The Beta
If you’re looking to see some natural beauty in Yellowstone with ease, this trail is for you! There are two ways to do this hike – one way is from the parking lot at Bridge Bay, and the other is a small parking area across from the northern entrance to Gull Point Drive. I ended up doing the latter, not knowing the first option existed until later! AllTrail clocks the Bridge Bay starting point at 3.1 miles with 216 ft. of elevation gain. My records show the trail from Gull Point Drive to be about 2.2 miles roundtrip. Either is a good option!
Quick Beta
- Mileage: 2.2 or 3.1 miles, depending on starting point.
- Elevation gain: 100-216 ft.
- Highest Point: 7940 ft.
- Best time to visit: Late May through mid-October
- Total hiking time: 1 hour
- Kid-friendly: Yes.
- Dog-friendly: No.
- Gear I brought: Backpack, water, compass, map, large knife, snacks, raincoat, camera, first aid kit.
The hike
This hike is an easy one! The trail from across Gull Point Drive follows an old service road for most of the trail, so the hiking is pretty fast. Once you get to your only turnoff, you’ll be able to see the Natural Bridge from the bottom! You can hike up and stand on top of the bridge if you’d like. Much of the trail is well-shaded, and there are a few meadows you’ll pass through. It’s more like a walk in the woods versus a trail – we didn’t know that when we started!
Need to Know
This is more of a walk through the woods than a hike, which is fine! There are so many opportunities to hike in Yellowstone and so many great things to see. This is an easy one to do for the whole family, and can easily be done in 45-60 minutes. We saw mostly families on the trail and a few elderly folks around.
This was a little buddy towards the end. July will be a mosquito magnet month! Make sure you bring bug spray and wear sunscreen or a sun hoodie. While the trail is shaded, weather patterns shift often in Yellowstone!
Justin’s Suggestion
If you’re looking to break up some longer, more intense hikes, this is a great way to see some beauty in Yellowstone and still get your heartbeat up. It’s great for families, and the walk through the woods was quite pleasant! It’s quite divergent from the usual hiking I do, but it was lovely!
Take A Hike!
Take a quick hike through the woods to see the Natural Bridge! If you’ve never seen one before, this can be your first! If you’ve seen some before, this may be underwhelming. It’s still a cool feature to see!
I’ll be writing about Yellowstone a lot more in the coming weeks, so stay tuned! If you haven’t already, check out my coffee postcard and my first post on LeHardys Rapids!
See you out there!
Parting shot:
Next blog: Now that we’ve bridged the gap, let’s get to some waterfalls, yeah?
Justin Fague 
Looks like a good walk! Beautiful!
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Gorgeous! And very doable for the novice hiker like myself! You definitely “bridged the gap” on travel posts, and I can’t wait for the next one!
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