Natural Bridge Canyon Trail
Hike Review
Cassie and I hiked the Natural Bridge Canyon. This hike was an out-and-back hike with us not being able to find a way to escape the canyon and walk back to the car above the canyon. However, we think if we had climbing shoes, we probably could have.
The trail was crowded to the Natural Bridge, but afterwards, the crowds thinned out.
Because the canyon closes in on itself, the second part of the hike was much cooler and shaded, while the section close to the parking lot was very warm.
Past the Natural Bridge, there are a couple of dry falls, a few we were able to scamper up. However, there’s an especially steep one we didn’t want to commit to.
Much like most canyons at Death Valley, the hiking was on gravel and sand. Thankfully, I did not see any trash.
What I Learned
While Cassie painted, I had a great time bouldering a traverse next to one of the shorter waterfalls. Because I was not too far off the ground, it was fun pulling on questionable rock.
I was initially reluctant to hike this trail as it meant we would get home around midnight. However, after having had a fun time hiking, bouldering, and gawking up at the Natural Bridge, I feel that this hike is underrated and worthwhile.
What Happened?
1.7 miles, 1 hr 22 mins, 476 ft of ascent
After spending the first part of the day at Golden Canyon, we drove to the Natural Bridge Canyon Trailhead and started hiking to see the Natural Bridge. We were surprised at how short of a hike it was to the Natural Bridge. Even more so, though, we were surprised at how big the Natural Bridge was. Given that it’s formed of the same crumbly rock as the rest of the canyon, we wondered how much longer this bridge would stay up.
At this point, we could have turned back, but we decided to keep going as we wanted to see where it led to. We were glad we did as the canyon past the Natural Bridge was our favorite part of the hike.
Past the Natural Bridge, we ran into a solo female hiker who was very friendly and someone we hiked with as we strategized on how to hike up the slippery dry falls that guarded the upper portions of the trail. We went up two small dry falls, but the last one we ran into was a bit too high and vertical for us to attempt, so we all turned around. Before we went all the way back, Cassie painted for about 25 minutes while I bouldered, and we bid farewell to our temporary hiking friend.
Afterwards, we headed back to our car and stared out at Lake Manly. This is a temporary lake that sometimes forms at Badwater Basin when there is a ton of rain at Death Valley. The runoff meets to form a shallow lake that dries up over the next few weeks. We appreciated the beauty of what our eyes witnessed and started the long, long drive home.
