The bridge arch above the water is 50 feet high and 100 feet long. It sets in an amphitheater of red sand stone walls with tree-shaded picnic grounds for a pleasant visit.

Indian lore tells of the time that an Indian brave was struck by lightning near the bridge and was killed instantly. His people believed that an evil spirit, “King of Beasts,” lived beneath the bridge and had swallowed the life of this warrior. From then on, the Indians would not go near the bridge. It became a sanctuary for people fleeing the Indians. If they could make it to the bridge, they would be safe because the Indians wouldn’t follow for fear of the evil spirit.

In 1882, Alva Ayres, an early day freighter and bull whacker, settled on the land which included the bridge on LaPrele Creed. Alva’s son, Andrew Clement Ayres, gave a deed for 15 acres of land to Converse County in May 1920. This land included the bridge and was to be known as Ayres Natural Bridge Park. In later years, Glen Edwards donated more land to the county to be added to the park.

The old two-story cement building near the entrance to the park was built by the North Platte Valley Irrigation Company in the early 1900s. When completed, it was to be a power house that would furnish electricity to pump water out of North Platte River for 40,000 acres north of the river. LaPrele Dam, located two miles south of the power house, would have supplied water for the installation. The company went bankrupt before the power project was completed.

Ayres Natural Bridge Park is located four miles south of Interstate 25 at the end of county Road #13. The Natural Bridge interchange is 11 miles west of Douglas, Wyoming at Exit 151.

Reprint of Converse County Brochure.