Natural Bridges National Monument
The next day, we left the hotel around 6:30am to catch sunrise at Corona Arch in Moab before driving down to Natural Bridges National Monument. We were surprised to find ourselves the only visitors to the arch! And boy, was this a beautiful arch! You could go under and around the arch to truly appreciate its size.
Bowtie Arch.
We continued on to Natural Bridge National Monument, catching a view of Bears Ears National Monument along the way.
Natural Bridges features 3 bridges, each of which is very unique. The first bridge, Sipapu, is the second-largest natural bridge in the United States, with Rainbow Bridge at Lake Powell taking the lead. We weren’t able to hike all the way down to the base of Sipapu because the slick rock trail was covered in ice, but we ventured most of the way down to get a sense of its scale. We couldn’t help but feel like we were in the middle of a Star Wars movie.
The middle bridge, Kachina, has a much smaller opening, while the third bridge, Owachomo, has an enormous opening with a very thin crest. We had no problems visiting the bases of those bridges thanks to the trails being more southern-facing, allowing the sun to melt off any snow and ice.
Leprechaun Canyon
From Natural Bridges National Monument, we drove 95 northwest, which was an incredible drive in its own right. The drive was one of those things that no video or photo could ever possibly capture – you simply have to be there, experiencing it and watching each monolith come into view. If you find yourself in southeastern Utah, I highly recommend the drive on 95 between Natural Bridges and Hanksville.
Before the sun vanished for the evening, we stopped at Leprechaun Canyon; an unassuming slot canyon with no sign and a minimal dirt parking area. It was one of those places I had saved on Pinterest years ago in case I was ever in the area – which happened to be this day.
The trail to the canyon felt a bit like a wild goose chase. There were no markers, you were kind of guessing where you were going based on the compass, and you were definitely wondering when the heck a canyon would just randomly appear. Trudging through sand and tall grass (great combo), we doubted ourselves often, especially as we watched the sun sink lower and lower. The 4:30pm winter sunset did not care about our slot canyon adventures.
But then suddenly, the ground transitioned from coarse sand to smooth orangey-red rock. We rounded the corner, hearing our voices echoing, and there it was; the mouth of the canyon.
Leprechaun Canyon was, by far, one of the highlights of our entire trip. We saw a small group of super friendly climbers who were leaving as we approached, which gave us the entire canyon to ourselves. It wasn’t the biggest canyon in the world (length, height, width-wise), but it was mesmerizing none-the-less.
Sections of the canyon were darker and narrower, while others were more open and brighter. As you make your way to the furthest point of the canyon, it becomes incredibly dark and narrow – too small for a human. We turned around after getting our fill of photos and made it back to the car just as dusk started to arrive.
Tomorrow, we would wake up to Capitol Reef National Park.