Zhijin Natural Arch #2, China

 We were hoping to see the second-largest natural bridge in the world at Zhijin County, China. It's in an established park that's referred to as the Zhijin Grand Canyon, but storms that struck before we arrived damaged the road, so the park was closed. Someone who knew the area wanted to make sure our group didn't leave the area without seeing some natural arches, so she led us to two arches in the same drainage as the one we were hoping to see, but farther upslope. We had to hike to a large arch, then go under it to see this even larger, taller arch. We were standing under one of the supports for this arch to photograph it. It was the only safe place where we could do so.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II, ISO 100, f/4.5, 1/80 sec., 17 mm

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Jinpen Natural Bridge, China, highest natural bridge with a road over it

 

This is Jinpen Natural Bridge in China. It is regarded as the highest natural bridge in the world that has a road crossing over it. The road connects two villages. The bridge is 135 meters (442 feet, 11 inches) high, has a 60-meter (196 feet, 10 inches) span, is 15 meters (49 feet, 2.5 inches) thick at the top, and has a 30-meter (98 feet, 5 inches) road surface on top. 

Unfortunately, we had overcast skies and would've preferred blue sky for the background. After seeing it from this viewpoint, our tour guide took us to the road that crosses over the natural bridge so that we could hike to the bridge and cross over it. There were cars on the road, but our tour bus wasn't allowed on it.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II, ISO 1600, f22, 1/45 sec., 105 mm focal length

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Jiu Dong Tian Caves, Arch in China

 

On our visit to China, we toured the Jiu Dong Tian Cave system by boat. We had to take a tour bus down the river, hike down the river to a bridge, cross over, then take another tour bus down the other side of the river, then hike down into a cave before boarding boats to continue on through the caves. We went under this huge arch as part of the hike down to the dock. For size comparison, you can see a picnic table with a red umbrella and people standing under it. After emerging from the cave, there was another dock where others could go on the tour by going upstream. Normally, we would've continued farther down river and taken another tour bus back, but recent storms caused damage downstream, so we ended up going back through the cave a second time by traveling upstream to the original dock.

The Chinese word for cave is "dong." The Chinese word for window is "tian." So where Americans might call this feature a natural arch, the Chinese often call these features a "cave window."

Canon EOS 6D Mark II, 46 mm, f22, 1/45 sec, ISO 1600

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Dachuandong Arch, near Si Lian, China, 4th largest arch in the world

 

In Guizhou Province, near the village of Si Lian, is a series of sinkholes and arches. There are actually 4 arches, but we only saw the second and third ones as they are the largest. When we visited this area, a local tourism official insisted on showing us the way and accompanying us with a couple of staff members. The reason for his action is that he wanted to show the government that people are visiting these features, and there should be investments in infrastructure to accommodate more visitors. His staff members recorded him speaking about the need for investments and pointing to our group of American tourists traveling all the way here to see how special this area is. It was also good that he guided us, because we encountered very narrow roads. He posted the videos on social media, and our guide was recognized when we checked into our hotel later that same day. The video had gone viral.

The third arch was the largest. Its span of 300 feet (91.4 meters) makes it the 4th largest arch in the world. We had to hike through the second arch to get to it. The name means "big cave with a window". The Chinese, instead of using the term "natural arch" or "natural bridge," seem to prefer using their words for "heaven's gate" or "cave with window" to describe these geologic features. We were told that this particular area was used in the past for making gunpowder. Maybe it was considered a dangerous undertaking, so those engaged in the manufacture of gunpowder had to keep well away from everyone else.

Samsung a52, 5.2 mm (24mm equivalent 35mm), f/1.8, Auto ISO

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Qingxudong Arch, near Dafang, China, 7th largest in the world

 

Qingxudong Arch has been measured by laser rangefinder to have a span of 251 feet (76.5 meters) and a height of 246 feet (75 meters). That happened in 2015 by Natural Arch and Bridge Society member Gunter Welz. We used our own laser ruler when we visited on May 19, 2026, and basically confirmed those numbers. This arch had plenty of visitors and cars, vans, and even a small motorhome parked underneath. It's located near the village of Yang Chang Ba in Guizhou Province, China. In terms of span, the Qing Xu Dong Arch is considered the 7th-largest arch in the world. There's a small stream flowing under it. Beyond the arch, the stream curves into a cave and ends up going underground. It's very spectacular. The Chinese word dong translates to "cave" Instead of calling these features "natural arch", the Chinese tend to use either "heaven's gate" or "cave with window."

Coordinates where the photograph was taken: 27.10285° N., 105.6703° E.

Samsung a52, 1/216 sec, 1.7mm (13mm in 35mm equivalent),  f2.2, ISO Auto

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Yunmentun Natural Bridge in China, 16th Largest in the World

 

We went on a trip to China to view 9 of the world's largest natural arches and natural bridges starting May 17, 2026. This was the first one we saw on this trip, it is number 16 on the list. Instead of calling these features "arches", the Chinese seem to prefer using the term "gate", as that is the translation for the "men" part of the name Yunmentun. Altogether it translates as Cloud Gate Village. It's been measured at 213 feet (65 meters) for its span. We rode in a boat upstream on the Yongshui River, viewed the bridge from the river side, then went under the bridge to a dock along this tributary.

Samsung a52 Phone camera: ISO 25, 1/313 sec, f1.8, focal length 5.2mm, (24mm equivalent)

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Burney Falls in northern California showing a moonbow

 

We have photos of Yosemite Falls that show a moonbow in both the lower and upper falls. We also have photos of moonbows in two waterfalls in Idaho, Shoshone Falls and Upper Mesa Falls. Now we've proven the Burney Falls, in northern California, can also produce a moonbow. We had our doubts when we first started considering looking at these falls for the moonbow possibility because the cliff that the water flows over is north-facing. That means it is in shadow from both the sun and the moon. However, during a previous visit, we saw a rainbow in the mist far away from the cliff face, which made us think a moonbow might be possible.

So we visited over the September 5th weekend during the time of the full moon, hoping to get a good result. The night of the 5th was cloudy, causing a dimming of the moon's light. The night of the 6th, however, was clear and we got the results we were after.

The top image by Rick is the result of taking three vertical images and merging them together to get the entire width of the cliff. The moonbow appears at the lower right corner, where the mist from the falls gets past the shadow into moon light. The first of the three images was captured at 11:30 PM.

Fuji GFX 100S (45mm, f4, ISO 8000, 20 sec) 3 vertical images with overlap and merged

The second photo is by Bob and is a single photo taken with a Fujifilm GFX 100s at 20 mm, 20 seconds, f/5.6, and ISO 6400. Again the moonbow is in the lower right corner.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

The Temple, sea arch along the California coast at Point Reyes National Seashore

 The Temple is a sea arch along the Point Reyes National Seashore coastline. Sea arches form by erosion caused by wave action. The Temple is only safe to visit during low tide, because during high tide, the waves can reach the base of the cliffs along the one mile of beach that it takes to reach this arch.

The day was a little overcast, but we arrived here at mid-morning when the tide was going from low tide to high tide. We could tell that the water reaches the arch at those times. DO NOT try to find this arch until low tide, or you could be trapped!

Fuji GFX100S, f13.9, 1/50 sec. ISO 400, 45 mm (36 mm 35 equiv.)

Location: 37 deg, 58' 51.48", -122 deg, 48' 9.68"

            Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) blossom in Yosemite Valley, May 15, 2025

 There's rarely a bad time to visit Yosemite Valley, but one of the better times is when the Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) tree is blooming. This usually happens from late April to mid-May, so many summer visitors to the park don't get to see this floral display.

The showiest part of the blossom are actually bracts that attach below the flowers of this tree. The flowers themselves are in the tight cluster in the middle.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Corona Arch and sunburst, near Moab, Utah, March 18, 2025

 After participating in the 2025 Spring Arch Rally with the Natural Arch and Bridge Society, we hiked to Corona Arch out of Moab, Utah. The trailhead for this hike is off of the Potash Road. The hike to this arch crosses railroad tracks and involves scrambling with a handling and a ladder. It also passes by a pothole arch named Bowtie Arch.

This magnificent natural rock span is listed as having both a span and height of 110 feet and is a buttress type arch in Navajo sandstone. This view is from the side away from the direction we first approached it.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Parallel Double Arch, Klondike Bluffs, near Moab, Utah, March 14, 2025

 We attended the 2025 Spring Arch Rally by the Natural Arch and Bridge Society centered around Moab, Utah. The rally was held from Saturday, March 8th to Saturday, March 15th.

On our seventh day of hiking, our host Peter Jamieson took us to the Klondike Bluffs area north of Moab, Utah. One of the several natural rock spans that we saw on this hike was this one called Parallel Arch. This double arch was high on a cliff of sandstone.

The dimensions of these arches, according to the World Arch Database is, for the outer arch, 32 foot span, and the inner arch is 22 foot span.

We tried measuring the span and height of these two natural rock spans and came up with the following numbers:

Parallel Arch Outer

Span - 17.178 meters (56.36 feet)

Height - 12.617 meters (41.38 feet)

Parallel Arch Inner

Height - 9.067 meters (29.75 feet)

Span - 

Remember it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Concealed Bridge, Herdina Park, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, 2025 Spring Arch Rally, Natural Arch and Bridge Society, March 10, 2025

 We attended the 2025 Spring Arch Rally by the Natural Arch and Bridge Society centered around Moab, Utah. The rally was held from Saturday, March 8th to Saturday, March 15th.

On our third day of hiking, our host David Alexander took us to the Herdina Park area of Arches National Park. One of the several natural rock spans that we saw on this hike was this one called Concealed Bridge. To get to it we had to duck under an overhang of sandstone before reaching a dryfall, or pouroff, This span  was on the edge of a pothole.

The span of this arch is 9.5 feet and the height is 10 feet and is listed as a waterfall-type natural bridge.

Remember it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Big Sur southern coast, Kirk Creek Arch, Monterey County

 

We found out about an arch along the southern end of the Big Sur coast from a Facebook posting from an avid hiker we're following. She mentioned where she was and included several photos, including an arch in the Pacific Ocean. It was actually next to a campground we were already thinking about visiting, so her posting made us take the trip to see it sooner rather than later. We saw it first during a higher tide, with waves crashing under the arch. We came back about 6 hours later and the tide was low enough that we could stand under it. We took measurements with a laser measurer and reported our results to the Natural Arch and Bridge Society. It turned out that we were the first to report this arch to them.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!