Rainbow Bridge National Monument

A protected area in southern Utah centered on Rainbow Bridge, a natural sandstone arch spanning a tributary of Lake Powell. The monument is jointly managed by the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

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Rainbow Bridge: A natural sandstone arch in southern Utah, about 88 meters high and 83 meters across. The monument was established to protect this exceptionally large arch.
Antiquities Act: A 1906 United States law authorizing presidential designation of national monuments on federal lands. President William Howard Taft used this law to establish the monument in 1910.
Navajo Nation: A sovereign Indigenous nation whose territory spans parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Rainbow Bridge lies within the Navajo Nation, whose government participates in protecting its cultural significance.
National monument (United States): A protected area designated by the United States government, often to conserve natural, cultural, or scientific resources. Rainbow Bridge's federal designation provides a framework for protecting the arch and its surroundings.
Lake Powell: A reservoir on the Colorado River formed by Glen Canyon Dam. The reservoir's arms surround the monument and provide its most common boat access.
William Howard Taft: The 27th president of the United States, serving from 1909 to 1913. Taft proclaimed Rainbow Bridge National Monument in 1910.
Hopi: An Indigenous people of the American Southwest with ancestral communities in northeastern Arizona. Rainbow Bridge is sacred in Hopi tradition and is connected to Hopi origins and migration narratives.
Leave No Trace: A set of outdoor ethics for reducing human impacts on natural and cultural places. Careful visitation helps limit damage to fragile desert terrain and culturally significant sites.
Glen Canyon: A canyon of the Colorado River in southern Utah and northern Arizona, now largely inundated by Lake Powell. The monument lies within the broader canyon landscape altered by the reservoir.
Glen Canyon Dam: A concrete arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River near Page, Arizona, completed in 1966. Its reservoir transformed access and landscape around the monument.