The Sign at Tonto Natural Bridge State Park

Tonto Natural Bridge is a

natural arch A natural arch, natural bridge, or (less commonly) rock arch is a natural landform where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, Cliffed coast, coastal cliffs, Fin (geology), fins or Stack ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, that is believed to be the largest natural

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and rusty varieties. It is formed by a process ...

bridge in the world. The area surrounding the bridge has been made into a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

called Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, which is located off State Route 87, just north of Payson. Tonto Natural Bridge stands over a tunnel that measures at its widest point and reaches a height of .

History

This natural bridge was first documented by David Gowan, a Scotsman, in 1877 while hiding from

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

tribe members. Gowan was impressed by the location and persuaded his family to emigrate and live there. Gowan also tried to claim the land for himself under squatter's rights. David Gowan died in January 1926. When deputy sheriff Jim Kline on his regular two week's visit, couldn't locate Gowan at his little cabin, he looked around and secured the help of a

posse Posse is a shortened form of posse comitatus, a group of people summoned to assist law enforcement. The term is also used colloquially to mean a group of friends or associates. Posse may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Posse'' (1975 ...

, which found David's body in Deer Creek.Coconino Sun, Fri., 1926-01-15, pg. 5 The remains were buried just where they were found beside the creek. Gowan family members lived near the bridge until 1948. Their lodge building survives to this day and is included in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. In 1948, Glen L. Randall, a native of

Pine, Arizona Pine is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Gila County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,953 at the 2020 census. Pine was established by four Mormon families in 1879. Pine and the adjacent community of ...

, purchased the Tonto Natural Bridge, the Lodge including 160 acres surrounding the natural wonder with his father Walter Randall and a brother owning a portion of it also. After Randall's death in 1967, his wife Eloise Kleinman Randall sold the property and it eventually was made into a State Park.

Park facilities

* Walking trails * Pine Creek Trail - approximately long * Waterfall Trail - approximately round trip to waterfall cave. * Gowan Trail - approximately long, ending at an observation deck in the creek bottom. * Picnic tables and recreation area * Gift shop * Portable restrooms

Closure and Reopening

It was announced in early 2010 that the park was scheduled to close on June 3, 2010 because of budget cuts and to allow for repairs to the historic lodge. Three groups eventually donated funds to allow the park to stay open until the end of September 2011. The park was reopened 5 days a week in 2013.

Hours

As of 2020, the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park is open. The park hours are 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, the last entry is at 4:00 pm. The Park entrance fee is $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for kids between the ages of 7 -13, children 6 and under are free.

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Tonto Natural Bridge State Park has a

hot-summer mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Tonto Natural Bridge State Park was on June 27, 1970, while the coldest temperature recorded was on January 13, 1963.

References

External links

* {{authority control State parks of Arizona Landforms of Gila County, Arizona Landmarks in Arizona Natural arches of Arizona Parks in Gila County, Arizona Protected areas established in 1969