

Natural Bridges is the first National Monument established in Utah.  How did Teddy Roosevelt know about this place way out near the Glen Canyon area?  We've RV'd near the Monument many times in the past, but never stopped to check out this park.  Glad that we stopped this time.

Although we were disappointed that we couldn't squeeze into their campground (maximum length 26ft with large boulders keeping out the bigger RVs), we did drive the 8 mile loop road.

But how could we just drive the scenic loop?  So we parked at a trailhead and hiked to two of the three famous bridges.  And what is the difference between Arches and Bridges?  Bridges have/had a river flow under them. 

After hiking over 5 miles, we saw two Natural Bridges, up close and personal. We followed the trail to the Sipapu Bridge after walking across the mesa and then down to the wash.  The Sipapu is the  second largest bridge in the world.  Continuing on our hike, we then hiked through the wash to Kachina Bridge, and finally back up to the top of the canyon where our RV was waiting for us.  A fairly strenuous hike; but well worth it.  Now tired, we continued driving on the loop road, and we have to admit, we only viewed the third bridge, the Owachoma Bridge from the parking lot viewpoint.

And where did we camp for the night?  A recommendation from a park ranger:  3 miles outside the park there is an abandoned runway on BLM land.  So another boondock.