Welcome to the Park of the Week Newsletter for November 14, 2024. This week we’re featuring a state park with a rich natural and cultural history.
Natural Bridge State Park (Virginia)
Location
Rockbridge County, Virginia, United States
Claim to fame
Natural Bridge was designated a state park in 2016, but it has long been famous. The site was sacred to the Monacan tribe for centuries before Europeans arrived. Early frontiersmen marveled at the natural arch, and it became one of the most popular stops for tourists visiting early America.
In 1774, Thomas Jefferson purchased Natural Bridge from King George III for 20 shillings. He built a cabin on site, and used it as a retreat. For the next two hundred years the bridge was privately owned, used mainly as a resort and tourist attraction.
Reason to visit
Today Natural Bridge State Park is still a popular natural wonder. The massive stone arch is visible from many vantage points, and visitors can hike down a stairway with over 130 steps to reach a trail that winds them under the arch itself. The trail continues on to 50 foot (15m) Lace Falls.
Along the way to the arch is a recreated Monacan village, which features living history interpreters from the tribe who demonstrate traditional craftsmanship and agricultural techniques.
Wild Fact
Legend has it that George Washington, first president of the United States, was an early surveyor of Natural Bridge. An engraving of the initials “G.W.” is still visible on the arch walls, and a stone found at the arch’s base features a similar carving. Washington is said to have worked as a surveyor in this region as a young man and to have visited the site in 1750, long before he became a founding father of the US.
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