Rainbow Bridge National Monument

Rainbow Bridge is made of Navajo sandstone, rock that began as a vast field of wind-blown desert dunes and was slowly pressed and cemented into stone over many millions of years. Beneath the span, in the bed of Bridge Creek, an older layer of rock is exposed, the kind that in this region sometimes preserves the tracks of ancient dinosaurs.

The bridge itself was carved by water. As the whole region was slowly lifted upward, Bridge Creek cut down into the sandstone, looping around a tight bend. Over time the rushing water and grit wore straight through the narrow neck of that bend, leaving the stream a shorter path and leaving behind the freestanding arch we see today. The result is a span so smooth and symmetrical it looks less carved than drawn, a rainbow of rock rising from the canyon floor.

Long before it was a national monument, Rainbow Bridge was, and still is, a sacred place to the Native peoples of this region. The Navajo, Hopi, San Juan Southern Paiute, Kaibab Paiute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Zuni all hold it holy, and it appears in ceremonies and prayers, including rites that call for rain. The Navajo know it by a name meaning the rainbow turned to stone, and they regard it as a living part of their spiritual world.

Because of that meaning, the way visitors are asked to behave here is different from an ordinary sightseeing stop. Since the 1990s, people have been asked to view the bridge from a designated area rather than walk up to it or pass beneath the arch. It is a small request that carries a large respect: this is not just a rock formation, it is a place of prayer, and honoring that is part of visiting well.

Rainbow Bridge sits within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, a great sweep of red-rock canyons flooded by Lake Powell, the reservoir formed when Glen Canyon Dam held back the Colorado River. The lake threads for miles through slickrock walls in shades of blue against orange stone, and it is what makes the bridge reachable at all for most people.

The common route is by boat. Tour boats and private craft cross the lake from the marinas near Page, following a long side canyon to a dock, from which a short walk leads to the viewing area. The other way is far harder: a strenuous overland trek of several days across Navajo Nation land around Navajo Mountain, which requires a backcountry permit from the tribe. Because Lake Powell's water level rises and falls, the boat access and the length of the walk from the dock can change from year to year, so it is always worth checking current conditions first.

The same remoteness that hides Rainbow Bridge also protects its night sky. Far from any city, deep in the folds of the canyon country, it is a certified dark-sky place, and after the day boats leave, the quiet is almost total. Stargazers rate darkness on a scale from one to nine, called the Bortle scale, where a bright city is a nine; this canyon rates near the very darkest end.

Overnight visits are limited by how hard it is to get here, but for those who do stay, the reward is a sky brimming with stars and the glowing band of the Milky Way pouring down over one of the world's greatest natural arches. Warm, mostly clear desert nights make the dry months especially good, and a night near the new moon, when the moon is dark, lets the faintest stars come through above the stone.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.