Shae and I saw several natural bridges while in Kentucky earlier this year. We saw four of them at Carter Caves State Resort Park and then an even larger one at Natural Bridge State Resort Park that you can walk across.
That wasn’t the end of our natural bridge visits this year as there was another one for us to see while we were staying in Roanoke, Virginia – Natural Bridge State Park. This one was already on our radar, but we then had a couple of people recommend we check it out, so we made sure we made the effort to head over there.
It’s a beautiful natural bridge with an interesting history of both the bridge and the surrounding land and even has a former president’s initials carved into it. Read on to find out more about visiting Natural Bridge State Park in Virginia.
Before visiting Natural Bridge in Virginia, I hadn’t realized it was an actual state park and assumed that you had to hike to get up to it. I soon learned that the former was true (it became a state park in 2016) and that my latter assumption was wrong.
When arriving at Natural Bridge State Park, there’s a large parking lot outside, with a visitor center in the large building in front of it. This is where you buy tickets to visit Natural Bridge (more about the cost later on), along with a larger gift shop than expected.
After buying our tickets, we headed downstairs. Natural Bridge State Park is pet-friendly and although dogs aren’t usually allowed in state park buildings, they are at Natural Bridge as that’s the only way to get to the path that takes you down to the attraction.
On the floor below the gift shop there’s an interactive classroom. We didn’t explore that area, but it looked like it had more information about the plants and animals in the park.
When heading outside, there was a small picnic area with a grill if you need to have some lunch after arriving; this isn’t the only place with picnic tables though.
To get to Natural Bridge you have to take a staircase down. The park offers a shuttle with a wheelchair lift, so there’s no need for anyone with mobility issues to miss out.
Despite the fact that Natural Bridge was surveyed by one president and owned by a different president, it wasn’t designated as a National Historic Landmark until 1998.
While heading down the steps, you’ll pass an Arbor Vitae tree that died in 1980. It was more than 1,600 years old and was the oldest and largest Arbor Vitae tree known in the world.
At the bottom of the steps you’ll see a park ranger who’ll check that you’ve bought tickets for entry. Just beyond that point is Cedar Creek Cafe where you can order food or eat your own packed lunch.
You’ll then come across an information board providing all kinds of interesting details about Natural Bridge. For example:
- It’s 215 feet high (which is 55 feet higher than Niagara Falls), 40 feet thick, 100 feet wide and spans 90 feet between its two walls.
- It weighs 36,000 tons.
- George Washington surveyed the area in 1750 and carved his initials into one of the walls.
- Thomas Jefferson purchased Natural Bridge and the surrounding area in 1774, a few decades before he became president.
- Natural Bridge gets a mention in the novel Moby Dick.
I’d mentioned earlier that I thought we’d have to hike to Natural Bridge. That turned out to be wrong because after reaching the bottom of the staircase and reading the information board, Natural Bridge was right there!
If you want to sit and enjoy the view for a while, there are several rows of benches where you can do just that.
Truffles was apparently very happy to get to see this enormous rock formation.
The path continues beneath the bridge, so you can view it from all angles.
As you pass under the bridge, be sure to check out the bridge’s wall on the opposite side of the stream running through it. There’s a rectangle on the bridge that highlights where George Washington carved his initials into the rock.
On the other side of the bridge, there are even more rows of seating where you can take in the views while sitting in the shade.
If you’d like to explore the park further, continue walking along the Cedar Creek Trail – the same path you’ve been walking on. It’s more of a walking trail than a hiking trail, so I was fine wearing flip-flops.
If you’re visiting with kids though, it might be better to wear tennis shoes. That’s because they might want to explore the streams which means you’ll be walking over rocks. Just FYI, some other visitors mentioned that they saw snakes while they were there. They’re apparently “good” snakes, but just something to be aware of if snakes freak you out.
The Cedar Creek Trail takes you to Lace Falls, but there are several other features to see along the way. The first of these was a reproduction of a Monacan Village. Monacan Indians lived in the area and regarded Natural Bridge as a sacred site, calling it ‘The Bridge Of God’.
There were several areas to explore in the Monacan Village, including a Long House…
…a Roundhouse/Wigwam…
…as well as a trade area with deerskins, pelts, etc. A few of these buildings had people playing the part of Monacan Indians, answering questions that visitors might have.
The Monacan Village is open from 10am until 4:30pm every day from April 1 until Thanksgiving weekend.
Continuing along the Cedar Creek Trail, we came across a saltpetre cave. Back in 1806, Thomas Jefferson leased out this area for people to excavate potassium nitrate which was exhumed from bat and bird droppings in the soil. The potassium nitrate was subsequently used to produce gunpowder.
Five minutes further up the trail, we came across the Lost River. A few years after Thomas Jefferson started leasing out the saltpetre cave, some workers there could hear what sounded like a river flowing. They blasted an opening in the rock which is what you can see in the photo below.
Several attempts were apparently made over the years to locate both the source and destination of the Lost River. Despite using flotation devices and colored dyes, all the attempts were unsuccessful, hence its name.
The Cedar Creek Trail is only 0.8 miles each way, so it wasn’t long before we reached the end of the trail. The trail’s end is marked by the arrival at Lace Falls, a 30 foot waterfall/cascade you can see in the distance. It’s not the most stunning waterfall you’ll ever see, but it was a nice spot to sit and have some lunch as there were some stone benches there.
We also got chatting to a lovely couple who were visiting – hi Kerry and Randy!
Having eaten our lunch, we made our way back along the Cedar Creek Trail. After enjoying the view of Natural Bridge one more time, we headed back to our car.
Natural Bridge State Park Ticket Prices
It costs $8 per person aged 13+ to visit Natural Bridge, $3 for ages 6-12 and is free for 5 and under.
You only have to show your ticket once you get down near the bridge though, just before the Cedar Creek Cafe. You could in theory visit the state park for free if you only wanted to see the interactive classroom, visit the gift shop, see the Arbor Vitae tree, etc. You’d be missing out by not seeing Natural Bridge though, so it’s definitely worth paying for full entry.
Address
6477 South Lee Highway, Natural Bridge, VA 24578
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