Growing up in small-town Indiana, it was a treat to go to the Covered Bridge Festival. Not only were there miles and miles of vendors with the important stuff, like paper Chinese fans, but spending hours driving through the winding Indiana roads to view a large concentration of beautiful covered bridges throughout Parke County.
With a total of 31 bridges through Parke County, the rural Indiana area is known as the “Covered Bridge Capital of the World.” As horses approached rushing water in the 1800’s, they would get scared. Covered bridges provided a practical way to protect the bridge floor boards while also looking like a barn so the horses would enter to cross the water.
When touring Parke County, it’s hard to know where to start. How do you find the towns with home-based vendors? And how do you know how to find the covered bridges, many of which are off the main roads?
The Covered Bridge Festival will run October 9 through 18. Here’s how to plan your trip.
Several sites, such as coveredbridges.com will give a list and history to local bridges. Here you can also find a map of the driving “loops” throughout Parke County. The great thing about these loops is that once on the correct road, you can follow the signage all the way through.
Black Loop
Blue Loop
Brown Loop
Red Loop
Yellow Loop
While it’s nice to have these routes online so you can plan, they are also very hard to follow while driving. That’s why a quick stop at the Rockville’s Visitor’s Center will be well worth your while. Here you can find a foldable pamphlet with a great map on the inside.
A few weeks ago, we took a girl trip to look at covered bridges in Parke County. Following the red loop, we enjoyed scenic Parke County with hills, winding roads, hay stacks and horses along the way.
Around Billie Creek Village (which is a must stop) we viewed two bridges after we walked along the boardwalk, looking into windows of historic shops and churches.
We stayed along the main path of the red route, but there are other bridges just off the main road. We stopped at the Neet Bridge and rolled a blanket out on the grass to look at the clouds and listen to the bugs.
Then we moved onto Bridgeton where we fell in love with the Bridgeton Bridge. This well-kept bridge is right above a damn and connected to an old mill. The water was so clean and shallow that I could walk around the creek to get some great pictures. Climbing over the sand bars, I was able to see several fish working their way down the stream.
Along with an abundance of bridges, there are many more historic sites to see as you make your way around Parke County.
The Historic Ritz Theatre will run shows for $7.00 all weekend during the festival.
Bridgeton offers a wide array of crafters and vendors, a gristmill, the 1878 House, and Case Log Cabin.
Mansfield, Indiana hosts the Historic Mansfield Roller Mill, Mansfield Bridge and Mansfield Civic Center.
Montezuma is home to the “Hog Roast.”
Mecca has a large tent of handmade items for your purchasing. The tent is located at the Mecca Bridge alongside the One Room Schoolhouse.
Tangier Community serves that “world famous” buried beef that is a delicacy of the festival.
