Yellowstone Natural Bridge

 One Saturday we spent 10 hours of driving and one hour of hiking to visit Yellowstone Natural Bridge, and it was totally worth it!  Signs for the trailhead to the Natural Bridge are visible on the highway as you drive through Yellowstone.  We entered the park through the southern entrance and kept right when the road splits toward Old Faithful.  The parking area at the trailhead was full when we visited, so we parked across the street.  There are not bathrooms at the trailhead, so keep that in mind if you've driven a long distance to arrive there!

The trail to the bridge is paved and very easy.  It is just a little over one mile to reach the base of the arch.  You can follow a small trail on either side to stand in front of the arch.  It's not possible to stand directly underneath the arch because of the waterfall that flows through it!  You can also follow a trail to get on top of the arch, and it is very easy to stand on top of it.  The view is so beautiful from up there!

The trailhead in the parking area

This sign is in the parking lot.  We had bear spray with us, but there were lots of people on the trail and at the arch, and not any sign of bears.

The beginning of the trail, and gate to keep cars from driving through.

The paved and very easy trail

The view of the natural bridge when first arriving

There's a very nice picture spot near the end of the trail

View of the arch as getting closer to it -- I am standing under the arch, and my daughter Lizzie is standing on top of the arch.

3 of my kids on top of the arch, and me underneath

I could hear voices, but I could not make out words because of how loud the waterfall is.  I could not see them up there and did not know they were standing on the arch.  My son was standing near the trailhead and took these photos. I was waiting below the arch, hoping that they would poke their heads over the edge, but they never did because while standing on top of the arch you are actually not very close to the edge.  It is a double arch, which you can't tell until you're on top of it.

Lizzie on top of the arch

My daughter in law on the trail up to the arch.   You can see my husband James on top of the arch.

After climbing up the little path below the arch, I crossed the creek to see the opening better.

This view is right at the top of the trail before crossing the creek

My son James on top of the arch.  He really had to go off to the edge to be visible from below.

This is the position James was in for me to be able to see him from below the arch.

Jamey up on top

Jamey's view of me from above

His head barely poking over the top

This view is from the back of the arch

View below the arch

After I crossed the creek my husband took this photo of me

There's Jamey up there

Jamey's head popping up over the top

View from on top of the arch

My son and his girlfriend visible down on the trail

If you take the time to visit the arch, absolutely do not miss going behind and on top of it!  The best views and best photos are from the back!

Teancum and his girlfriend Maddi on top of the arch -- Jamey and his wife Ellie under the arch

The double arch

Sign showing the trail to the arch

View behind the arch from on top of the arch

My daughter Lizzie on the arch

Lizzie on top of the arch

Jamey helping Ellie on to the arch

The arch

James helping me onto the arch

I caught this photo of Lizzie taking photos of us on the arch

View between the double arch

View from on top of the arch that shows the stairs put in to make reaching the arch easier

These stairs make the climb onto the arch very easy.  My son set up his phone on that broken tree to take photos of us - I suspect that the same had been done countless times before

View of the arch from the stairs

Obviously we had a lot of fun at the arch!

This rock wall keeps the ground from eroding behind the arch

There's the broken tree where Jamey put his phone for photos

view of the nice stairs climbing up on top of the arch.  There is a path on either side of the arch.  Both are very easy to climb.

view of the top of the arch

Beautiful view from above

This view is the other side of the arch.  There is this large tree that makes accessing the arch from above difficult from this side, although not impossible.  It is very easy to climb on top of the arch from the other side.

We climbed back down and had to get back on the road!

We enjoyed our nice easy hike back to the car

And then of course we detoured back to make a visit to Old Faithful!

While we were there we enjoyed a late lunch at the Old Faithful Grill in the snow lodge.

And we enjoyed seeing this bison right next to the highway on our drive back!

We couldn't resist making a detour to the hidden warm springs in Dubois on our drive back home, even though it was pitch black!

Lizzie shedding some light over the edge for her brothers as they climbed down

Someone had anchored a rope there, which made the climb down much easier this time!

You can't see the water in these photos, but my son Teancum and his girlfriend Maddi enjoyed a night swim in the warm springs before returning to the car for the last bit of our trip home.

This trip was well worth a day of driving!  Yellowstone is always beautiful, and there's so much to see- you could never see it all in one visit!  As we were driving through the park, we went past Firehole, where James hoped we'd be able to swim, but it is closed to swimming now.  That will have to wait for another visit!  The Natural Bridge was the reason for my visit, and I think that our entire group felt that this arch was completely worth the visit!