Exploring Natural Bridge State Park in Virginia

After our recent first visit to Shenandoah National Park, we continued driving through Virginia, heading south. On the way, we decided to take a break at a place I had heard about and wanted to visit: Natural Bridge State Park, located near Lexington, in the James River Valley.

As its name suggests, Natural Bridge State Park showcases a “natural bridge.” I think these particular formations sculpted by nature have long fascinated (and continue to fascinate). There are several state parks in the United States that bear the name Natural Bridge. I also came across one of these natural bridges in Yoho National Park in British Columbia.

I was looking forward to visiting Virginia’s Natural Bridge State Park because not only is the natural arch spectacular, it’s also a place that has an interesting history.

Natural Bridge State Park has a few hiking trails, but it’s Cedar Creek Trail that takes you to its famous natural bridge. After paying our entrance fee, we descended the many stairs to get closer to Cedar Creek, which after a few detours led us to the arch.

Even though I had seen photos online, it was still impressive to see it in real life.

At 61 metres (200 feet) high, the arch is considered the largest limestone arch in North America. It is as tall as a 19-story building! Walking under the rocky arch that stood several metres above me felt a little dizzying.

Cedar Creek (which seemed so calm to me at this location) is responsible for creating this unique landscape. Over hundreds of thousands of years, the stream dug and sculpted the surrounding limestone rock, first forming a cave, until it collapsed, leaving only this arch behind.

Former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson himself was so impressed by the natural bridge that he purchased the property in 1774. He visited it many times, and he wanted it to become part of a public park so that everyone could benefit from it. Unfortunately, due to his numerous debts, the property was sold to private interests after his death.

Over the decades that followed, Natural Bridge began to attract more and more tourists, and a hotel would be built there. The bridge remained privately owned until 2016, when the hotel changed ownership, a conservation group helped the state of Virginia acquire the arch so it could become part of a public park (thus fulfilling Jefferson’s dream, more than 200 years later).

Other interesting historical facts include rumors that George Washington himself carved his initials into the rock of the bridge, but these rumors have never been proven.

In addition to passing under the natural bridge, Cedar Creek Trail follows the creek of the same name for a few metres. It allows you to see the other interesting rock formations in the park, including some caves. The trail goes to Lace Falls (the water flowing gently over the rocks almost looks like lace – hence its name). The 15-metre (50 feet) tall waterfall marked the end of Jefferson’s property.

Cedar Creek Trail is approximately 3 kilometre (2 miles) round trip. It is generally flat, except for the stairs that must be taken to descend into the gorge.

There are three other trails in the state park, allowing you to discover the surrounding forest, hills and meadows. But for us, these trails will be for another time. After finishing hiking Cedar Creek Trail, we drove back to the I-81, heading to North Carolina, our next destination.

Note that there is still a hotel at Natural Bridge, as well as a zoo and caverns that can be visited, but these are all privately-owned and are therefore not part of the state park (to visit them, you must therefore pay a different access fee).