Height: 106 Feet

Span: 225 Feet

 

Sipapu's name means "place of emergence", and symbolizes, according to Hopi tradition, the place where the first humans entered the world.

Length: 0.6 mi

Elevation change: 500 ft

 

For the first 0.2 mi the trail winds down the sandstone surface at the rim of White Canyon with cairns marking the way. In some places steps have been carved to assist in the descent. Getting off the top lip of the canyon requires quite a descent, so two flights of metal staircases and a wooden ladder have been placed to help visitors down.

 

After the first ladder, another 0.2 mi hike through a few large boulders, down a number of large wooden steps and along the desert-varnished canyon wall will lead to an ancestral Puebloan ruin to the left, and a breathtaking view of Sipapu to the right. Except in the early morning, this shady viewpoint is a great place to stop and rest.

 

Those who want to brave the third and most difficult stretch of the trail will be rewarded with the most marvelous view of all. Several steep and eroded switchbacks and a few wooden steps lead to the second and third wooden ladders. At the base of the bridge hikers step into what feels like a small forest of gamble oak and cottonwood trees. If it has rained recently, there might be water in the stream bed. The stream bed is responsible for creating Sipapu, the world's second largest natural bridge.