Our Sunday Drive this week features Gregory Natural Bridge on Lake Powell. It is a spot that will require driving not just your car but a boat as well.
The 127-foot long span, located in Fiftymile Canyon on the Escalante Arm of the lake has been underwater since the lake first filled in the 1960s.
However, the drought currently gripping the western United States and the lower water levels at Lake Powell that have been the result, are exposing this once lost natural wonder.
Earlier this past summer, the top of the opening of the natural bridge emerged from the lake. At the time this photo was taken, in September of 2021, there was enough room to paddle a kayak under the span. Since then, Lake Powell’s water levels have fallen another 20 feet meaning boats could likely make it under the bridge now as well.
You can also take a canyoneering trip into see Gregory Natural Bridge as documented in a recent Arizona Daily Sun article.
While Gregory Natural Bridge is an impossible drive for those without access to a boat or a willingness to rent one, there is quite a bit to see of the low water levels at Lake Powell without leaving the shore.
All of the boat ramps, except for a new auxiliary ramp at State Line near the Wahweap Marina at Lake Powell are unusable at this point.
Lone Rock in Wahweap Canyon, usually surrounded by the waters of the lake, is now surrounded by dry land. You can walk to it from Lone Rock Beach.
Hopefully, we’ll see a few more snow storms in the next month or two and get a good spring runoff. And if that happens, the opportunity to see the parts of Lake Powell that have been exposed by drought may evaporate. So even if you don’t want to take a boat ride, a trip to Glen Canyon National Recreation is worth the Sunday Drive.
There are also a few articles about the bridge and the drought if you’d like to read further:
Learn more about Gregory Natural Bridge from a Salt Lake Tribune article.
And on the Natural Arches website.
And you can read about more lost natural wonders at Lake Powell as well…
