Natural Bridge of Chipola River

By Dale Cox
Early explorers and settlers of Northwest Florida were much more interested in the Natural Bridge of the Chipola River, now located in Florida Caverns State Park, than they were in the adjacent caves that give the park its name. The Natural Bridge was an important landmark in historic times because it provided a place where travelers could cross the Chipola with little difficulty, particularly during the dry season.

A Native American trail used by the Chacato Indians crossed the bridge and Spanish missionaries and soldiers followed this path in 1674 on their way to establish the missions of San Nicolas and San Carlos west of the Chipola. A large Spanish military force crossed the Natural Bridge in 1676 during a raid against a fortified Chisca (Yuchi) village near the Choctawhatchee River. It also provided a crossing point for other Spanish parties in 1686 and 1693. One surviving journal of the 1693 expedition indicates that the river must have been high, because the crossing was muddy and difficult.

In 1818, Andrew Jackson’s army crossed the Natural Bridge of the Chipola during the First Seminole War. Captain Hugh Young, a topographer assigned to the army, wrote: The Natural Bridge is in the center of a large swamp and appears to be a deposit of earth on a raft or some similar obstruction. The passage is narrow and the creek, with a rapid current, is visible both above and below. Captain Young was wrong, of course, about the nature of the bridge. It actually is formed by the unique karst topography of the area. The river flows down into a sink, travels under the ground for a short distance and then rises back to the surface.