Tour of the Bridges of Madison County

One of the most acclaimed movies of the 1990's was "The Bridges of Madison County". In this film, the main bridge is the Roseman Bridge. When coming to Madison County, you can visit the bridge yourself, which also have a gift shop located next to it. If you're a fan of the film, or covered bridges in general, this is definitely a place to come for at least a quick visit if you're in the area.

There are plenty of other covered bridges in the area as well, and an excellent map is provided here by the Madison County chamber of commerce.

Covered Bridge Tour of Lancaster County

Bitzer's Covered Bridge

Written by Leann Pettit
A lovely (and free!) afternoon out with the family is to spend it driving through Lancaster County discovering the covered bridges and learning the history that goes along with them. We chose a few of the bridges to explore in the Ephrata area (check the interactive map for the bridge locations!).

Bucher's Mill Covered Bridge: Located at Rose Hill Rd. and Cocalico Creek Rd in Ephrata, is hidden amongst some trees along Cocalico Creek Rd. The original bridge was destroyed in 1881 and the bridge that stands today is the second shortest open to traffic.
Bitzer's Covered Bridge: At the intersection of Cats Back Rd. and (aptly named) Covered Bridge Rd. in Ephrata, this bridge is also known as Martin's Mill Bridge and is Lancaster County's oldest covered bridge that is still in use today.
Red Run Covered Bridge: Located at the Red Run Rd. and Martin Church Rd. in Ephrata, next to Red Run Campsite, Red Run Covered Bridge is privately owned and no longer open to public traffic.
White Hall Mill Bridge/Weaver's Mills Covered Bridge: Weaverland Rd. at Agape Ct., in Morgantown, was built in 1878.
Pool Forge Covered Bridge: Nolt Rd. and S. Pool Forge Rd. in Morgantown. According to PA Dutch Country, Pool Forge Covered Bridge is where James Buchanan met his fiance.

Looking for more covered bridges or more driving tours? Check out Pennsylvania Covered Bridges and PA Dutch Country for their suggestions.

Covered Bridge Museum (The Bennington Center for the Arts)

When we planned on visiting The Covered Bridge Museum and Bennington Center for the Arts, in Bennington, VT, our aim was really just to see the Covered Bridge portion.  However, the side of the museum that was an art gallery was the highlight.  There were numerous paintings done by local artists in many different styles.  When going in, you're given a piece of paper to choose your favorite for a contest they are holding.  This made it a much more enjoyable experience as you got to almost act as a judge in an art contest.

The 2nd half of the museum walks you through the history of Covered Bridges in Vermont and the rest of the country.  There are numerous photographs from all over that show you how they vary.  If you're a fan of covered bridges, this is definitely a good place to visit.  However, any non-aficionados may opt to pass.

One really nice portion of this was also a "library" of books that show all the covered bridges in different states, broken down by counties.  This lets you determine where covered bridges are near your own home, to give you a fun little side trip to do at home.