Tag: Natural Bridge

Picture of the Day for April 9, 2022

It was a nice change today with the sun out and without waking up to more new snow. Plus when the temperature finally reached 50 degrees, it felt good to take a walk outdoors. This natural bridge arch, which survived the last ice age in the Driftless area of Wisconsin, is about 35 feet tall and its opening is 25 feet high by 35 wide. Below the arch, which a corner of it can be seen in the photo, is the Raddatz Rockshelter, once used by Paleo-Indians. The oldest artifacts found in the 60 feet wide by 30 feet deep shelter dated to around 12,000 years ago.

Natural Bridge State Park

Natural Bridge State Park

Picture of the Day for April 15, 2015

Most states have a natural rock bridge and some have a number of famous ones and Wisconsin has its own natural bridge in the unglaciated Driftless Area weathered from sandstone deposited 1.6 billion years ago. The arch opening is 25 wide and 15 feet high.

The rock shelter on the right side, is 60 feet wide and 30 feet deep and when an archaeological excavation of the rock shelter was conducted in 1957, the oldest artifacts were dated between 9000 and 8000 BC, making the rock shelter one of the oldest-dated sites for human occupancy in northeastern North America. Evidence indicates that the shelter was used only periodically at first, perhaps as a hunting or seasonal camp for Paleo-Indians hunting Mastodons or Wooly Mammoths. Later the shelther was inhabited year-round.

Wisconsin’s Natural Bridge

Wisconsin's Natural Bridge