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Natural Bridge: Prepare to be Amazed!
by Susan Erwin
Rockbridge County Tourism Information
What is more than 100 million years old, 215 feet tall and 90 feet wide, and totally awesome? It can only be Natural Bridge, right here in southern Rockbridge County! A trip to the Shenandoah Valley is not complete unless you’ve paid a visit to this extraordinary work of nature.
The Bridge is easily accessible via I-81 and US11—just follow the signs. Pull into the parking lot, buy your tickets in the gift shop, and take a stroll down the beautiful nature trail to Cascade Creek (or ride the jitney bus to the bottom). As you round the bend, look up, and there it is... one of the 'Seven Natural Wonders of the World'. Stop for a few minutes to read the placards, and learn about the history of this place and the long list of famous visitors. The “Rock Bridge” has been open to the public since July 4, 1774, when Thomas Jefferson purchased it from King George III for twenty shillings. If you look carefully, you can see where a young George Washington carved his initials on the side of the bridge when he surveyed the area for Lord Fairfax.
Be sure to keep on going down the Cedar Creek Nature Trail under the bridge to discover more “wonders”—our favorites are the Saltpeter Cave, the Lost River and the beautiful Lace Falls. Stop by the Monocan Indian Village Living History Exhibit and learn how this Native American tribe lived 300 years ago. You can watch (and maybe even help) the interpreters build canoes, tan hides, weave mats and ropes, build shelters, make tools, and gather and prepare food.
Your amazing experience doesn’t end when the sun sets. Come back in the evening for the spectacular “Drama of Creation” sound and light show held right under the Bridge.
Don’t stop now—there’s plenty more to see and do! Right in the Natural Bridge complex you can visit the Natural Bridge Wax Museum and take a three-dimensional tour (complete with music, narration and animation) through Virginia and Shenandoah Valley history. See tableaux with Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, Confederacy heroes, Daniel Boone, the famous Natural Bridge Steel Cage Elevator (the way visitors used to view the bridge—lowered from the top in a pulley-driven elevator), and a theatrical presentation of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting “The Last Supper”. Downstairs, tour the Wax Museum Factory to get an insider’s look at how the wax figures are made—this is our favorite part of the tour.
A subterranean expedition also awaits you—a guided tour of Natural Bridge Caverns, the deepest commercial cavern in the East, takes you 374 feet down to explore treasures hidden deep in the earth.
Just down the road from the bridge is the Natural Bridge Zoo, open every day 9-6, beginning in mid-March. From the huge, rare white tiger (and the adorable white tiger cub twins) to bears, cougars, camels, and talking parrots, this zoo offers a great experience for the entire family. On the weekend you can even ride an elephant!
About four miles north of the Natural Bridge lies another amazing animal adventure—Virginia Safari Park. This 180-acre drive-through adventure gives you a chance to enjoy wildlife ‘up close and personal’, as you tour the park at your own pace in your car, or take the guided Safari Wagon Ride (available on weekends only in spring). You’ll encounter friendly bison, antelope, llamas, elk, zebras, camels, ostriches, and other critters anxious to take a snack from your feed bucket... careful, hang on! Oops! There goes the bucket! Check out the giraffe feeding station—from the elevated platform, you can feed the giraffes—at their eye level! Enjoy Tiger Territory and Lorikeet Landing, as well as greatly-expanded exhibits throughout the Safari Village Area. Opened in the Spring of 2000, this open-air natural wildlife habitat has quickly become a “must” stop on everyone’s Shenandoah Valley tour list.
If all this adventure has made you hungry, your appetite will be more than satisfied at the Fancy Hill Restaurant, a full service family restaurant, or the Pink Cadillac Diner, featuring 50s favorites, a 1945 Pink Cadillac parked right outside, and the Elvis room. Both restaurants are just north of Natural Bridge on US11. Right at Natural Bridge, you can eat lunch in the Summerhouse Café by the bridge, or enjoy dinner in the Colonial Dining Room at the Natural Bridge Hotel.
Article text ©2007-2010, Shenandoah Specialty Publishing, LLC.
May be printed for personal use only.
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