Rainbow Bridge by Land

Rainbow Bridge, often described as the world's highest natural bridge, was first publicized to the outside world in 1909. Before then it was known only to the local Indian Tribes, and probably a few white wanderers. It was proclaimed a National Monument by William Howard Taft in 1910. Teddy Roosevelt and Zane Grey were among the first to make the trip to the site from Navajo Mountain.¹

The span of Rainbow Bridge was reported in 1974 by the Bureau of Reclamation to be 275 feet (84 m), but a laser measurement in 2007 showed a span of 234 feet (71 m). At the top it is 42 feet (13 m) thick and 33 feet (10 m) wide²

At first the best way to visit the bridge was by the long, arduous trip trip by foot and horseback from Navajo Mountain. With the popularity of river running after World war II, it was possible to float down the Colorado for several days and then hike some seven miles up-canyon to the bridge. Later, jet boats were used to travel upstream from Lees Ferry. After Glen Canyon Dam was completed in 1963 and the water rose in Lake Powell, access by motorboat became much easier and is now the main way to access Rainbow Bridge.³

A National Park Service document titled “Rainbow Bridge, Administrative History” describes how the arch was formed, the native people who lived nearby, the early European settlers and the development of the arch as a National Monument⁴

Several people in our group of hikers had long talked of visiting Rainbow Bridge by trail and we finally decided that we would hike in on the South Rainbow Trail (along the southwest side of Navajo Mountain) on 6 and 7 April and return by the North Rainbow Trail (along the north side of the mountain) on 8 and 9 April.

This is not just a pick-up-and-go hike, but requires some planning. First there is the matter of obtaining permits from the Navajo Nation. The hiking fee is $5 per person per day and the camping fee is an additional $5 per person per day. You will find that a back country permit is also required; however, that turns out to be no more than the receipt issued when you pay for the camping fee. We purchased our permits at the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department office at Cameron, a small hogan located at the intersection of US 89 and AZ 64.

Because we would be returning to the north trailhead and because we did not wish to leave our vehicles unattended while hiking, we arranged with a Mr. Julius Holiday to park our vehicles at his house and have him take us to the south trailhead and then pick us up at the north trailhead.

When the day finally arrived, we drove to Cameron and stopped for lunch. The below photograph was taken in front of the Cameron Post Office.

Left to right: Frank Lombardo, Mary Gavan (why's she hiding?), Becky 

Fowsky and Jim Manning – photograph by the author

After lunch we continued north on US 89A, turned east on US 160, drove through Tuba City, turned north on AZ 98 and then north on Indian Route 16. We called Julius along the way to let him know we were coming and he met us at the intersection of Indian route 16 and 161. From there, it was just a short distance to his house. We then parked our vehicles, climbed into his 4-wheel drive pickup and were off to the trailhead.

The National Park Service publishes a written trail guide giving distances and trail markers along the way. However, be aware that this guide starts measuring the distance about half a mile before the official trailhead. Apparently, this is because the last half-mile of road leading to the old Rainbow Lodge site where the trail actually starts is just too rough for even most 4-wheel drivers.

Rainbow Lodge was built by brothers S.I. and Hubert Richardson in 1923 to service tourists who wished to travel to Rainbow Bridge. According to their son, Michael, Barry Goldwater's wife purchased a half interest in the lodge for her husband while he was overseas during World War II.⁵ The lodge was largely destroyed by a fire in 1951, leaving only a recently-constructed stone garage to accommodate guest functions. Meanwhile, Glen Canyon Dam was completed and the much easier trip to Rainbow Bridge by way of Lake Powell made land travel to the site an uncompetitive endeavor. Also, Goldwater's interest had by then shifted to national politics and The Rainbow Bridge and Hotel company closed in 1965⁶.”

Depending on what source we consulted, the hike into Rainbow Bridge would be between 13 and 16 miles, a long day's hike, so we elected to hike in a few miles before dark to give ourselves a head start on the next day. Julius dropped us off at the trailhead located at what remains of Rainbow Lodge, and we donned our packs and set out on the well-defined trail. Traveling along the juniper-covered slope of Navajo Mountain, we climbed into and out of First Canyon and entered Utah. Continuing on, we crossed Horse Canyon, another steep descent and ascent. It was now getting late in the day and we wanted to set up camp before dark, but knowing that we had another canyon to cross along the slope of the mountain, we pressed on to cross it and camp on its far rim. We were high on the southwestern slope of Navajo Mountain at an elevation of about 6200 feet and, after dark, had a grand view of the lights of Page, 2000 feet below us and some thirty miles away. I first thought that I was looking at Tuba City; however, the lights seemed too extensive. In retrospect and after referring to a map, I determined that we were seeing Page.

The next morning we ate breakfast and pressed on, wanting to get to Echo Camp at Rainbow Bridge at a decent hour. From our campsite it was about another three miles to Yabut Pass, a very narrow pass which affords a spectacular view down into Cliff Canyon on the other side. From this point, the trail descends rapidly into the canyon, falling about 1600 feet in around two miles. It then follows along the bottom of Cliff Canyon for about three miles to the junction with Canyon. A small sign is posted showing the way to Redbud Pass.

When the trail turns from Cliff Canyon into Redbud Canyon toward the pass it starts a gentle climb, rising about 100 feet in around three-tenths of a mile and then another 100 feet or so to ascend a plug in the canyon, apparently caused by an ancient collapse of the canyon walls. At the top of this plug is Redbud Pass. From the pass streamflow in the canyon is reversed, flowing back to Cliff Canyon on one side and down to Bridge canyon on the other. This is the route created by Charles L. Bernheimer⁷, guided by John Wetherill⁸ in 1922⁹.

I was never absolutely sure that I saw exactly where the Bernheimer/Wetherill party had chiseled and blasted “a path wide enough to lead a horse through”¹⁰. We did find dates inscribed on the cliff wall in a very narrow section of the canyon below the pass. One of the inscriptions said 7-22 which does correspond with the date they completed their work.

We encountered one area between Redbud Pass and the intersection with Redbud Creek where a rockslide has partly blocked the canyon. We removed our packs and lowered them by rope over this section. This could actually have been accomplished without the rope as long as one were not hiking alone; it just required one person to hand the packs down and one at the bottom to receive them. But the rope was handy.

By this time, I was lagging far behind the rest of the group, but Jim and Frank took turns waiting for me. When we reached the conjunction of Redbud Canyon with Bridge Canyon, a little over two miles upstream from Rainbow Bridge, I saw a large cairn and knew that we had reached the juncture with the north trail, the route we intended to take for the return trip.

From this junction it is about 1.6 miles downstream to Echo Camp. One first passes through a gate and then, just when Rainbow Bridge comes into view, a side trail veers off to the right. This trail leads to the camp, located in a very pleasant alcove just below Echo Spring. We took the side trail and proceeded to make camp, leaving our visit to the bridge for the morrow.

We filtered water for the next day, ate dinner and settled into our tents for a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, a very strong wind began to blow and we were awake most of the night wondering whether our tents would blow away.

The next morning was cloudy, but still hopeful that we would not have rain, we hiked on down to the bridge for a closer look before starting our return journey.

The below map shows the the north/south trail junction, Echo Camp and Rainbow Monument.

Map showing Rainbow Bridge area

From Echo Camp, one just hikes up a small rise and down the other side to to enter the monument through a gate. The sign shown in the following photograph (see next page) identifies the boundary and provides guidance for visitors.

Sign at upstream entrance to Rainbow Bridge National Monument

On the cliff wall are mounted two plaques commemorating the two Paiute Indians (Jim Mike, AKA Mike's Boy and Nasja Begay) who guided the Cummings/Douglas party on their exploratory trip to Rainbow Bridge. I tried to photograph these plaques, but couldn't get a close enough shot to show the inscriptions. I did manage to make out the name “Jim Mike “ on one.

Some of our party followed the trail on under the bridge to look at it from the other side. As they returned, they encountered a sign telling them not to walk under the bridge. Apparently the five tribes involved with the bridge (Navajo, Hopi, San Juan Southern Paiute, Kaibab Paiute and White Mesa Paiute) find that religiously offensive without the offering of special prayers.

I managed to get the photograph I wanted from the upstream side of the bridge (below) and avoided offending any Indian gods.

Rainbow Bridge

After examining the bridge, we made our way back up Bridge Canyon to the junction with the South Rainbow Bridge Trail at Redbud Canyon. From there we continued up Bridge Canyon, following the North Rainbow Bridge Trail.

The day was generally cloudy when we set out, the sun only occasionally breaking through, and then only for short periods. At first we climbed at a fairly gentle incline along Bridge Creek, heading generally southeast. Then we turned to the northeast to climb out of Bridge Canyon and descend into Oak Canyon around 2.8 miles ahead. Along the way, it started to rain in earnest and, having come to a large dry overhang with several dead limbs scattered about, we paused to take shelter and build a fire to dry out and warm ourselves.

We lingered in our dry spot by the fire for a considerable time before the rain stopped, temporarily, and we extinguished our fire and moved on.

However, it was soon raining again and we had intermittent bursts of snow, sleet and hail as we continued on our way. We stopped for the night a mile and a half short of our intended camping spot at N'asja in Surprise Valley. Our stop at the dry overhang had delayed us and it was nearing dark, so we found a relatively flat spot above a flowing stream and pitched our tents for the night, barely in time to avoid another cold shower. Not wanting to get wetter than I already was trying to cook a meal, I settled for the meager cold leftovers I had and climbed into my warm sleeping bag. Although the patter of rain on my tent awoke me several times during the night, I did get a good nights sleep. However, I was a bit late getting up the next morning and found the others ready to go before I had managed to eat breakfast. The rain was beginning again and I didn't want to try preparing breakfast in the rain, so I decided to make do by eating trail mix along the way.

The rain continued for most of the morning, occasionally mixed with snow flurries and, again, a bit of hail. I was falling behind again with Frank or Jim staying close by. I had trouble swallowing the trail mix that I had planned on using to sustain me during the day. I popped it into my mouth and chewed, but simply couldn't swallow it without taking a drink of water which was in rather short supply at this point.

We were now descending into and climbing out of canyons, similar to our experience on the South Rainbow Bridge Trail along the southwest slope of Navajo Mountain where we had ascended a total of 1500 feet to reach Yabut Pass and found ourselves at our starting elevation. I pushed myself very slowly up the canyon walls along the way. In the particularly difficult climb out of Bald Rock Canyon, Frank went ahead with his pack and returned to meet me and carry mine rather than wait for me to struggle to the top with it.

We found a clear stream that would not clog Frank's filter somewhere along the way and he filtered some water for me; this enabled me to swallow some trail mix which helped some.

Finally, about a mile from the trailhead, I looked up and saw Mary, followed by Jim, coming back down the trail to meet me. Having reached the end of the trail and finding Julius, provider of our trail head-to-trailhead transportation, waiting there, she and Jim had decided to return and take turns carrying my pack for the rest of the way. I did not argue. She and Jim had also scrounged a couple of power bars for me and I quickly gobbled them down with the rest of my water.

If I were ever to do this hike again, I would want to take two full days in and another two days back out. I would also wish for better weather.

The included map (below) shows the track of our hike. Because I lost satellite reception in many places, the track is a compilation of the actual GPS track and a track sketched from Google Earth using a USGS overlay. The green track shows the South Rainbow Bridge Trail from Rainbow Lodge to Echo Camp. The blue track shows the North Rainbow Bridge Trail from the junction of Redbud and Bridge Canyons to the north trailhead at Cha Canyon. The short yellow section is the trail from Echo Camp to Rainbow Bridge. Finally the Magenta-colored tracks are part of the 18-mile drive from the north to south trailheads.

1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Bridge_National_Monument

2Ibid

3Ibid

4http://www.nps.gov/rabr/adhi/adhi0c.htm

5http://www.barrygoldwaterphotographs.com/html/0715_Road_to_Rainbow_bw.html

6http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/rabr/adhi/adhi4a.htm

7Rainbow Bridge Circling Navajo Mountain and Explorations in the Bad Lands of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona

8http://wetherillfamily.com/john_wetherill.htm

9http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/rabr/adhi/adhi4a.htm

10http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/rabr/adhi/adhi4a.htm