Ayres Natural Bridge Park preserves one of Wyoming’s notable geologic landmarks, a sandstone arch formed over millions of years when LaPrele Creek cut through solid rock and later shifted, leaving an opening about 30 feet high and 50 feet wide. Named for both the bridge and the Ayres family who donated this ranchland, the site lay about a mile south of the Oregon Trail and became familiar to westbound emigrants. An 1843 pioneer praised its striking natural form, and it has long been regarded as one of Wyoming’s earliest tourist attractions. Near the entrance stands an early-1900s powerhouse tied to an unfinished irrigation project.