Sipapu Natural Bridge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sipapu Bridge
Sipapu Bridge

Sipapu Natural Bridge is a natural bridge or arch located in the Natural Bridges National Monument in the U.S. state of Utah. Sipapu sports impressive span of 268 feet as reported by the National Park Service. While it can claim the title of fourth longest natural arch, if one follows a certain definition of what separates natural arches from natural bridges, it becomes the second longest bridge after the more famous Rainbow Bridge National Monument, also in Utah.

Sipapu can be viewed from a roadside viewpoint but is best viewed from a short hiking trail that leads down to its base from the canyon rim. Since the closure of the trail leading under Landscape Arch due to safety concerns, and the voluntary prohibition placed on passing under Rainbow Bridge in deference to (often debated) Navajo and Hopi spiritual beliefs, Sipapu is now the longest natural arch in the world to have an active trail beneath it that visitors may pass under, affording spectacular views of the underside of the arch.

The name of the arch comes from the Hopi word sipapu, a word for a symbolic portal from which the first human ancestors emerged.