A Visit to Tonto Natural Bridge State Park

After our trip to California, my Dad and I flew to Arizona to visit my grandparents. My aunt and hiking buddy, Denise, also happened to be visiting at the same time, so we got to spend some quality family time together.

We spent a lot of time relaxing at my grandparent’s house, which was nice to slow down a bit and get to chat with family. Also, here’s photographic evidence of how adorable my grandparents are. This is a sign they keep on hand, and post on their front door every time they take a nap, just in case visitors stop by.

Two X’s, two O’x, and two hearts? Precious. They’re cuter than all of us.

We weren’t in Arizona for long, but we did take a trip to Tonto Natural Bridge State Park. Can take the girl out of the State Park, but…she’ll just go to a State Park in another State.

The park had a stunning view right from the get-go. Arizona is one of my favorite states, because it has ridiculously beautiful desert hikes, but also has gorgeous alpine views in the mountains. It’s got it all!

The highlight of the park is, as the name would imply, a natural bridge. You can hike down into the valley to the base of the bridge, but there is also a short trail around the rim of the bridge, which is where we started.

There was a gentle spray of water pouring from the top of the bridge to the bottom of the valley. We walked across the bridge, and myself, my Dad, and Denise decided to hike to the bottom of the bridge, while my grandparents waited at a picnic table under the shade of a nice tree.

There were a million and one stairs to get to the bottom (or so it felt) and there were a million and ten people also trying to get to the bottom. The view walking down to the base of the bridge was really cool, though.

When we got to the bottom, we walked along a brief path until we got to a bit of a problem area in our path.

Mainly this pool of water/pond/river.

We were not equipped to wade through a pool, and I was very carefully holding a shiny new camera and GoPro, but we decided to go for it anyway, and began clambering over rocks, with no idea of what we were climbing toward. Sheeple.

Once we got past the little pond above, we hit traffic. There were a ton of people, and they were all moving the same way Californians move in traffic, which is to say, slowly and annoying with no explanation or reason as to why.

Inch by inch, we moved closer to the bottom of the bridge, and finally got a glimpse of it’s arch.

Evidently there is normally a set of stairs and path that takes you directly to the other side of the arch, and which doesn’t require you to hop across rocks, but it was actually pretty fun to take the rocky route.

The park was under construction, which is why the other path was closed, and when we got to the bottom of the arch, there was actually a park ranger who was watching visitors and making sure they stayed away from the construction areas. Plot twist: they were not.

It was pretty cool to see! I would definitely suggest going on a weekday, as I think it would have been a lot cooler and more enjoyable if there were less people.

It was a good way to wrap up the trip – and just a few days later, I’d check off another item on my 25 Things List: run a 10K.

Stay tuned for more.