TONTO NATURAL BRIDGE

Visitors Come by the Thousands to Ogle and Hike at the World's Largest Travertine Arch Arizona sometimes conceals its natural treasures from casual view, but when a geologic feature is 400 feet long, 150 feet wide, and 183 feet high, it takes quite a hiding place.

Pine Creek Canyon, nestled in the rolling high desert between Payson and Pine about 100 miles northeast of Phoenix, offers just such a "hiding place" for Tonto Natural Bridge.

The largest travertine span in the world, the bridge was formed by eons of deposits from mineral springs. Today the bridge and its historic lodge are a state park with about 100,000 visitors a year.

Turning west off State Route 87 about 13 miles north of Payson, I recalled that until recently this road to the bridge offered drivers a white-knuckle ride. Thankful for the newly paved road, I shifted into low gear and imagined what it was like when there was barely room for one vehicle on what was a narrow and precipitous dirt ledge.

At the end of the descent to Pine Creek Canyon, the smell of approaching rain mingled with the odor of burnt brakes around the park rangers' booth. At Gowan's Loop trailhead, a map showed a half-mile gentle path on the right to reach the base of the bridge, 200 feet below, and a much steeper but shorter route to the left.

Rain began to fall, deciding the issue for me, and I sped left. Sliding a few yards down the narrow trail, I realized worn sneak-ers provided little traction on wet rocks and even less on the metal steps to the base of the bridge. Fortunately, twisted steel-cable handrails along each side of the path helped keep me upright.

The sound of the cloudburst seemed amplified near the bottom. Then, looking up, I saw the rain had joined a waterfall splash-ing from the top of the bridge through ferns and rock and into a boulder-studded pool.

Like a curtain before a grand stage, the waterfall framed the entrance to a yawning tube honeycombed with ledges, caves, and undulating cornices.

Passing the soaked observation deck and carefully climbing over boulders polished by water and wind, I followed the arrows marking the recommended route and found a comfortable rock outcropping.

I surveyed the massive interior and read the park brochure describing the 1.7-billion-year process that formed the huge arch. Called "the rock that grows," travertine, or dissolved limestone, coats surfaces from rocks to tree trunks and even foliage. Hearing voices overhead, I gazed up into the faces of visitors peering down hundreds of feet through a hole in the bridge's surface.

As the rain subsided, the fragrances of the creosote bush, ju-niper, and cedar filled the air, making the longer but easier ascent exhilarating.

At the top, I paused at one of the picnic sites ringing the parking area and then walked to the three-story Goodfellow lodge-turned-museum. The lodge's photographs, antiques, geologic curiosities, and wildlife trophies that filled the living room only piqued my desire to see the spaces beyond the closed doors and up the wide staircase. The remainder of the lodge was inaccessible except by prearranged tour, so I planned one for my next visit.

On a sunnier day several weeks later, Al Ayres, longtime Payson resident, amateur Old West historian, and then a volunteer guide, led a small group through the entire lodge. Fit and approaching 70, Ayres wove an entertaining and informative story of the people who settled Pine Creek Canyon. They began with the prehistoric Anazazi. Spanish and American soldiers made the first recorded visits before David Gowan's accidental "discovery" of the bridge in 1877 while fleeing Apaches.

Word of Gowan's bridge reached a nephew, David Gowan Goodfellow in Scotland, who in 1898 moved his family to Arizona where they built the lodge (in 1927) and played a major role in the modern history of the canyon.

From the third-floor observation tower, Ayres pointed out the boundaries of the original gardens and fruit trees critical to the survival of the settlers. The expanse hosts javelinas that feast on plums fallen from remnants of the old orchard, most of which has been converted into a paved parking lot.

The spring that once watered the crops still flows from the side of the mountain and fills an old swimming pool. Though no longer in use, the pool recalls the lodge's heyday.

Captivated by the lush greenery, I delayed my departure to explore the Waterfall Trail. With a distance of just 300 feet, I expected a quick stroll but was surprised by the steep descent to an enchanting waterfall cave surrounded by a fern grotto, yellow columbine, and bushes loaded with thumb-size blackberries. Through the bushes and down about 50 feet, I spied half-mile-long Pine Creek Trail threading its way around boulders and the rough creek bottom back to the bridge, another treasure for another visit.

This story prompted Phoenix-based Judith Schroedl's first visit to Tonto Natural Bridge. Peter Ensenberger is the magazine's photography director.

WHEN YOU GO

To reach Tonto Natural Bridge State Park from State Route 87, turn west at the signed turnoff about 13 miles north of Payson. The park's hours vary by season; call for times. Admission is $5 per vehicle with up to four passengers; each additional passenger over 11 is $1, as are walk-ins and non-motorized vehicles. Call for restrictions on motorhomes. Wheelchair-accessible picnic sites may be reserved. There is no overnight camping. For more information or tour reservations, call (520) 476-4202 or write Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, P.O. Box 1245, Payson, AZ 85547.