Salt River Canyon Bridge: Get your steps in while seeing Arizona’s beauty

Arizona has many ways to experience its gorgeous scenery and history: Driving, river rafting, hiking, walking, even standing in one place and slowly looking around. If you’re in the “stand there, looking and taking photos” camp, one of Arizona’s oldest bridges can help you.

The original Salt River Canyon Bridge, which is 93 years old, is located just over 40 miles north of Globe on US 60. After stopping at the rest area, take in the spectacular view of canyon’s cliffs, desert vegetation and the Salt River. But the bridge is also worth admiring, featuring decorative steel pylons set into the river bedrock as well as ornamental steel guardrails.

As with so many bridge sites in Arizona, beauty wasn’t the reason this site was chosen. In 1930, according to historic records, Arizona Highway Department surveyors decided an all-weather route between the Phoenix metro area and northeast Arizona was needed and chose this “nearly perfect” site. Engineers chose a two-hinged steel deck arch for the design because concrete resources were scarce in the area.

When construction began in January 1933, work moved slowly because the arch had to be just right. However, when the bridge opened for traffic in June 1934, everyone felt all the work was worth it.

You see, most bridges at the time were “plain-faced, utilitarian structures.” The original Salt River Canyon bridge impressed even the AHD engineers. One, in fact, said that at a distance, the bridge looked "more like a delicate piece of filigree than a well-designed and constructed highway bridge." It was also one of the state’s first girder-ribbed steel arch bridges.

In 1996, a higher-capacity bridge was put in next to its older counterpart. The newer bridge also features decorative touches, as well as a red steel arch.