We set out on our quest to see Oregon’s famous covered
bridges. There are 51 in Oregon, but Lane County, where Cottage Grove is, has
20 of them. In the immediate area there are 6. We drove slowly along country
lanes lined with flowering hedges, with contented cows sleeping in the shade
and big red painted American barns. We used the GPS to locate the bridges and
we zig zagged back and forth across the river as we went up the valley. First
stop was Mosby Creek bridge (and the only one still taking vehicle traffic),
then Currin, then Stewarts. Then a drive along the bank of the Dorena lake to
Row River Bridge – very picturesque and is used for weddings.
The drive was
lovely, Oregon is so pretty at this time of year. We followed the other side of
the lake back to Cottage Grove and saw Centennial foot bridge and finally Chambers
Railroad bridge – the last remaining covered railway bridge in Oregon. It has
been fully restored in 2011 after nearly collapsing in 2010. The bridge was
privately owned and the city raised the money to buy the bridge, the land and
to restore it. It had been a private railway line to a lumber mill until the
mill burned down in 1950. Private railways were common during the lumber boom
and were laid, pulled up and re-laid as required. We found out that bridges
were covered to protect the timber structure. A covered bridge could last 80
plus years, whereas an uncovered one would last around 9 years. Most of the
bridges in the areas dated from the 1920s and replaced structures from the
1800s.
Having seen bridges to our hearts content, we headed back south on the
I5. Lots of trucks, hay paddocks (its hay season) and turkey buzzards floating
lazily in the thermals rising from the highway. Turning off the I5 onto Redwood
highway, we found an RV park on the road to the Oregon Caves.
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