Show Me a Natural Arch / Natural Bridge!

[krJoest]

Is this on public?

I think it's SNF

 

[Jeff Ulrich]

I think it's SNF

If you're talking about the Devil's Bake Oven, it's not on SNF land. The arch in my picture is along the river bank and in fact is sometimes underwater when the river is high. You can reach it by walking along the shoreline north from the Devil's Backbone Campground.

There are some other arches at the top of the Devil's Bake Oven rock formation. I haven't been to those, although I have seen pictures. That is the area where the big foundry house stood and there are still foundations from it there. There might be some issues getting to them because of having to cross private property near the pipeline bridge tower. I'm not sure. That north road to the park used to be open, but now I think I saw that it's fenced and gated off. The ferry used to dock somewhere in that area when it still ran I think. Hard to believe, but at one time it seems they allowed the public to access the catwalk on the pipeline bridge! There is a picture on Bridgehunter.com taken by James Vaughn that shows a sign that was posted stating that the pipeline was closed at dark and anyone found on it would be arrested for trespassing.

 

[nature_lover76]

View attachment 157


I prefer natural arches in the ocean

absolutely gorgeous!!!!

 

[Jeff Ulrich]

Natural Arch at Inspiration Point, La Rue Pine Hills Natural Area, Shawnee National Forest, Union County, Illinois. This small arch in the Bailey Limestone is located on the left hand side of the path leading from the trail out to Inspiration Point. This would not be a safe arch to try to climb down to due to the steep slope covered with loose rocks and the sharp dropoff just beyond it. Photograph taken 26 June 2021.