I had one last stop planned for the final day of our road trip – Natural Bridge, VA. The namesake feature of a Virginia state park, Natural Bridge is a 215-foot tall limestone gorge carved out by Cedar Creek. In addition to the bridge itself, Natural Bridge State Park includes hiking trails, waterfalls, and an Indian Village.
Easily accessible from I-81, the park is reached through the Visitor’s Center, which has plenty of free parking out front. Admission fees are $6 ages 6-12 and $8 ages 13 and up. We were there on Father’s Day and all dads got in free.
The ticket desk, gift shop, and a snack bar are located on the main level. After purchasing your ticket, you walk downstairs and through an exhibit before exiting out the back of the building to reach the trail. This section is actually just a small trail that takes you down to the start of the actual trail, where they collect your tickets. The trail is short (less than a 10 minute walk) but steep. It runs beside a small creek in a pretty wooded setting. There is a shuttle available from the visitor’s center to the start of the Cedar Creek Trail if you don’t want to do the walk down (or back up).
Once you reach the bottom, there is a small building where they collect your tickets and grant you entry to the park itself. The Cedar Creek Trail follows along the creek and brings you quickly to the Natural Bridge. I will admit that the boys weren’t super excited about this last stop on our road trip (which I sort of sprung on them at the last minute), but when we rounded the corner and saw the bridge, they both immediately said simply but emphatically “wow”.
The top of the bridge is believed to be the roof of an old cave system. It was formed hundreds of thousands of years ago when the flowing water of Cedar Creek formed an underground channel through the cave and washed away the limestone, creating an opening 215 feet tall and 90 feet wide.
The bridge has quite a bit of history behind it. Legend has it that George Washington came here to survey the property in 1750 and carved his initials “G.W.” into the wall of the bridge. The initials are indeed visible but there is no definitive proof that they are that old and/or were carved by George Washington himself. What is a verifiable fact is that Thomas Jefferson purchased this property in 1774, calling it “the most Sublime of nature’s works.” He still owned it at his death and it was ultimately sold in 1833 as part of his estate.
The Natural Bridge is actually a functioning bridge today. Route 11 crosses over Natural Bridge, although the tall wooden fence on either side blocks any view or realization that you are crossing over the famous bridge. I was surprised that cars are allowed to drive over it. An old and natural geological formation, it seems motorized traffic would only speed up its inevitable collapse. But studies have shown it to be stable for now, so traffic continues to flow over the bridge.
The bridge has rows of benches on either side where you can sit and relax and enjoy the view. We saw a few artists painting the scenery, which the boys thought was really neat. I wanted to explore the rest of the Cedar Creek Trail. After passing under the bridge, the trail continues on to the Monacan Indian Village, Salt Peter Cave, and Lace Falls. But RB was over it. He just wanted to go home. He said he would sit on the benches and wait while JB and I explored a bit, but called us back before we got out of sight. Not wanting to push it, we all headed back. Traveling with kids, you need to know when you can push it and when to cut your losses. On day 9 of a road trip, it was best to cut our losses.
We all agreed that the bridge was worth stopping for. It is an amazing sight to see. The size of it is breathtaking and, especially after having just explored the Luray Caverns, it was neat to think that this was the remnants of an old cave and fascinating to realize that water created this massive opening in the rock. We definitely plan to travel up I-81 again and I would love to stop here with enough time to fully explore the trail.
Oh! We did see one last sight on our way out. This little guy was poking his head out of a tree, watching us walk by. Super cool!
