Oregon by Greyhound • Chitwood Covered Bridge

The Adventure Chitwood Covered Bridge

Location LAT 44° 39' 15.2" N LON 123° 49' 03.9" W

Date July 125, 2009

Weather 79°, sunny

Distance 73.3 miles

In the early 1900s, the small logging community of Chitwood was a bustling town. The sign on the bridge was removed from the old railroad station.

Buddy was most happy to get out of the car to pee on a tree and cross the bridge.

Yes Bud, those are the railroad tracks.

Steam locomotives stopped in Chitwood for water and coal as they traveled between Yaquina and Corvallis. The tracks are still in use, but the trains no longer stop in Chitwood.

The original bridge was built in 1926 and rehabilitated in 1983.

The 96', single-lane bridge spans the Yaquina River.

Chitwood bridge is the home to a million sparrows. They enjoyed swooping in and out of the covered bridge during our brief stop.

Oregon by Greyhound • Belknap Bridge

The Adventure Belknap Covered Bridge

Location LAT 44° 10' 04.8" N LON 122° 13' 41.8" W

Date May 9, 2009

Weather 68°, Sunny

Distance 111 miles

A bridge at this location has spanned the McKenzie River since 1890.


This is the fourth covered bridge at this location. The current covered bridge was rebuilt in 1966 after the third bridge was destroyed by the Christmas flood of 1964.


Several years later, louvered windows were added to illuminate the interior and reduce the "box effect" of the bridge.


Originally named the McKenzie Bridge, it was re-named after R.S. Belknap who discovered and developed the nearby Belknap Springs.


The Belknap Bridge is the easternmost covered bridge in Lane County.


We got an added bonus when we discovered a small patch of Lady Slippers growing beside the river.

Oregon by Greyhound • Goodpasture Bridge

The Adventure Goodpasture Covered Bridge

Location LAT 44° 08' 3" N LON 122° 35' 9" W

Date May 9, 2009

Weather 68°, Sunny

Distance 90.6 miles

Yeppers, Danny Bleu here and it is my turn for another adventure. Stay tuned and look forward to high mountain tops, beeeeutiful flowers, loud, noisy waterfalls and yes, two more covered bridges checked off of the list.


Surprise, a stop that was not on the days agenda. Speeding along highway 126 (of course we were going the speed limit) we admired the scenery. Once we left Springfield we followed the McKenzie River. And then, out of the clear blue and unplanned bridge appeared. An unplanned, covered bridge appeared requiring a stop.


A single-lane bridge spanning the McKenzie River, this bridge was extremely busy.


Cars were continuously interrupting my photo sessions. Wouldn't you think they could've found another bridge?


The louvered gothic style windows were pretty cool, but it really doesn't lend for a great picture of such a pretty river.


The bridge was built in 1938. Named after a local pioneer family, it spans 165 ft. across the river. The area is wide open making it one of the most photographed bridges in the state.

Oregon by Greyhound • Short Covered Bridge

The Adventure The Short Covered Bridge

Location LAT 44° 23' 25"  N  LON  122° 30' 34" W 

Date April 25, 2009

Weather 54°, Coudy

Distance 64.7  miles

Our adventure to the Short Bridge was an enchanting one. What we found just before the bridge and just after the bridge were definitely unexpected treasures.

Someone with a grand imagination built a fence in front of their property that was sure to grab attention.

Roxy was not afraid of the faux resident ghosts.

Built in 1945, the bridge was originally known as the Whiskey Butte bridge, but was later renamed for an area resident.

The bridge is still in use, and is one of the few remaining bridges in Linn County that still has wooden shingles.

It's the last of the covered bridges to span the South Fork of the Santiam River.

The best surprise of all is what we discovered once we crossed the bridge. A wolf refuge. they were incredibly beautiful. This one immediately stood up on the roof to greet us.

There was a six foot chain link fence between us and them. Roxy waited in the car when we went over for a closer look.

The house in the background had collapsed, and the resident wolves did not  to mind.

They were all curious, but nott alarmed as we stood on the other side of the fence admiring them.

Oregon by Greyhound • Weddle Covered Bridge

The Adventure Weddle Bridge

Location LAT 44° 23' 35"  N  LON 122° 43' 39" W 

Date April 4, 2009

Weather 62°, Sunny

Distance 40.7  miles

Still enthusiastic after riding in the car for a couple of hours, Moose looked forward to the Weddle Bridge.

Originally spanning Thomas Creek, the bridge had become neglected when it was by-passed by a concrete span in 1980.

When the bridge was slated to be demolished, someone chained themselves to a bulldozer to save the bridge. In 1989 a group in Sweet Home formed to rebuild the bridge in Sankey park over the Ames Creek.

Sankey park was the original site for two logging mills. Adding the bridge was just another piece of restoration to the park.

On the other side of Ames Creek is a smaller foot bridge over the dam the creek now by-passes. It was built in 1989 by the high school building trades class.

Sadly, both bridges were gated and Moose was not able to walk across either of them. The Weddle Bridge was still incredibly beautiful, and worth the visit to Sweet Home.

Oregon by Greyhound • Crawsfordsville Covered Bridge

The Adventure Crawfordsville Bridge

Location LAT 44° 21' 26.8"  N  LON 122° 51' 38.2" W 

Date April 4, 2009

Weather 62°, Sunny

Distance 41.7  miles

We had an unscheduled and unexpected bridge stop. We were driving along one of the country roads when all of a sudden Moose noticed the Crawfordsville bridge. 

Built in 1932 the Crawsfordsville Bridge goes across the Calapooia River. It was bypassed by the highway in 1963.

In 1976 it was the star in the television movie, The Flood. 

Overall, for his first adventure, Moose was a wonderful traveler. He was ready to keep going and so on we went.

Oregon by Greyhound • The Gilkey Bridge

The Adventure Gilkey Covered Bridge

Location LAT 44° 41' 16.4"  N  LON 122° 44' 11.9" W 

Date March 29, 2009

Weather 52°, Sunny

Distance 26.0  miles

Built in 1936, the Gilkey bridge stands remarkably close to a railroad track. Up until 1960, the railroad bridge was also had a house.

Karen and Roxy make their maiden walk across the bridge.

Karen and Roxy walked up onto the railroad bridge.

Looking out at the railroad bridge from inside the Gilkey Bridge.

Nope, no trains coming down the track.

View of the Gilkey Bridge from the railroad bridge.

This is Broken Dam on Thomas Creek the original location of the Stayton-Jordon covered bridge. The dam once provided electricity to the town of Scio. It was also the location of a cheese factory, two mills and a general store. Only the broken dam remains.