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Virginia’s Natural Bridge is a geological formation, a natural arch carved out of limestone and dolomite over hundreds of thousands of years. In the years before European incursions into the area, the Monacan Indians viewed it as a sacred site. It was first seen by Europeans in 1742, and in 1750 George Washington, then a young surveyor, saw the Natural Bridge and purchased 157 acres of land in order to possess the arch himself. The Natural Bridge was a great tourist attraction of the 18th and 19th centuries, and Herman Melville even compared the whale in Moby-Dick to the size of the natural arch. Visitors to the region may stay at the park’s historic hotel, visit the re-created Monacan village, and go down into caverns thirty-seven stories below ground on a 45-minute walking tour.

Virginia’s Natural Bridge Park
© Courtesy of Zack Frank - Fotolia.com

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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