As you drive from Page or Flagstaff, Arizona, to the north rim of the Grand Canyon, you will drive across the wider, modern 1995 dedicated Navajo Bridge spanning the Colorado River. It’s the only crossing of the Colorado River for about 600 miles! The original 834 foot long, 18 foot wide, Navajo Bridge was constructed in 1929 with its arch of 616 feet at a height of 467 feet. Today it is used as a pedestrian bridge; a place to view condors when they are in the area and view the Colorado River below. The modern bridge is slightly larger, but more importantly, it can handle the weight of the various-sized motorized vehicles now traveling across it these days. In 1997 the Navajo Bridge Interpretive Center opened. On the other side of the bridge are Native American craft vendors.

The historic bridge was originally called the Grand Canyon Bridge for 5 years after its dedication. The Arizona legislature debated in 1934 and made a final decision to have the official name changed to Navajo Bridge. Interesting!

We were fortunate to see a couple of juvenile condors on our first trip across the bridge. On this day we were on our way to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We would return across the bridge some days later. Juveniles have dusky black heads and one was tagged. I love being sure other visitors on the bridge will see these magnificent birds. I’ll point the birds out to any interested person. Watching the one condor walk the bridge’s beam was fascinating!