Clear Creek Natural Bridge

 

Clear Creek Natural Bridge

In September of 2023 we decided to spend a Saturday and do a day hike to a natural bridge that some friends had told us about near Green River Lakes.  This is one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever been on!  It is well worth it, and I'm sure I'll do it again someday.  One of my favorite hikes of all time!  We were told the hike was 8 miles, but as most hikes go, the actual mileage was 9.

We stayed the night in Pinedale so that we wouldn't have to drive as far the next morning. The drive was an hour and a half from Pinedale to the trailhead, with most of the drive being on a pretty rough dirt road.  We found this bald eagle perched in a tree right next to the road.  I got out of the car to take a closer look and he just sat there looking at me as I took photos.

We went past the Green River Lakes campground and parked in the trailhead parking lot.  We took the Highline Trail.

the trailhead

our view from the parking lot

starting down the trail.  We had a pretty steep decline at the beginning of the hike.

view of the bridge we would be crossing only moments later

our first glimpses of Square Top Mountain off in the distance

some cabins along the trailside

the bridge crossing

The hike was absolutely beautiful the entire time

There were a few kayakers on Green River Lake, as well as one motor boat

crossing the bridge

After the bridge crossing we came to a fork in the road.  We went to the right towards Lower Green River Lake.

Our view at one mile

our beautiful view at 2 miles

These pictures don't do it justice -- the view was breathtaking!

Pretty soon after 2 miles we came to another fork in the road and headed toward Clear Creek Canyon.

our last views of the lake before we headed towards Clear Creek Canyon

One of our last views of Square Top Mountain as our route turned towards the arch

a waterfall below us

view of the waterfall from up on the trail

We traded our views of Square Top Mountain for beautiful views of Flat Top Mountain

Mile 3

Flat Mountain

On one of the creek crossings this nice log worked as a bridge to cross without getting my shoes wet

The small branches that someone laid in this bush served as a nice railing for me to cross the river on this log.

We thought at first that might be snow pack on the mountain, but later realized it looked like it was moving -- we think it was a waterfall coming down from Slide Lake up above.

regrowth from a past fire

headed to the bridge!

The trail went through these pokey flowers

our view at 4 miles

Our first glimpse of the bridge came at 4.53 miles into the hike.  The smaller opening, which is supposed to be only 4 feet high and 20 feet wide appears from one side to be only a cave until you notice the light shining through the other side.

This is the back side of the bridge, which has a bigger opening

underneath the arch looking out

inside the arch

our view from on top of the arch

The hike up on top of the arch was a little bit scary, but James helped me up and down the steepest part of the climb.  I am very afraid of heights.  I stood behind that giant rock, and later James told me that the rock looked like it was about to tumble off the top.  I'm glad it didn't choose to tumble while I was standing there!

some wild raspberries by the trail

That's me on top of the front side of the arch

The water was rushing pretty fast.

Under the arch is this cave with lots of rock build-up blocking it.  When we were on the other side I wanted to go look behind it, but James said that would be a spot that a bear would love to hide and rest, so I thought the better of exploring back there!

The opening looks very small from the larger side of the arch

We waded in as far as we dared to from the larger side of the opening, but the water was rushing pretty fast and pretty strong and we didn't want to get swept away.  We made it about halfway across and then turned around.

I left my shoes and pack on this rock next to the creek while I waded in the water in my keens

We climbed down this embankment to get inside the arch, and then had to climb back up.  Luckily there were logs and rocks to make the climb easier.

view from on top of the arch

view from next to the small opening

view from on top of the arch from the back side.  I didn't realize how close to the edge this large rock was that I was standing behind.

right in front of the small opening

more views from on top of the arch

The arch opening is only supposed to be 4 feet high on the small side, but I am 5'2" and there was still a foot above my head.

James went down to the trail to take my photo on top of the arch

Under the arch looking out the large opening

We climbed through the rocks and logs on the side for as long as we could before entering the water because it was rushing so fast.

This is about as deep as I went into the water, but James swam in it a little bit

I took this photo from the other side of the creek when we climbed through the small opening of the arch.  I was very tempted to go look behind the rocks, but decided against it when James suggested it was a cool private place for a bear to rest.

I would guess that this part of the creek was about 6 feet deep

If we'd been really good at balancing we might have been able to climb over the creek on these logs

Our last view of the arch as we were leaving to head back

our view at mile 5

Our view at 6 miles

Our view at 7 miles

tiny stream crossing

our view at 8 miles

small bridge on the hike back

beautiful view from the large bridge.  We saw a bride and groom taking wedding photos on this bridge soon before we crossed back over it.

9 miles was right by the trailhead!

This was the route we went, although the mileage is a lot longer because we wandered around a lot at the arch.

The bridge is where the blue line disappears for a second

The blue stream coming down from Slide Lake is probably that waterfall that we saw next to Flat Top Mountain.

After we finished our hike and drove back into Pinedale, we ate at the Burger Barn. I like their fries, fry sauce, and shakes.  And the ranch chicken sandwich was pretty good too!

Video Under the Arch:

Another video under the arch: