Natural Bridge at High Falls Park EarthCache
Natural Bridge at High Falls Park
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The Earthcache is the Natural Bridge / Not the Man made Bridge.
High Falls Natural Bridge (This cache is wheelchair accessible with slight incline going down, and slightly uphill on the way back up.) High Falls is an official DeKalb County Park. The park is open from 10AM – 6PM with the gate being locked at that time. A Park
Ranger is usually at the office. Depending on the crowd on the day you are there, if there is a handicap access factor, the ranger might allow you to drive in a little closer. Park and walk is not a problem though. High Falls Natural Bridge, also referred to as an arch is a young meander natural bridge of particular interest because it occurs at a waterfall. This is not the same as a waterfall natural bridge. This arch is in a wall of rock that extends forward from, and perpendicular to the line of the falls. The wall was created by the erosive action of water flowing over a series of parallel, vertical joints. The flow of water first enlarged the joints and then isolated the wall of rock. Water continued to flow on either side of the wall, weakening it until wall collapse occurred. A classic semicircular aperture is the result. The arch is considered young because water fills the base of the opening. NABSQNO 16S-585686-3806917 The Natural Arch and Bridge Society www.naturalarches.org) According to Wikipedia: The meander type of natural bridge exists with a currently active stream of water. Most of the time, these bridges are flat on top and have an arch underneath to let the water pass through. Water is a main cause of the hole, but a wall collapse is also a key factor in its formation. As streams meander around rock, they will create a wall. With more erosion, a wall will collapse and form an oval, then with further erosion, the semicircular shape will emerge.
This Natural Bridge is located in High Falls County Park, in DeKalb County, just a few miles northwest of Geraldine Alabama. Located on Town Creek, the falls has a 25 foot span and a height of 35 feet. When the water gets high in the winter the falls will span all across Town Creek (nearly 200 feet). High Falls is the start of some class III rapids that is some of the nicest in the state of Alabama with a journey of 5.8 miles that winds through cliffs and beautiful scenery all the way down to Guntersville backwater.
A bridge that was originally built in 1923 by local people to cross the creek was burnt by vandals. It was rebuilt in 1996 for foot traffic only. There is an old rope that marks the spot where they use to baptize people in the early 1900’s.
A natural arch or natural bridge is a natural geological formation where a rock arch forms, with an opening underneath. Most natural arches form as a narrow ridge, walled by cliffs, become narrower from erosion, with a softer rock stratum under the cliff-forming stratum gradually eroding out until the rock shelters thus formed meet underneath the ridge, thus forming the arch. Natural arches commonly form where cliffs are subject to erosion from the sea, rivers or weathering (subaerial processes); the processes "find" weaknesses in rocks and work on them, making them bigger until they break through. The choice between bridge and arch is somewhat arbitrary. The Natural Arch and Bridge Society identifies a bridge as a subtype of arch that is primarily water-formed.[1] By contrast, the Dictionary of Geological Terms defines a natural bridge as a "natural arch that spans a valley of erosion." Weather-eroded arches A diagram showing the sequence of arch formation. 1.. Deep cracks penetrate into a sandstone layer. 2.. Erosion wears away exposed rock layers and enlarges the surface cracks, isolating narrow sandstone walls, or fins. 3.. Alternating frosts and thawing cause crumbling and flaking of the porous sandstone and eventually cut through some of the fins. 4.. The resulting holes become enlarged to arch proportions by rockfalls and weathering. Arches eventually collapse, leaving only buttresses that in time will erode. a.. Many of these arches are found within Arches National Park and Rainbow Bridge National Monument in Utah. Water-eroded arches A topographic map of Coyote Natural Bridge in Utah shows how the meandering Coyote Gulch carved a shorter route through the rock under the arch. The old riverbed is now higher than the present water level. Some natural bridges may look like arches, but they form in the path of streams that wear away and penetrate the rock. Pothole arches form by chemical weathering as water collects in natural depressions and eventually cuts through to the layer below. Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah is another area to view several natural bridges. Cave erosion Natural bridges can form from natural limestone caves, where paired sinkholes collapse and a ridge of stone is left standing in between, with the cave passageway connecting from sinkhole to sinkhole. Like all rock formations, natural bridges are subject to continued erosion, and will eventually collapse and disappear. One example of this was the double-arched Victorian coastal rock formation, London Bridge, which lost an arch after storms increased erosion. Arches as highways In a few places in the world, natural arches are truly natural bridges because there are roads running across them. Two such arches are found in Kentucky. One, a cave erosion arch made of limestone, is located in Carter Caves State Park, and it has a paved road on top. Another, a weather-eroded sandstone arch with a dirt road on top, is located on the edge of Natural Bridge State Resort Park in Kentucky. It is called White's Branch Arch (also known as the Narrows), and the road going over it is usually referred to as the Narrows Road.
To log your find, take a picture of you with your GPS with the Natural Bridge behind you.
(Exercise extream caution at all times)
At times the water is high and you may only be able to view the Natural Bridge from the walking bridge. Pictures from this view will be accepted. Post the picture with your log and E-Mail me the answers to the following questions:
1. The arch is made from what type of stone? (_____________)
2. What do you estimate the inner span of the bridge to be? (______________)
3. How high do you estimate the top down to the water? (______________)
4. What type of natural bridge is this? (__________________)
Congrats to Clay Pigeons for FTF....
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