A couple of miles north of Badwater is a dirt road leading up a gentle grade to one of the many canyons that empty into Death Valley, this one containing a feature known as Natural Bridge.  Here, centuries of water runoff through the canyon has hollowed out a passage below more obstinate rock, leaving a span across the canyon not unlike the celebrated arches of Utah or Arizona. The sign at the start of the dirt road indicated that Natural Bridge was one mile further than the end of the road, so we expected this to be a quick hike – we drove slowly up the heavily-washboarded road, noting various people ahead of us in rental Jeeps in an obvious hurry to wear out suspension parts and leaving large dust clouds in their wake. The trailhead parking area was less full than Badwater’s though there were plenty of people about. We stuffed some water bottles into our pockets and headed out, first east and then north up a moderate grade and into the canyon. At first, the channel is quite broad, flanked on the west by a sheer rock wall about 30 feet high – shortly thereafter, however, the canyon narrows significantly and the walls grow taller.  Around another bend we found the bridge, not even half as far into the canyon as advertised on the sign. It was impressive in its scale, and as we made our way eastward below its hulking form we easily spotted large cracks on its upper side that gave the bridge the appearance of perhaps being a less permanent fixture than its cousins in Zion or Canyonlands. We hung out here for a bit, waiting for groups of people to make their way past to improve the photo ops – many continued east around another bend in the canyon, but we decided to head back down without further exploration. The view across the valley was stunning as we emerged from the canyon above the parking area, and the photos don’t really do justice to the scenery. At just over a mile roundtrip, this was a very easy and quick hike that was well worth the bumpy ride to the trailhead.