The Northfield 5, Upper Covered Bridge

The Northfield 5

A Story of 5 Covered Bridges, by Jeff Folger.
This is one of my favorite towns for covered bridges in Vermont, if not New England. Montgomery Vermont may be the “Capitol” for Covered Bridges with 6 official covered bridges to its credit but tiny Northfield Vermont has 5. There is a 6th but it’s a privately owned covered bridge so I don’t count it.

Here is the reason I call these bridges, The Northfield 5. Some may argue that four of the five are in Northfield Falls and the fifth is in the town of Northfield. Technically they are right, but since the town of Northfield Falls is in the township of Northfield, I feel safe calling the five of them, “The Northfield Five”. Also, and this is a BIGEE, They are all painted red!

northfield 5 upper cox brook covered bridge in winter — Upper cox brook covered bridge in winter, View in my gallery

Today I’m going to show and tell the Upper Cox Brook Covered Bridge. This is one of three that are in close proximity and the other two will be in another article. Of these, the Upper and Lower Bridges cross the Cox Brook before it drops into the Dog River. and the third covered bridge in this trio is the Northfield Falls covered bridge which takes traffic over the Dog River.

The Upper Cox Bridge was built in 1872 and is a Queen post truss construction. The span it covers is fairly short so it doesn’t have any support in the middle like the longer Northfield Falls covered bridges.

Best views to photograph the covered bridge

I’ve photographed this one from most angles and you can hit it from both sides. From downriver the perspective can provide a small cascade of a series of drops (don’t want to call these waterfalls). But my preferred view is just across the road and standing in the stream. Bring waders but on several occasions, I’ve worn regular shoes or knee-high boots due to a low water level.

Upper Cox Brook Covered Bridge in autumn colors — Upper cox brook covered bridge in autumn, View in my gallery

So, from the up-river side, you can get a bit of a reflection of the covered bridge in a pool in front of the bridge and during the winter there is a bit of a view of a white-capped mountain in the distance. From below the bridge.

As I said above a red-covered bridge looks good pretty much any time of the year, so you can shoot it pretty much any time of the year to get at the very least, an interesting shot.

Another of my favorite covered bridges is the Slaughterhouse Covered Bridge (See the article about 5 covered bridges you may have missed).

Jeff Foliage Folger

Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage

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