I’m standing beneath a rare and magnificent geologic feature called Ayers Natural Bridge.  

It’s located in a beautiful canyon created by La Prele Creek, about 18 miles southwest of Douglas, in Converse County Wyoming. 

The bridge and canyon are spectacular, but though they have been close to major transportation arteries, they have remained a relatively secluded and quiet oasis.  The Oregon trail passed within two miles of this place, yet there are few mentions of it in journals from the time. 

So do natural bridges form?  First off, unlike natural arches, natural bridges are formed by flowing water. 

In the distant past, the ancestral La Prele drainage was a meandering stream on a relatively flat flood plain. 

As the Rocky Mountain area rose, the stream increased in speed and power and cut down through sedimentary rock, entrenching the original meanders in a canyon.   

Sometimes, as erosion continues, the stream cuts through a narrow neck of one of these meanders forming a natural bridge. 

The tunnel that La Prele creek cut through the meander here is 30 feet high and 50 feet wide. Water still flows under Ayers bridge. 

This beautiful place was donated and is operated as a park by Converse County.  There is limited camping, but the park gate is closed at night and no pets are allowed.

Ayers natural bridge is truly a Wonder of Wyoming.  I’m Gene Gade of the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service.