Rainbow Bridge

Credit: Image copyright Space Imaging, Inc., Posted on: Saturday, 7 August 2004, 06:00 CDT Download full size image

It’s not hard to see why Native American cultures consider Rainbow Bridge sacred. The huge stone bridge that straddles this feeder canyon to the Colorado River in southern Utah is a dramatic and mysterious sight. More than 88 meters tall (290 feet), and spanning nearly 84 meters (275 feet) across Bridge Creek, the bridge and surrounding canyonlands are part of a National Monument established by President William Howard Taft in 1910. This spectacularly detailed Ikonos satellite image from July 7, 2003, could almost be mistaken for an aerial photo. Rainbow Bridge is at the upper right of the scene, casting its shadow on the rugged canyon below. Downstream at bottom left, the blue-black waters of the northern portion of Lake Powell, created by the Glen Canyon Dam, are as dark as a shadow. Above the lake, the creek is little more than a series of greenish-brown puddles along a sandy wash.

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