Inside the tunnel under the bridge

Just spent the weekend up in Payson camping with the kids and enjoying the somewhat cooler weather.  One of the main activities we planned for our trip was a visit to the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.  The park itself is located 12 miles north of Payson right off Highway 87.  It is very easy to find.  Due to state budget cuts,  the park is currently open 5 days a week – Thursday through Monday (closed Tuesday and Wednesday) and is scheduled to close as of September 27th!  Hopefully, a resolution (other than actually closing the park) can be found before September so we can continue to enjoy this beautiful area.

The natural bridge itself is thought to be the world’s largest natural travertine bridge.  Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs.  The precipiation of the mineral springs forms a coating on nearby surfaces such as plants, roots, rocks, etc and forms very interesting formations including stalactites and stalagmites in limestone caves.  Another great example of travertine forming over plants and roots are the Havasu Falls in the western part of the Grand Canyon on the Havasupai reservation. But, back to the Tonto Natural Bridge.  The bridge itself sits 183 feet up above the ground.  The tunnel below the bridge is 400 feet long and as wide as 150 feet in some places.  Both the views from above and looking up from below are amazing! 

Our favorite part of the trip was hiking down the Gowan Trail and entering the tunnel itself below the bridge.  We spent quite a bit of time inside the tunnel climbing around and hiking to the other end.  Some spots were a bit hazardous due to the slippery, wet surfaces.  With that said, keep in mind that it is a lot easier to climb up some of these slippery slopes than it is to come back down them.  So be sure to take a look at what you are contemplating climbing up and see if it is something you can manuever back down. 

heading down some slickrock

In addition to the beautiful scenery the bridge provides, the other great thing about the tunnel is the cool air and refreshing water constantly dripping down from the ceiling above.  It is a great way to cool off on a hot day!

Also, you are allowed to enter the water to swim as long as you are not within the tunnel.  So as you come down the Gowan Trail, right before you step onto the man-made bridge that takes you to the entrance of the tunnel, veer off to the right and you can swim right there.  The water is very refreshing (meaning down right cold) and there are quite a few little critters that the kids will enjoy looking for around the swimming hole.  We found monster size crayfish (seriously, they looked like lobsters!), lots of fish and some interesting frogs.  There’s also a large number of swallows that nest in the tunnel and many other colorful birds flying in and out of the area.  So there is a lot to see.  We spent the better part of our day enjoying the park and we look forward to going back up again later this summer before the park closes in September.  For more information about the park visit the state park website and check out our photo gallery on our Facebook Fan page to see our photos from the trip.

As many of you may already know, the State of Arizona is starting to close 13 state parks in the coming weeks.  Many of us are contacting our representatives about this issue, but in addition to the state closures I also wanted to provide you with some information about the planned closure of a number of our beautiful Phoenix parks.  These closures are not getting the same amount of press as the state park closures, but to those of us who love these areas and use them regularly these closures will have a significant impact on us and visitors to our area!  As of right now, it appears that the City of Phoenix is planning to lay off 14 park rangers and reduce public access to our local parks in the area.  The city plans to reduce public access to the parks by closing them on Mondays and Tuesdays.  The anticipated closures include:

• Camelback Mountain
• Piestewa Peak Park
• North Mountain Park
• South Mountain Park
• Shaw Butte
• Lookout Mountain
• Papago Park and
• Shadow Mountain

If this concerns you as it does us, please email one or all of the City of Phoenix Councilman listed at the links below and tell them to keep our parks open and save the jobs of 14 Phoenix Park Rangers: 

Councilman Thelda Williams at: http://phoenix.gov/district1/emdist1/index.html

Councilman Peggy Neely at: http://phoenix.gov/district2/emdist2/index.html

Councilman Bill Gates: http://phoenix.gov/district3/emdist3/index.html

Councilman Tom Simplot at: http://phoenix.gov/district4/emdist4/index.html

Councilman Claude Maddox at: http://phoenix.gov/district5/emdist5/index.html

Councilman Sal DiCiccio at: http://phoenix.gov/district6/index.html

Councilman Michael Nowakowski at:http://phoenix.gov/district7/emdist7/index.html

Councilman Michael Johnson at: http://phoenix.gov/district8/emdist8/index.html

Mayor Phil Gordon at: http://phoenix.gov/mayor/emmayor/index.html

Help us save our Phoenix Mountain Parks from closure!