Southern Vermont Covered Bridges

What can be 100 years old, has a roof, usually has a single lane, and spans a body of water? If you answered a covered bridge, you are correct. Covered bridges are pieces of history that many times are located in scenic locations.

Purpose

The purpose of a covering a bridge with a roof and sides was to protect it from the weather. It was mainly to protect the structure that supported the bridge. Without covering, the bridge might last 20 years, while covering it translated into the bridge maybe lasting 100 years.

One of the more picturesque spots. This is Arlington, Vermont. Norman Rockwell lived in this little town on the other side of this bridge in a large white house that is labeled as an inn. As the of time I wrote this, the Rockwell house is for sale.
Bridge at Arlington taken from near the Norman Rockwell House.
Vermont

Other states have more covered bridges, but Vermont can lay claim to having the most per square mile over any other state. Vermont has more than 100 surviving in total. Some you can still drive over, others you can walk over. There are sites online that recommend short driving tours that include a few of them. Some towns have more than one covered bridge. I found two in the Grafton area. According to Wikipedia these are the towns with 3 or more covered bridges: Bennington (3), Charlotte (3), Randolph (3), Cambridge (3), Waterville (3), Pittsford (4), Northfield (5), Tunbridge (5), Lyndon (5),and Montgomery (6).

The Bridge in Grafton
Looking from the other direction- Grafton
This is a second bridge on the outskirts of Grafton, near a cheese store.
The view from one of the windows on the bridge on the outskirts of Grafton. It is next to a place that sells cheese. This is a pedestrian only bridge.
Locations

There are websites that list locations and provide a map detailing where some of them are. I recommend this website :

https://www.vermontvacation.com/things-to-do/arts-and-heritage/covered-bridges

Once you click on the link, scroll down and click on another link to get a map with locations.

When I think of autumn in New England it conjures up memories of pictures I have seen in travel articles featuring covered bridges and fall foliage. It is fun to scavenger hunt in fall and winter for covered bridges in Vermont. If you are visiting Vermont or traveling through, try to locate one.

Chisel Bridge

41 thoughts on “Southern Vermont Covered Bridges”

      1. That’s amazing!! We have a few bridges here in Iowa in Madison County. I’m not sure if any allow car traffic. I know Vande is burn one down for whatever reason a few years back which is just a crying shame! I was in Vermont as a kid and remember a couple of covered bridges but no idea where they were. It’s on my bucket list to go back and check them out in the fall when the leaves are pretty!! I enjoyed your post!!

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  2. We have a few in New York. Ones that were affected by Hurricane Irene were rebuilt using the old methods. I think Vermont may have had some that had to be rebuilt due to Irene as well. Go to the link I included and they have something to click on to get to a map. Some sites give you short days trips and recommend which ones to see if you are in a certain area. The one in Arlington is on some of the lists for the most scenic covered bridges. I hope you get back some day. Fall is neat as winter can be as well. Red bridges with snow covered ground can be pretty as well.

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