Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T!

The Navajo Bridge in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is off the beaten path. I’d seen photos of it on Instagram when planning this trip, so I knew I had to get it on the itinerary. After having spent a few days seeing the sights around Page, Arizona, we set out for the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, with a slight detour to see Navajo Bridge.

This turned out to be a pretty big detour since part of Highway 89 had washed away during a storm and we had to go around through Navajo territory and then back up to the turn-off to the bridge. And then, when we got there, the Interpretive Center was closed. There hadn’t been any mention of that on the website…we should have called.

Undeterred, we parked in the lot on the opposite side of the canyon from the visitor center, walked across the pedestrian bridge, took photos and then shopped in the Native American craft market in the parking lot.

Navajo Bridge is actually two bridges. The original bridge opened in 1929 providing a direct route from Arizona to Utah across the canyon. Previously, motorists had to either drive 800 miles around to cross the Colorado River or take a ferry.

By the 1990s, the historic bridge was proving inadequate for modern traffic. The historic bridge became a pedestrian bridge and a new bridge was erected across Marble Canyon, slightly downstream from the old one. Though my husband may have been annoyed by the extra drive time, I’m glad we made the trip to see this.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area posts➤

• Horseshoe Bend
• Lone Rock Beach
• Wahweap Overlook & Marina
• Hanging Garden Trail
• Colorado River & Petroglyph Walk
• Glen Canyon Dam and Overlook
• Antelope Canyon

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Location: U.S. Hwy 89 A, Marble Canyon, Arizona
Designation: National Recreation Area
Date designated/established: October 27, 1972
Date of my visit: August 19, 2014