Natural Bridges National Monument is home to three of the worlds biggest natural bridges, and the largest of them is Sipapu Bridge. We have been to Natural Bridges a couple of times and absolutely love it down there. The crowds are smaller than other National Parks sites in Utah, like Zion and Arches, but the geology is still spectacular. Sipapu Bridge is one of three bridges you can hike to in the park.

Getting to Sipapu Bridge Trail

Natural Bridges is an easy park to navigate because there is only one road and it makes a one way loop past all three bridges. Sipapu Bridge is the first bridge that you will come to and it will be on your right hand side.

All three bridges have accessible viewpoints where you can see the bridge from a distance (this makes Natural Bridges one of the best parks for those with accessibility needs). Unlike the other two bridges though Sipapu Bridge’s view point is not at its trailhead so if you want to access the view point be on the lookout right away when you start the loop. The viewpoint will be your second opportunity to pull off on your right (it is the first area with a real parking lot).

After the viewpoint you will pass the picnic area on your left and then come to the Sipapu Bridge trail head.

Hiking to Sipapu Bridge

Sipapu Bridge is the largest of the bridges and the hike to it is the most strenuous of the three hikes. While the hike is only about a mile and a half round trip, you are descending from the top of a canyon all the way to the bottom under a bridge. This means that there will be quite a lot of elevation change.

The elevation change is managed by multiple methods including metal stairs, stone stairs, and wooden ladders. While this hike is marked as strenuous be the National Park service we did do it while carrying Lucy in our hiking backpack and we are not super intense hikers.

You can view our video of this hike to get a better idea for the what it entails (my youngest brother was also with us). It is not super difficult, all of the steps and ladders were in good condition when we were there.

Part of the way down to Sipapu Bridge there is a large cliff you can go out to and get different views of the bridge.

Once you get to the bottom of the canyon it is just a short walk to get under the bridge. It is always really cool to be under a natural bridge or arch and be able to look up from beneath. Here under Sipapu Bridge you can connect to the trail that winds through the bottom of the canyon past all three bridges. That is a much longer hike that we have not done, but it does allow you to see all three with only one descent into the canyon as opposed to three.

Sum Up

Hiking Sipapu Bridge trail takes a couple of hours to hike. It is a fun descent to the canyon with an amazing bridge at the end. We definitely recommend doing it. Even if your kids often go hiking without being in a carrier it is worth it to bring a carrier to Natural Bridges for any of the ladders you need to traverse.

Besides its obvious geological significance, Sipapu Bridge also has religious significance for the Hopi people as the spot they believe the first emerged onto the earth, so it is a pretty cool place to get to see.