Last Sunday, I had clear skies and warm weather (90 degrees) so I decided to drive the hour from Harrisonburg to Natural Bridge. I looked on the website briefly and saw there were hiking trails and a hotel. Seemed like there was lots to do so I packed up the dogs and went.
When I first pulled in to the building that was the entrance to the park, the parking spaces were so narrow that I parked in an end parking space so I could get my dogs out without hitting someone’s car with my door. Then I found out you have to pay to go see it, but they don’t tell you that on the website. $20 for adults and that gives you access to the park for 48 hours. Also, you can take your dog with you to see the bridge, but dogs are not allowed inside the building when you have to go pay for your ticket. You can imagine the issue this was for my anxiety-riddled dog–left outside in the heat tied to a bench while I went inside to pay. The other dog sat peacefully in the shade without a care in the world.
You can go down the 137 stairs to the bottom where they check your ticket. I’d only recommend it if you’re in sturdy comfortable shoes. Or you can ride down in a nice cushy mini-bus. Since I was there to hike, I walked.
Not a steep incline at all
At the bottom where they check your ticket, there were vending machines and a bowl of fresh water for the dogs. There was plenty of wildlife to observe–snakes sunbathing, fish, other water animals, and–oh yeah– ticks. So take plenty of bug spray. Although my dogs both have flea/tick prevention on them, I still brushed a tick off of one of my dogs in the nick of time before it burrowed in.
First glimpse of the bridge. No I don’t think you can walk on top of it legally
The waterfall at the end of the 2-mile hike.
The day was brutally hot, but thankfully this is a cave-fed stream and the water was delightfully cool for the dogs to wade in and take off some of the heat.
View from the shaded side
The park is working on becoming a national park, because without that funding they don’t put on the shows in the evening (which I did not stay for). Along the way to the waterfall, there is a tribe settlement that you can see how life was with live dressed up workers there to answer questions as well as signs that tell you about the believed millions of years it took to form the formation. Also there is a cave that is blocked off so you go in and see it, but it provides some cool air! When you get back to the base of the stairs, you have a choice to walk back up or take up the mini-bus. And when it’s so hot, the bus is a good option. Thankfully, they do allow pets on the bus.
All in all, I think the bridge was pretty, but I don’t think it was worth $20 to get in to see. I’d say it was maybe worth $8-12. But I understand that they aren’t park status yet so they need all the money they can get. On their website they mention their hiking trails, but really they have the one trail that leads to the waterfall.
Have you been there? What did you think? Worth the money or not?
