Valley of the Gods & Natural Bridges, utah
Attractions Guide

The Valley of the Gods and Natural Bridges National Monument are located nearby each other in Southeastern Utah, just north of Monument Valley. This area of Utah is quite scenic and extremely remote, however there is much natural beauty to enjoy.

To the north of Monument Valley and Mexican Hat you'll find another gorgeous landscape of buttes and mesas called the Valley of the Gods. This valley is similar to Monument Valley and is free to visit, featuring a scenic 17 mile (27.5 km) dirt road that you can drive along to tour the park.

Be sure to take the eastern entrance to Valley of the Gods Road from Highway 163 north of Mexican Hat, which is only marked by a small sign. The road can be traversed by almost any vehicle in good weather (when mud is not present after the rain) and is highly recommended in addition to Monument Valley.

The steepest part along the entire dirt road is a small dried-up wash that you'll cross immediately after turning from the highway. If you can make cross this wash without it bumping the bottom of your vehicle, you'll have no issues along the rest of the road. Unless your car sits extremely low to the ground (lower than a Toyota Prius) you should have no issues whatsoever.

The western end of Valley of the Gods Road connects to Highway 261, from which you'll head north after reaching. Just after reaching the highway you'll encounter a one-of-a-kind mountain pass within the USA, called the Moki Dugway. This steep desert road rises up to a much higher elevation in a short time and is partially unpaved with no railings, however the road is wide and very safe to drive at low speeds. Along the way up to the top you might stop to enjoy the incredible far-reaching views over the landscape and the buttes and mesa of Monument Valley in the distance.

Just after reaching the top of the Moki Dugway you can take a short detour from the highway to Muley Point, which provides majestic views overlooking more of the vast winding canyons along the San Juan River, upstream from Goosenecks State Park. Muley Point has a very interesting geology of square-shaped pillar rocks eroding along the cliffs and is a fun place to explore on foot.

After enjoying the Valley of the Gods you can continue much further north up Highway 261 to Natural Bridges National Monument, where you can admire several massive giant bridge within a small scenic area. You can tour through this national momnuemnt along a loop road, along which you can stop to see the three natural bridges along with various viewpoints over the canyon in which the bridges all span above.

Sipapu Bridge

The first bridge you'll encounter is perhaps the most beautiful, the Sipapu Bridge. To properly view this bridge by standing below it, you'll need to hike about 1.3 miles (2.1 km) round-trip with quite a bit of elevation gain (along the way back out the canyon).

Three Bridges Trail

If you'd like to see all of the bridges via a single hike, you can continue west from the Sipapu Bridge along the canyon floor, before exiting the canyon at the Kachina Bridge. From the Kachina Bridge you would return to your starting point via the Mesa Trail, which is relatively flat and easy after exiting the canyon. The entire length of this route is about 5.9 miles (9.5 km) round-trip.

Kachina Bridge

The second bridge you'll encounter along the road is the Kachina Bridge, which is the least recommended of the three bridges. You can enjoy descent views of the bridge from above at the overlook, or descend into the canyon again via a 1.4 mile (2.3 km) round-trip trail. This bridge is worth the effort if you have plenty of time and energy to spare.

Owachomo Bridge

The last bridge along the road, the Owachomo Bridge, is relatively easy to hike down to, as it is located in a more shallow part of the canyon. The Owachomo Bridge is quite wide and flat, giving it an interesting look. The hike to reach this bridge is about 0.8 miles (1.3 km) round-trip.

One more attraction you might stop at as you head east along Highway 95 from the Natural Bridges is the Butler Wash Ruins, an 800 year old Puebloan cliff dwelling.

You can view the ruins of Butler Wash via a round-trip walk of 0.9 miles from the parking lot off of Highway 95. Make sure you pay attention to reach the proper Butler Wash Ruins Trailhead, as GPS's frequently route to the inaccessible backside of the ridge in which these ruins are located.