It technically wasn’t a very long hike to the Hickman Natural Bridge in Capitol Reef National Park. The actual distance is only a mile to get to the bridge from the car park. However because the trail is quite rugged it can take a while to get there. This is most especially true if you intend to approach the arch itself. There was no clear trail to get there, so I needed to figure it out on my own. As long as it gets me a little closer to the arch, I would try it and see if it gets me anywhere. There was a bit of backtracking nothing too drastic.

I somehow managed to get to the arch itself and I can see how much larger it actually is up close. If you are skillful enough it is probably possible to walk on it, but it is strictly forbidden not just for safety but also for preservation purposes. I don’t think anyone would want the natural bridge to collapse because some person decided to walk on top of it for a photo. Apparently, there is a trail that goes through the bridge and behind the rocks around it which leads visitors back to the original trail. However, I didn’t find this trail and I ended up backtracking to get back where I came from. As you can imagine, the trail isn’t very well marked and I obviously totally missed it. Either way, I hope I didn’t miss too much as I made my way back down to the car park. I was happy enough that I made it to the arch in one piece. I think the photos were very much worth it.

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