You find yourself on a Saturday morning with nothing on the calendar. The weather is pleasant, but not quite good enough for a long hike. You want to be out of the house, see something different, and be back in time for an early dinner. A drive to nowhere in particular feels aimless, but a drive with a purpose — visiting a few old covered bridges — gives the day a shape without needing a strict schedule. That is the quiet appeal of a covered bridge tour. It is a weekend drive with a built-in reason to stop, look around, and feel connected to something older than yourself.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional travel or safety advice. Always check local road conditions, bridge weight limits, and access rules before setting out. Consult a qualified professional for any travel or health-related concerns.
A covered bridge tour works as a weekend drive because it combines a manageable goal — visiting a handful of historic structures — with the freedom of a self-guided route. You are not chasing a single destination; you are following a thread of old wooden bridges that leads you through back roads, small towns, and scenery you would otherwise miss.
There is a moment that happens every time you drive into a covered bridge. The light changes. The rumble of tires on pavement shifts to a hollow echo on wooden planks. For a few seconds, you are inside a wooden tunnel built before cars existed. Then you emerge on the other side, and the road continues. It is a small, unexpected break in the rhythm of driving, and it rewards you for no reason other than having chosen that road.
Why Covered Bridges Draw You Off the Main Road
Covered bridges were not built for romance or nostalgia. They were built to keep the bridge’s wooden trusses dry, extending the life of the structure from about ten years to eighty or more. The roof and siding were purely practical. But over time, that practical shelter became a kind of accidental architecture — something that looks like a barn suspended over a river. That is part of why they feel different from a stone arch or a steel girder bridge. They are not trying to impress you. They were just built to last, and they happened to look good doing it.
What makes a covered bridge tour a good weekend drive is not any single bridge. It is the way the bridges string together a route you would never plan on your own. You follow a river valley, then a county road, then a gravel lane. You pass through towns that do not appear on the highway signs. You stop at a general store or a farmers market because it is there, not because you planned it. The bridges are the excuse, but the drive itself is the experience.
Driving through a covered bridge is like entering a time portal: sudden darkness, echo of tires on wooden planks, and fleeting sunlight through the exit.
-USA Heaven
The Real Work: Planning a Route That Actually Works
The mistake most people make is trying to see too many bridges in one day. A dozen bridges sounds like a good goal, but you spend more time driving between them than you do at each stop. The better approach is to pick a region with a high concentration of bridges — a county known for them — and plan a loop of four to six. That gives you time to park, walk around, take a photograph, and read the historical marker without feeling rushed.
Before you head out, there are a few practical things to check that can save you a lot of backtracking.
Many covered bridges still in use have weight limits, low clearance, or single-lane traffic. Look up the specific bridge before you go. A bridge that is closed for repairs or restricted to pedestrians only can ruin a carefully planned loop.
Parke County, Indiana, has over 30 covered bridges. Ashtabula County, Ohio, has 19 on a marked trail. Madison County, Iowa, has six. Vermont has more than 100 scattered across the state. Choose one area, not three.
Use county tourism sites or the state’s covered bridge society page. Look for closure notices, weight limits, and whether the bridge is open to cars or pedestrians only.
Plot your bridges on a map and connect them in a circular route. This avoids doubling back and keeps the drive varied. Aim for no more than 90 minutes of driving between the first and last bridge.
Identify a cafe or picnic spot roughly halfway through the loop. Also note one or two extra bridges nearby in case a bridge on your list is unexpectedly closed.
Unpaved roads leading to remote bridges can be rough, especially after rain. A sedan can handle most gravel roads, but deep mud or washboard surfaces may require a slower pace or a different route. Do not attempt a road that looks impassable — turn around and use your backup plan.
The Landscape: What Makes One Bridge Different from Another
To the casual eye, one covered bridge looks much like the next. But the differences matter when you are choosing which ones to visit. The main distinction is the truss design — the internal framework that supports the bridge. The most common types you will encounter are the Town lattice truss, which looks like a crisscross of wooden planks, and the Burr arch truss, which combines an arch with a truss for extra strength. The Howe truss uses vertical iron rods and diagonal wooden beams, a hybrid design from the 1840s.
You do not need to remember any of that. What matters is this: older bridges tend to have lower weight limits and narrower lanes. A bridge built in 1825 was designed for a horse and wagon, not a modern SUV. If you are driving anything larger than a compact car, check the posted width and weight limits before you enter. Some bridges are one lane only, with a pull-off area at each end where you wait for oncoming traffic to clear.
Another distinction is whether the bridge is still part of the active road system or has been bypassed and preserved as a pedestrian crossing. The Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge in New Hampshire and Vermont, at 449 feet (137 metres), still carries daily traffic on a state highway. The West Cornwall Covered Bridge in Connecticut is also an active part of the state highway system, allowing only one vehicle at a time. Others, like the Bunker Hill Covered Bridge in North Carolina, are preserved as historical landmarks and open only to foot traffic.
- Focus on a single county or region with a cluster of bridges, not a scattered list across multiple states.
- Check each bridge’s weight limit, lane width, and closure status before you drive.
- Plan a loop of four to six bridges with a lunch stop in the middle — the drive between bridges is the point, not the destination.
Bridges Worth the Drive
If you are looking for a starting point, a few bridges stand out for their size, history, or setting. The Hartland Covered Bridge in New Brunswick, Canada, is the world’s longest at 1,282 feet (391 metres), a single-lane span with traffic lights at each end. The Smolen-Gulf Bridge in Ohio, completed in 2008, is the longest in the United States at 613 feet (187 metres) and includes observation decks — a modern bridge built in the traditional style.
For something older, the Hyde Hall Covered Bridge in Cooperstown, New York, dates to 1825 and sits in a quiet park setting. The Haverhill-Bath Covered Bridge in New Hampshire (1829) is the oldest covered bridge still in use in that state. And the six bridges around Warner, New Hampshire — Waterloo, Dalton, Bement, Contocook, Rowell, and Henniker — make a compact day trip that pairs well with the town’s Fall Foliage Festival in October.
If you prefer a guided approach, many counties offer self-guided tour maps. Vermont’s Covered Bridge Passport Challenge is a structured way to explore the state’s more than 100 bridges, using a checklist or photo album to record your visits. The Vermont Covered Bridge Society provides a map that shows the location of every bridge in the state.
Narrowing It Down: Which Route Fits Your Weekend
A covered bridge tour works best when it matches the kind of driving you already enjoy. Here is how to choose a route based on your preferences.
If you like long, scenic drives with few stops, pick a region like Vermont’s northern loop, where the bridges are spaced out along winding roads through the Green Mountains. The drive itself is the attraction, and the bridges are punctuation marks along the way. If you prefer to stop frequently and explore, choose a county like Parke County, Indiana, where the bridges are close together and often near small towns with cafes, antique shops, and historical sites.
For photographers, the covered bridges around Warner, New Hampshire are a practical choice because they are close to each other and offer varied angles — river views, reflection shots, and wooded settings. Early morning or late afternoon light gives the best results, and the fall foliage season in mid-October adds colour.
For a weekend that pairs bridges with other activities, consider Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where you can combine covered bridge visits with Amish country attractions, or Madison County, Iowa, where the bridges from “The Bridges of Madison County” sit near the John Wayne Birthplace Museum.
| Region | Bridges | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Vermont (statewide) | 100+ | Scenic drives, foliage, structured passport challenge |
| Parke County, Indiana | 30+ | Dense clusters, annual festival, small-town stops |
| Ashtabula County, Ohio | 19 | Marked trail, modern longest bridge, observation decks |
| Madison County, Iowa | 6 | Literary connection, photography, rural landscapes |
| Warner, New Hampshire | 6 | Compact day trip, fall foliage, cafe stops |
Closing Thoughts
A covered bridge tour is not a grand adventure. It is a quiet Saturday with a purpose. You drive some back roads, cross a few old wooden bridges, and come home with a handful of photographs and a better sense of the place you live in or the region you are visiting. The bridges themselves are usually modest — weathered wood, a dark interior, a plaque with a date. But they are the kind of thing that makes you slow down, and that is the real point of the drive.
If you are looking for a starting point, the Vermont Covered Bridge Passport Challenge or the Ashtabula County Covered Bridge Tour in Ohio give you a ready-made route. But you can also pick a county near you that has a few bridges, plot a loop on a map, and see where the road takes you.
References
USA Heaven’s list of 12 covered bridges still open to vehicle traffic — includes the Cornish-Windsor, West Cornwall, and Smolen-Gulf bridges with dimensions and history.
Day Tripper 28’s collection of 18 covered bridges from the 1800s — covers Hyde Hall, Haverhill-Bath, Bunker Hill, and others with construction dates and locations.
Green Mountain Peaks guide to Vermont’s Covered Bridge Passport Challenge — includes sample itineraries, seasonal tips, and route planning advice.
Jeff Foliage’s covered bridge day trip planning guide — focuses on the Warner, New Hampshire area with practical photography and timing tips.
Science Fix’s overview of covered bridge drives — covers Lancaster County, Parke County, Madison County, and Windham County with driving tips and packing lists.
