Every Trail Tells a Story
Natural Bridge
Short but dramatic hike.
Rare natural bridge in Death Valley.
A geologic wonder that looks like it shouldn’t still be standing.
Long ago, water surged through a canyon wall, stripping away weaker strata and leaving behind a rock bridge spanning the canyon. Beyond the bridge, explore other water-cut formations – grottoes, benches, chutes and spillways.
Natural bridges are rare in Death Valley, but this one delivers the goods. A massive arch, chiseled from the walls of a desert canyon, spans the wash like a stone gateway. The bridge is about 35 feet thick and 35 feet wide – an impressive chunk of rock suspended above the hiker’s head.
The hike isn’t long, but it gives you a taste of the geologic drama that defines Death Valley. The walls of the canyon show classic signs of flash floods and erosion, the forces that carved the bridge in the first place. Keep walking past the arch and you’ll encounter dry falls and sheer polished walls.
Most visitors treat this as a quick roadside stroll, but the bridge deserves a little reverence. Pause under the arch, look up, and marvel at nature’s slow, stubborn engineering – no construction crews, no cement, just time.
From Badwater Road, 15 miles south of Furnace Creek Visitors Center, follow the signed dirt road 1.5 miles to the trailhead parking lot.
Head up the gravel-floored canyon bottom. Before long, the volcanic walls of the canyon narrow, and you’ll meet up with the natural bridge.
To extend this sojourn, walk under the bridge and continue up-canyon. A dry waterfall, about 0.75 mile from the trailhead can be surmounted, but the 20-foot-high dry fall a mile out halts this hike.