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The stone bridges of Sabino Canyon transport 1 million visitors a year across Sabino Creek.
The canyon has long been a destination for those seeking a respite from desert heat and a target for those seeking to augment the area water supply.
Over the years, plans for it included a dam and reservoir, a hotel and a mine.
Access would be a road that would cross the creek nine times on stone bridges.
The big dam was never built, though a smaller one in Lower Sabino was.
The road and bridges were built during the Great Depression by a succession of federal agencies, beginning in 1934, with the Emergency Relief Administration, which built the first four.
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the remaining bridges and a road to the dam site. The Civilian Conservation Corps built campgrounds, picnic tables and grills, according to a history written by U.S. Forest Service archaeologist Kathy Makansi for the Friends of Sabino Canyon.
The canyon became an increasingly popular site for drive-in recreation until, in 1978, the U.S. Forest Service contracted for tram service on the road and access to private vehicles was prohibited.
The bridges continue to make the canyon the most accessible natural outing for Tucsonans and their visitors