Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz, California May 17, 2023

Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz, California

California brown pelicans, cormorants, and gulls enjoy jostling for position on top of this stunning rock formation in Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz. It is the sole surviving natural "bridge" in this state park. Once three bridges stood side-by-side here, carved by waves into cliffs that jutted out into the Pacific. This one stood in the middle, but the outermost bridge collapsed in 1905 and the innermost one disappeared in 1980.

© Jim Patterson/Tandem Stills + Motion

palette

Today in History

May 17, 2018Celebrating Norwegian Constitution Day
May 17, 2019Work out on your way to work
May 17, 2020My my, it s Syttende Mai
May 17, 2021Happy Syttende Mai!
May 17, 2022Salt ponds of Maras, Peru
May 17, 2024Endangered Species Day
May 17, 2025A delta in the Venetian Lagoon, Italy
May 17, 2026Hawksbill Mountain in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Oct 28, 2023Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
Mar 2, 2024Modica, Sicily, Italy
Jul 28, 2022Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park
Dec 7, 2018Honoring our fallen heroes
Dec 12, 2022Poinsettia Day
May 16, 20193,000 years of history
May 24, 2018East River crossing
Nov 9, 2018Let’s go foraging
Jun 1, 2019Hiking the High Trestle Trail
Nov 20, 2020Atop the Needle of Chamonix
Feb 13, 2024Mardi Gras
May 13, 2019In praise of bogs, swamps, and marshes
Feb 5, 2025Scottish Blackface sheep, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Jun 14, 2023Flag Day
Jul 16, 2021Whatever floats your boat
Jun 11, 2023Goliath heron in Kruger National Park, South Africa
Aug 16, 2024International Roller Coaster Day
Apr 11, 2018Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Hunan Province, China
May 26, 2026Lupine flowers in bloom, Northern California
Aug 26, 2022Kiteboarding and windsurfing in Croatia
Mar 28, 2022Kawachi Fuji Garden
Aug 17, 2019The buzz about bees
Jul 28, 2025World Nature Conservation Day
Aug 18, 2024Huntington Beach Pier, California, at sunset
Oct 30, 2024Edinburgh Castle, Scotland
Aug 9, 2025International Day of the Worlds Indigenous Peoples
Jul 23, 2022National Moth Week
Aug 14, 2024World Lizard Day
Nov 11, 2024Veterans Day
Feb 11, 2018Te Rewa Rewa Bridge near New Plymouth, New Zealand